"I do not know why you should suppose her to have made an exception in my case, Herr von Dollen," Bernhard interrupted him, with some irritation.
"Ah! pardon, I only thought that perhaps you knew----"
"I know nothing," Bernhard briefly rejoined. He was not in a pleasant mood, and soon after left the ball.
As he was passing through the gateway, he suddenly heard himself called by name.
"Vraiment, c'est Monsieur de Eikhoff," said a harsh, grating voice that Bernhard seemed to have heard before. He turned and confronted the stranger.
"Ah, enchanté, charmed to see you, mon cher ami; an unexpected meeting."
"Most unexpected, Herr von Möhâzy," Bernhard said, coldly, touching his hat, and apparently overlooking the stranger's outstretched hand. The latter took no notice of this oversight, however, but continued, in his grating voice and in German, spoken with a strong foreign accent,--
"Are you, too, tired of the ball? They say we are going too soon, the height of gayety has not yet been reached. À propos, do you make a long stay in Berlin?"
"So long as the Reichstag is in session. And you?" Bernhard asked, with sudden interest. "Shall you stay for the Carnival?"
"Heaven, or whatever other powers there be, forbid! Berlin is too provincial, although it has made some progress of late years. I come from Paris, and am on my way to St. Petersburg."