"I do not intend to dance, monsieur."

The curt tone of the lady's replies was so discouraging that the
Colonel found himself compelled to raise the siege. Martial, who
guessed what the officer's last request had been, and the refusal he
had met with, began to smile, and stroked his chin, making the diamond
sparkle which he wore on his finger.

"What are you laughing at?" said the Comtesse de Vaudremont.

"At the failure of the poor Colonel, who has just put his foot in
it----"

"I begged you to take your ring off," said the Countess, interrupting
him.

"I did not hear you."

"If you can hear nothing this evening, at any rate you see everything,
Monsieur le Baron," said Madame de Vaudremont, with an air of
vexation.

"That young man is displaying a very fine diamond," the stranger
remarked to the Colonel.

"Splendid," he replied. "The man is the Baron Martial de la
Roche-Hugon, one of my most intimate friends."

"I have to thank you for telling me his name," she went on; "he seems