“If you must know, I took this path by mistake. I trust I have not transgressed any rule of your Court etiquette——”
“Oh, no, no, no,” he broke in. “You say you did not speak with your friends again?”
“No. Is there any offence in that?”
I put the question in a bantering tone, and was rather surprised that he took it seriously.
“That I cannot tell. All depends on the subject of conversation. Let me see, Herren Szalay, Von Lindheim, and D’Urban; not so?”
“Yes. Is there anything more you wish to know?”
“At present, nothing. I thank you. Let me offer you my apologies and a piece of advice.”
“Yes?”
“Be careful of your words. You are not in England here. Our master, the Herr Chancellor, has no—patience with chatterers. Good-night. That is your way.”