"I am so whimsical, so original; but what may appear to you, madame, more whimsical, more original still, is, that we shall leave this hotel the day after to-morrow."
"And whither shall we go to live, sir?"
"You will go to Germany."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"That you will go to Germany."
"You are joking—you must be."
"I have not the habit of doing so."
"In this case, sir, may I know your motive for quitting Paris so hastily in the depth of winter?"
"I do not leave Paris, madame, but you will quit Paris the day after to-morrow. In a month, probably, I shall rejoin you. I have resolved on this."
Madame de Hansfeld looked on the prince with amaze. He had often been angry and violent, but in the midst of his wrath, whose cause Paula in vain sought to fathom, there were bursts of excitement, cries of despair, which she pitied whilst they wounded her. Never in his life before had the prince spoken to her in so cold, severe, and cutting a tone. She replied, with a sort of fear caused by her surprise,—