Vassili nodded, and suddenly launched into detail.
“Prince Pavlo Alexis,” he said, “is a young man who takes a full and daring advantage of his peculiar position. He defies many laws in a quiet, persistent way which impresses the smaller authorities and to a certain extent paralyzes them. He was in the Charity League—deeply implicated. He had a narrow escape. He was pulled through by the cleverest man in Russia.”
“Karl Steinmetz?”
“Yes,” answered Vassili behind the rigid smile; “Karl Steinmetz.”
“And that,” said De Chauxville, watching the face of his companion, “is all you can tell me?”
“To be quite frank with you,” replied the man who had never been quite frank in his life, “that is all I want to tell you.”
De Chauxville lighted a cigarette, with exaggerated interest in the match.
“Paul is a friend of mine,” he said calmly. “I may be staying at Osterno with him.”
The rigid smile never relaxed.
“Not with Karl Steinmetz on the premises,” said Vassili imperturbably.