I asked her what had happened during my absence.

"Nothing; except that two pieces of news have reached us from
St. Petersburg. In the first place, my grandmother is very ill,
and unlikely to last another couple of days. We had this from
Timothy Petrovitch himself, and he is a reliable person. Every
moment we are expecting to receive news of the end."

"All of you are on the tiptoe of expectation? " I queried.

"Of course--all of us, and every minute of the day. For a
year-and-a-half now we have been looking for this."

"Looking for it?"

"Yes, looking for it. I am not her blood relation,
you know--I am merely the General's step-daughter. Yet I am
certain that the old lady has remembered me in her will."

"Yes, I believe that you WILL come in for a good deal," I said
with some assurance.

"Yes, for she is fond of me. But how come you to think so?"

I answered this question with another one. "That Marquis of
yours," I said, "--is HE also familiar with your family secrets?"

"And why are you yourself so interested in them?" was her retort
as she eyed me with dry grimness.