'Preach on for ever, my beloved divine. You can never weary me,' said Sabran, and he stooped and kissed her.
She did not return his caress.
That day as she drove with the Princess in the Bois, Bela and Gela facing her, she saw him in the side alley riding with the Countess Brancka. A physical pain seemed to contract her heart for a moment.
'Olga is very accaparante,' said the Princess, perceiving them also. 'Not content with borrowing your Arabs, she must have your husband also as her cavalier.'
'If she amuse him I am her debtor,' said Wanda, very calmly.
'Amuse! Can a man who has lived with you be amused by her?'
'I am not amusing,' said his wife, with a smile which was not mirthful. 'Men are like Bela and Gela; they cannot always be serious.'
Then she told her coachman to leave the Bois and drive out into the country. She did not care to meet those riders at every turn in the avenues.
'My dear Réné,' said the Princess, when she happened to see him alone. 'Can you find no one in all Paris to divert yourself with except Stefan Brancka's wife? I thought you disliked her.'
Sabran hesitated.