'Of whom are there not stories? Calumny is the parasite of character; the stronger the character the closer to it clings the strangler.'
'I never heard him accused of any strength, except of the wrist in l'escrime!'
'Do you know anything dishonourable of him? If you do you are bound to say it.'
'Dishonourable is a grave word. No, I cannot say that I do; the society he frequents is a guarantee against that; but his life has been indifferent, complicated, uncertain, not a life to be allied with that of such a woman as Wanda. My dear Princess, it has been a life dans le milieu parisien; what more would you have me say?'
'Prince Archambaud's has been that. Yet three years since you earnestly pressed his suit on Wanda.'
'Archambaud! He is one of the first alliances in Europe; he is of blood royal, and he has not been more vicious than other men.'
'It would be better he should have been less so, since he lives so near 'the fierce light that beats upon the throne;' an electric light which blackens while it illumines! My good Kaulnitz, you wander very far afield. If you know anything serious against M. de Sabran it is your duty to say it.'
'He is a gambler.'
'He has renounced gambling.'
'He is a duellist.'