"Oh, then, of course it will be a brilliant affair!"
"I suppose you know that we must appear en grande tenue? Men with the grand cordon and all their orders."
"Upon my soul! Doing high honor to the musician."
"Besides which the Zeneida will sing something of Cimarosa."
"Is that all you have to tell me?"
"Beyond that nothing," returned the young man, rising with a yawn as he looked at the clock. "Now I must be off and change. By-the-way, shall you be at the state concert to-night?"
"What else should I do, as the Czar honors me with an invitation?"
"I thought, perhaps, your rheumatism was plaguing you too much."
"Do not forget that there is no rheumatism when the Czar commands."
"And yet it were a pity to risk your health, sir, for sake of a scoundrelly musician. You will be awfully bored. There is nothing in the world so ghastly dull as the harp."