"Some Dalbergs," she scoffed.
The Duke flushed.
"I'm doing badly—you think me a coward," he said.
"Oh, no, Prince—only carefully discreet;" and she leaned back and slowly fanned herself.
He looked at her for a bit.
"Are you aware, my dear, that you are conniving at—some might call it instigating—the death of your husband?" he asked.
She smiled. "Am I?"
"It is a very extraordinary situation," he said, blowing a ring of smoke and watching it circle away. "You are so tired of him you want him killed; he seems equally tired of you, and, moreover, he is determined to marry another woman. Yet, neither of you gets a divorce—and you actually follow him here—and he, then, actually refuses to let you depart."
The fan kept moving slowly.
"A very extraordinary situation, indeed, Your Highness,—as you state it," she said.