"I beg pardon, madame, but a stranger who delivered this letter said that it must be given to Madame the Princess at once."
"Is there any answer?" asked Lise Olsdorf, visibly growing paler, for she had recognized her husband's writing on the envelope.
"The bearer went away without saying anything," the footman replied.
"Very well. You can go."
The door of the box was closed again. Frowning, the princess, who did not want to open the letter before the end of the act, seemed to guess what threatened her within the envelope.
"What is the matter?" asked Paul Meyrin, uneasy at her silence.
"The letter is from the prince," replied Lise Olsdorf.
"Well, is that very extraordinary?"
"It has not come by post. See, there is no stamp on it. A commissionaire must have brought it to the house, so that my husband is in Paris. He has left St. Petersburg without warning. I am lost!"
Paul Meyrin had grown very pale.