oodwinked. Vanity is a handicap assigned
to clever women by Fate, who handicaps us all without appeal. De
Chauxville saw by a little flicker of the eyelids that he had not missed
his mark. He had hit Etta where his knowledge of her told him she was
unusually vulnerable. He had made one ally. The countess he looked upon
with a wise contempt. She was easier game than Etta. Catrina he
understood well enough. Her rugged simplicity had betrayed her secret to
him before he had been five minutes in the room. Paul he despised as a
man lacking finesse and esprit--a truly French form of contempt. For
Frenchmen have yet to learn that such qualities have remarkably little
to do with love.

Claude de Chauxville was one of those men--alas! too many--who owe their
success in life almost entirely to some feminine influence or another.
Whenever he came into direct opposition to men it was his instinct to
retire from the field. Behind Paul's back he despised him; before his
face he cringed.

"Then, perhaps," he said, when the princess was engaged in the usual
farewells with the countess, and Paul was moving toward the door--"then,
perhaps, prince, we may meet again before the spring--if the countess
intends her invitation to be taken seriously."

"Yes," answered Paul; "I often shoot at Thors."

"If you do not happen to come over, perhaps I may be allowed to call and
pay my respects--or is the distance too great?"

"You can do it in an hour and a half with a quick horse, if the snow is
good," answered Paul.

"Then I may make it au revoir?" enquired De Chauxville, holding out a
frank hand.

"Au revoir," said Paul, "if you wish it."

And he turned to say good-by to Catrina.

As De Chauxville had arrived later than the other visitors, it was quite
natural that he should remain after they had left, and it may be safely
presumed that he took good care to pin the Countess Lanovitch down to
her rash invitation.

"Why is that man coming to Tver?" said Paul, rather gruffly, when Etta
and he were settled beneath the furs of the sleigh. "We do not want him
there."

"I expect," replied Etta rather petulantly, "that we shall be so
horribly dull that even M. de Chauxville will be a welcome alleviation."

Paul said nothing. He gave a little sign to the driver, and the horses
leaped forward with a musical clash of their silver bells.

CHAPTER XXII

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

It is to be feared that there is a lamentable lack of l