ce, that he is this Samuel
Brohl you speak of?"

"I have no desire to do so," said the Princess. "Indeed, I want you to
promise me never to tell him that it was I who showed him up. Wait! I
have thought of something. The middle plate of my Persian bracelet used
to open with a secret spring. Open yours and if you find my name there,
well, you will know where it came from."

"Unless you are willing to repeat in the presence of myself and Count
Larinski all that you have just said," exclaimed Antoinette haughtily,
"there is only one thing I can promise you. I shall certainly never
relate to the man to whom I have the honour to be betrothed, a single
word of the silly, wicked slanders that you have uttered."

Princess Gulof rose up brusquely, and stood for a while looking at
Antoinette in silence.

"So, you do not believe me," she said in an ironic tone, blinking her
little eyes. "You are right. Old women, you know, seldom talk sense.
Samuel Brohl never existed, and I had the pleasure of dining last night
with the most authentic of all the Larinskis. Pardon me, and accept my
best wishes for the life-long happiness of the Count and Countess."

Thereupon she made a mocking curtsey, and turned on her heels and
disappeared.

"The woman is absolutely mad," said Antoinette. "Abel will be here in a
few minutes, and he will tell me what is the matter with her. I supposed
they quarrelled last night about Poland. Oh dear, what funny old women
there are in the world!"

As she was waiting for her lover to appear, Camille Langis came to the
house. Naturally, she was not desirous of talking with her rejected
suitor at that moment, and she gave him a rather frigid welcome.

"I see you don't want me," said Camille sadly, turning away.

"Of course I want you," she said, touched by the feeling he showed. "You
are my oldest and dearest friend."

For a few minutes, they sat talking together, and Camille noticed the
strange bracelet on her wrist, and praised its curious design.
Antoinette, struck by a sudden idea, took off the Persian ornament, and
gave it to Camille, saying:

"One of these plates, I believe, opens by a secret spring. You are an
engineer, can you find this spring for me?"

"The middle plate is hollow," said Langis, tapping it with a pen-knife,
"the other two are solid gold. Oh, what a clumsy fool I am! I have
broken it open."

"Is there any writing?" said Antoinette. "Let me look."

Yes, there was a long list