“Yes, sir; with Miss Delia, Countess of Rosenthal; and, what is more, I will tell you that I know everything.”
“What may it be that your Highness knows?”
“I know who she is.”
“Ha!”
“It was a great secret!”
“And how came your Highness to discover it?”
“The Grand Duke revealed it to me.”
“I might have guessed as much!”
“He alone could do so, and I rejoice that I addressed myself directly to him. At first, when I questioned him concerning the young Countess’s family, he ill concealed his embarrassment: her position struck me as strange; young, beautiful, and alone in the world, without relatives or guardians—all that seemed to me singular, if not suspicious. I trembled, as the possibility of an intrigue flashed upon me; but the Grand Duke, to dissipate my unfounded suspicion, told me all.”
“And what is your Highness’s decision?... After such a revelation——”