"What fine diamonds those are you are wearing, Araktseieff!"
He who was thus addressed replied, with audacious humility:
"Sire, I wear them by your Majesty's favor."
"Remarkable!" exclaimed the Czar. "Those brilliants are the very counterpart of the ones in my Vladimir star."
Junker Jevgen began to think that cheek alone would carry him through here.
"Sire, some diamonds resemble each other wonderfully."
"And yet I am inclined to think that the star you are wearing is mine, and that in my pocket I happen to have a Vladimir order bearing your name on the ribbon."
"Mercy, sire!" implored Jevgen, with shaking knees.
"Silence! You surely would not implore mercy here before the whole court. Go to your quarters. Keep the order you are wearing; I wear it no more, since it has been worn by you. Away with you!"
"A bad adviser led me on, sire." The young nobleman was ready to betray his father.