The Tsar Paul was a lunatic and they murdered
him, but meanwhile he signed the ukase. The Tsar
Alexander, who is not so bad nor so silly as the
others, thinks there is no man so clever as Rezanov,
who addresses him personally when sending home
his reports. Do you know what all that means?
Your plenipotentiary is not only a Chamberlain at
court, a Privy Councillor, and the Tsar himself on
this side of the world, but when his inspections and
reforms are concluded, and he is one of the wealth-
iest men in Russia, he will return to St. Petersburg
and become so high and mighty that a princess
would snap at him. And you aspire! I never
heard such nonsense."

"His excellency told me much of this," replied
Concha imperturbably. "And I am sure that he
cares nothing for princesses and will marry whom
he most admires. He would not say, but I know
he cared nothing for that poor little wife, dead so
long ago. It was a mariage de convenance, such
as all the great world is accustomed to. He will
love me more than all the fine ladies he has ever
seen. I feel it. I know it! And I am quite happy."

"Do you love him?" asked Santiago, looking
curiously at his sister's flushed and glowing face.
It seemed to him that she had never looked so
young. "Many have loved you. I had begun to
think you had no heart for men, no wish for any-