“Yes, madame, very briefly, to the effect that there was a party on board the Kron Prinz with whom you did not wish to travel.”
“Yes, that was my short message; but he also added, if he reported me aright, that I would explain further when we should meet.”
“He told me that, madame.”
“Well, my dear, I suppose you could never be able to guess who it was from whom I shrank on the Kron Prinz.”
“No, I am sure I could not. I have known so very few of your acquaintances, madame.”
“Yet of this especial acquaintance I have spoken to you more than once. Surely now you can guess who it is that has gone before us to Europe in the Kron Prinz, can you not?”
“No, madame; unless—unless it was Prince Carl of Altenburg——”
“Prince Carl? Well, you know, of course, he was a bore, and worried me not a little; but I should not have changed my steamer on his account, even if he had been on board the Kron Prinz, which he was not. No, you must try again.”
“I am sure I cannot guess, madame,” said Lilith, with a smile, but with no interest in the question.
“Then I must tell you,” said the lady; and dropping her voice, she added: “Who should it be but my old lover, Mr. Tudor Hereward, who has just been appointed Secretary of Legation to the Court of ——.”