"'Aurora,' the Empress said, 'this is my cousin Rudolph, Grand Duke of Lautenburg-Detmold. He wants a dance with you.'
"The red Hussar danced atrociously, though he made the most superhuman efforts. He thought he ought to apologize, but I gave him no reply and not even a word of thanks when the dance ended. He resumed his place behind the Empress and wiped his eyeglass from time to time, looking miserable enough to melt a stone.
"The next day I was delighted to hear that there was to be some fox-hunting two days later. How thankful I was to have brought Taras-Bulba, my wicked little Barbary horse, with me! I went to see him at the barracks where our Cossacks were. He had behaved so outrageously that he had been shut up by himself in a stable—the door of which he'd nearly smashed to pieces on his way in.
"When he saw me he whinnied rapturously and soon bolted the sugar I had brought him.
"'You've just got to show what you can do,' I said, running my hand through his long, thick mane. 'We'll leave them all behind, won't we?'
"He nodded amiably to show he'd understood, and I went out to try on my riding-habit.
"When I reached my room I found Papa there, looking calm but radiant. I always loathe surprises. They are sure to be unpleasant.
"I saw that Papa didn't know how to begin, and that in itself made me suspicious.
"'You must hurry,' I said. 'I have to dress.'
"'My daughter,' he said, 'I have something important to say to you.'