think of asking such a question."

"But if they did, what ought I to do?"

"You should make use of an evasion."

"What's an evasion?"

"A way of escaping from a difficulty without satisfying impertinent
curiosity."

"Give me an example."

"Well, if such a question were asked you, you might say, 'You had better
ask this gentleman.'"

"I see, the question is avoided; but is not that impolite?"

"Yes; but not so impolite as to ask an embarrassing question."

"And what would you say if the question was passed on to you?"

"Well, my answer would vary in a ratio with the respect in which I held
the questioner. I would not tell the truth, but I should say something.
And I am glad to see you attentive to my lessons. Always ask questions,
and you will always find me ready to answer, for I want to teach you. And
now let us to bed; we have to start for Antibes at an early hour, and
love will reward you for the pleasure you have given me to-day."

At Antibes I hired a felucca to take me to Genoa, and as I intended to
return by the same route I had my carriage warehoused for a small monthly
payment. We started early with a good wind, but the sea becoming rough,
and Rosalie being mortally afraid, I had the felucca rowed into
Villafranca, where I engaged a carriage to take me to Nice. The weather
kept us back for three days, and I felt obliged to call on the
commandant, an old officer named Peterson.

He gave me an excellent reception, and after the usual compliments had
passed, said,--

"Do you know a Russian who calls himself Charles Ivanoff?"

"I saw him once at Grenoble."

"It is said that he has escaped from Siberia, and that he is the younger
son of the Duke of Courland."

"So I have heard, but I know no proof of his claim to the title."

"He is at Genoa, where it is said a banker is to give him twenty thousand
crowns. In spite of that, no one would give him a sou here, so I sent him
to Genoa at my own expense, to rid the place of him."

I felt very glad that the Russian had gone away before my arrival. An
officer named Ramini, who was staying at the same inn as myself, asked if
I would mind taking charge of a packet which M. de St. Pierre, the
Spanish consul, had to send to the Marquis Grimaldi, at Genoa. It was the
nobleman I had just seen at Avignon, and I was pleased to execute the
commission. The same officer asked me whether I had ever seen a certain
Madame Stuard.

"She came here a fortnight ago wi