"'Tis after half-past eleven, and the beautiful singer expects you. She will tire of waiting."
"Let her sing something to cheer her."
"How, Prince? Have you changed your mind? Would you leave the captivating Rollina in the lurch, and throw away the golden opportunity you have been sighing for for two months? The letter you sent to-day, inclosing the diamond watch, did wonders. The proud but fragile beauty surrenders. This morning you were in raptures, and now you are as cold as ice! What is the cause of the change?"
"That is my business, not yours," said Philip.
"I had your orders to join you at half-past eleven. Perhaps you have other engagements?"
"Perhaps."
"A petit souper with the Countess Born? She is not present here; at least among all the masks I can't trace her out. I should know her among a thousand by that graceful walk and her peculiar way of carrying her little head—eh, Prince?"
"Well, but if it were so, there would be no necessity for making you my confidant, would there?"
"I will take the hint, and be silent. But won't you at any rate send to the Signora Rollina to let her know you are not coming?"
"If I have sighed for her for two months, she had better sigh a month or two for me. I sha'n't go near her."