'Sometime, yes; he had a bad accident on the Venediger. Herr Greswold brought him to our island to pass his convalescence with the monks. From the monks to Monte Carlo!—--it is at least a leap requiring some elasticity in moral gymnastics.'
She spoke with some irritation, which did not escape the ear of her cousin. He said merely himself:
'Did you receive him, knowing nothing about him?'
'We certainly did. It was an imprudence; but if he paint like Meissonnier, he plays like Liszt: who was to resist such a combination of gifts?'
'You say that very contemptuously, Wanda,' said the Prince.
'I am not contemptuous of the talent; I am of the possessor of it, who comprehends his own powers so little that he breaks the bank at Monaco.'
'I envy him at least his power to anger you,' said Egon Vàsàrhely.
'I am angered to see anything wasted,' she answered, conscious of the impatience she had shown. 'I was very angry with Otto's little daughter yesterday; she had gathered a huge bundle of cowslips and thrown it down in the sun; it was ingratitude to God who made them. This friend of my aunt's does worse; he changes his cowslip into monkshood.'
'Is he indeed such a favourite of yours, dear mother?' said Vàsàrhely.
The Princess answered petulantly: