"We shall have to say good-bye to-night, as we are starting so early."
Only then did I realise what an ill-tempered cub I was; and, when the game ended, proposed we should join the others.
However, the Prince excused himself, as it was later than usual, so I went out by myself. I saw no one on the terrace where we generally sat, so concluded that they had gone down the garden, and was about to follow and try to find them, when a voice said:
"Well, Victor, who won?"
I turned quickly, and there was the Princess seated in a big arm-chair, in the shadow of a trailing mass of jasmine and roses which hung over the terrace.
She was alone, so I drew up another chair beside hers.
"You see I have come to bore you again, Irma," I said lightly.
"I wonder?" she answered, and then continued, "Did you have some good games?"
"Very." I added "Liar" under my breath.
"Isn't it a perfectly gorgeous night? Even I feel less prosaic under such a moon."