The servant entered immediately.
"Show this man out!" said the prince.
The servant was so amazed by this order that he did not trust his own ears. He looked, with a face full of embarrassment, first at the prince and then at Mr. Albert Timm, who was still standing quietly there, wagging his hat after the manner of a dog's tail, and again from Mr. Albert Timm to the prince.
"Did you hear me?" said the latter, contracting his brows in a threatening manner.
The servant came a step nearer to Timm.
"My good friend, I will spare you the alternative either to have your nose knocked into your face or to be dismissed from the army," said Albert, good-naturedly, "and prefer, on that account, to go myself. As for you, baroness, we shall see each other again shortly, but upon a different footing; and as for you, young man, I should like to advise you hereafter not to meddle with matters which do not concern you in the least, in spite of the great airs you are giving yourself."
The prince made a motion towards his left side. Fortunately he had left his sword in the hall. Albert did not wait for any further measures on the part of the lion he had roused, but made an ironical bow and left the room.
The prince, who had never in his life been treated in this way, looked aghast; the baroness cast down her eyes.
"That could not have happened at home, in Russia," said the prince.
"I regret," said the baroness, "that accident should have made you witness so unpleasant an occurrence."