And he read: "Who were the two ladies at the Corso? Is it the elder or is it the younger? Who is Pitt? Who is Serge? Who is Gaston?"
Botho laughed. "If I should answer all those questions, Lena, I should have to stay till early to-morrow morning."
It was fortunate that Frau Dörr was not present to hear this answer or else there would have been a fresh embarrassment. But the good lady who was usually so brisk, at least where the Baron was concerned, had not yet returned, and so Lena said: "Very well, then, have it your own way. And for all I care, the two ladies may wait until another time! But what do the foreign names mean? I asked you before, the time you brought the bonbons. But you gave me no real answer, only half an answer. Is it a secret?"
"No."
"Then tell me about it."
"Gladly, Lena, these names are only nicknames."
"I know that. You said so before."
"So they are names that we have given each other for convenience, with or without reason, just by chance."
"And what does Pitt mean?"
"Pitt was an English statesman."