"So," he said, "Then you either have a voice, or you haven't, one or the other. Where did you study?"
The girl hesitated a moment; then she bent lower and whispered to him: "St. Petersburg, Monsieur, with Helmanoff."
"The great Helmanoff?"
"Yes, Monsieur."
"You are not French then, you are Russian? They told me Mademoiselle Pou—Pou—"
"That is not my real name."
"No?"
Kaya quivered a moment: "I am—Russian," she said, "I am an exile. Don't ask, Monsieur—not here! I am—I am afraid."
The Kapellmeister went on improvising arpeggios on the piano as if he had not heard. He seemed to be pondering. "That name—" he said, "Pou—Poussin! Someone called on me the other day of that name. I remember it, because when I came in she was gone. Was it you?"
The girl stood silent.