"I am almost sure of it. Prince Shan returns to China within the course of the next few days."
"We have lived so long," Nigel observed, "in dread of the unknown. I wonder whether we shall ever understand the exact nature of the danger with which we were faced."
"It depends upon Prince Shan," she replied. "The terms were Immelan's, but the method was his."
"Do you believe," he asked a little abruptly, "that the attempt on Prince Shan's life last night was made by Immelan?"
There was a touch, perhaps, of her Muscovite ancestry in the cool indifference with which she considered the matter.
"I should think it most likely," she decided. "Prince Shan never changes his mind, and I believe that he has decided against Immelan's scheme. Immelan's only chance would be in Prince Shan's successor."
"Why is China so necessary?" Nigel asked.
She turned and smiled at her companion.
"Alas!" she sighed, "we have reached an impasse. The great English diplomat asks too many questions of the simple Russian girl."
"It is unfortunate," he replied, in the same vein, "because I feel like asking more."