Enter SERVANT
Servant. Prince Racowitza!
Enter PRINCE RACOWITZA
[The Prince is small, dark, dapper, unobjectionable. He is much agitated. Helene holds out her hand to him in a friendly, but non-committal, discreet way. Maid starts to go.]
Prince. [To maid] Do not leave the room—I have serious news, and your mistress may need your services when I tell her what I have to say!
Helene. [Relieved by the thought that the Prince is about to renounce all claims to one so caught in the web of scandal] You will remain with me, Elizabeth; I may need you. And now, Prince Yanko—I am steeled [tries to smile]—give me the worst. [The Prince making passes in the air, tierce and thrust with his cane at an imaginary foe] I say, dear Prince, tell me the worst—I think I can bear it. [Helene is almost amused by the sight of the semi-comic opera-bouffe prince] Tell me the worst!
Prince. Lassalle has challenged your father!
Helene. [Blanching] Lassalle has challenged my father!
Prince. To the death. [Aiming with his cane at a piece of statuary in the corner] One, two, three—fire!
Helene. It is not so. Lassalle is opposed to the code on principle.