“Plainly, my dear, that he would not for an instant countenance your taking the law by storm in so unseemly a fashion. You have been frightened, I understand, by some report of sickness in the village, whereupon, against the direct counsels of a man who was, so to speak, here to guard you and poor little Piotr, you attempted to decamp. The people with unpraiseworthy hastiness gave you a taste of their mettle. I profoundly regret it. But now you have nothing to fear. I am here and will stay with you as long as there is the faintest risk of further trouble. To-day, moreover, I shall communicate with Basil and recall him. If he cannot come at once I will prolong my sojourn, greatly against my own wishes, and in the mean time I ask you, as a sensible woman, to make the best of it, and not to bother me too much. That, I believe, is all I have to say!”
“Supposing I don’t obey your orders?” Laurence cried, defiantly.
“Don’t let us suppose anything of the sort!” countered Tatiana. “Besides, I beg you to observe that so far my orders have been mere advice. But wait a minute.” She rose, touched the bell, and sat down again, utterly disregarding Laurence’s ferocious gaze.
“Célèste,” the Duchess said, quietly, as that gay person answered the summons, “I want to say two words to you.”
“I am at Madame la Duchesse’s orders,” the dauntless Provençale murmured, dropping a very finished little courtesy.
“Madame la Princesse, as you know, has been greatly upset by reports from below there,” and she nodded in the direction of the village, “about some contagious illness or other. She needs quiet and the best of care. This morning’s incident was—er—regrettable, but happily no harm was done, excepting to Fidèlka’s silly pate—an accident he richly deserved. Moreover, he’ll get over that in a day or two. Let me, however, warn you, Célèste, that, devoted as you are to your mistress, you must see how wrong it would be of you to get her into any more scrapes. You conducted yourself very well a while ago. You are brave. I like that.”
“It is Madame la Duchesse who is brave!” burst forth Célèste, who had been quite carried away by Tatiana’s masterly entrée-en-scène. “Brave as a lion! It was magnificent to witness Madame la Duchesse’s boxing of their ears!”
Tatiana laughed her spontaneous laugh, willingly overlooking the girl’s lack of deportment. She could see that she too was over-excited, which really was not surprising.
“I’m glad you liked it!” she said, simply. “They probably didn’t! And for the present please abandon your warlike propensities. Everybody is going to behave here now, and in a few days the Prince will be back. Meanwhile take the greatest possible care of your mistress. You can go!” she added, and the gesture with which she dismissed her made Célèste mutter as she went:
“Bravo! there’s one who has no cold in her eyes! Sapristi! She’s the genuine article, this Duchess, with her boyish ways and her big, laughing eyes. One might love this one pour-tout-de-bon!”