"He was a friend of Mr. Kesselbach's. He arrived from Austria, six days ago, and placed himself at Mrs. Kesselbach's disposal."
The police authorities had, meanwhile, gone out of the garden; Baron Altenheim also.
The prince rose and, turning towards the Pavillon de l'Impératrice, continued:
"Has the baron asked you many questions?"
"Yes, a great many. He is interested in my case. He wants to help me find my family. He appealed to my childhood memories."
"And what did you say?"
"Nothing, because I know nothing. What memories have I? You put me in another's place and I don't even know who that other is."
"No more do I!" chuckled the prince. "And that's just what makes your case so quaint."
"Oh, it's all very well for you to laugh . . . you're always laughing! . . . But I'm beginning to have enough of it. . . . I'm mixed up in a heap of nasty matters . . . to say nothing of the danger which I run in pretending to be somebody that I am not."
"What do you mean . . . that you are not? You're quite as much a duke as I am a prince . . . perhaps even more so. . . . Besides, if you're not a duke, hurry up and become one, hang it all! Geneviève can't marry any one but a duke! Look at her: isn't she worth selling your soul for?"