The girl did not hear. The duchess came nearer:
"Valérie!" she repeated. "Could I talk to you for a moment, alone?"
The archduchess raised her pale little face. She seemed not to hear, not to understand.
"My God!" whispered the duchess to Wanda. "Does she know?"
"What?" asked Wanda.
But a footman also came through the hall; he carried a silver tray with letters. There were a couple of letters for the duchess; he presented them to her first; then one to Valérie. In spite of her blurred eyes, the archduchess seemed to see the letter; she snatched at it greedily. The man withdrew.
"O ... God!..." she stammered at last.
She pulled the letter from the envelope, half-tearing it in her eagerness, and read with crazy eyes. Sofie and Wanda looked at her in dismay.
"O ... God!" screamed the archduchess in agony. "It's true ... it's true ... it's true! ... Oh!..."
She rose, trembling, looked about her with wild eyes and threw herself madly into the duchess' arms. A loud sob burst from her throat, as though a pistol-shot had gone through her heart.