"Oh, I could never endure delays," said the Baroness, "and, since you cannot accompany me, I am going with Monsieur de Châteauroux."
The Grand Duke grasped the carriage door.
"Preposterous!" he cried.
"But you have given your consent," the Baroness protested, "and in the presence of the Grand Duchess."
"Which," said the Grand Duke, "was part of our plan."
"Indeed, your Highness," said the Baroness, "it was a most important part. You must know," she continued, with some diffidence, "that I have the misfortune to love Monsieur de Châteauroux."
"Who is in love with Victoria."
"I have the effrontery to believe," said the Baroness, "that he is, in reality, in love with me."
"Especially after hearing him last night," the Grand Duke suggested.
"That scene, your Highness, we had carefully rehearsed—oh, seven or eight times! Personally, I agreed with your Highness that the quotation from Theocritus was pedantic, but Philippe insisted on it, you conceive—"