So they chatted until dinner was announced; then the countess lay down
on the sofa, and Stephanie came in and sat on a low stool beside her,
while her father and Julian went to the dining-room. After the meal was
over the count proposed that Julian should accompany him on a visit to
the Nobles' Club. The sledge was already waiting at the door, and in a
few minutes they arrived, not, as Julian had expected, at a stately
building, but at a garden.

"This is our skating place," the count said as they entered. "We have
guest-nights here once a week during the winter. As a rule, those
present are simply the invited guests of members; but to-night the
tickets are sold at twenty roubles each, and the proceeds go to the
funds for the benefit of the wounded. It will furnish a handsome sum,
for everyone is here, and there are few indeed who have paid as little
as the twenty roubles. Some sent cheques for as much as five hundred
roubles for their tickets, and a hundred may be taken as the average.
This is the first time that we have had a military band, for music is
naturally considered out of place when everyone is in mourning and such
vast numbers of our soldiers are still suffering horribly; but as this
is for their benefit it is considered as an exception. You will not see
much skating; the ice will be far too crowded."

It was indeed a brilliant scene. The gardens were lighted with myriads
of lamps. The sheet of ice was of a very irregular shape and broken by
several islets, upon which grew trees. From their branches hung numbers
of lanterns, while the bank round the ice was studded with lamps. The
crowds walking about by the edge of the lake were all wrapped up in
furs. A large proportion of those on skates wore uniforms, while the
ladies were in short, tightly-fitting jackets, trimmed with fur, and
with coquettish little fur caps. The crowd was far too great for any
attempt at figure-skating, but they moved swiftly round and round the
lake in a sort of procession, each lady accompanied by a cavalier, who
held her hand, and all skating with a grace and freedom that was to
Julian surprising indeed. The scene, with its bright colours and rapid
movement, was almost bewildering, and Julian was glad to turn away and
go up to the pavilion, where hot coffee and liquors were handed to all
comers.

The count spoke to many acquaintances, introducing Julian to each of
them as his great friend, Monsieur Wyatt, an Englishman. After w