At this she raised her veil entirely, and in turn asked: "Which father
do you mean?"

"Which father," he repeated, stopping.

"Oh, I have the advantage of everybody else! I have two fathers."

He could do no more than repeat after her: "Two fathers!"

"Yes; Uel the merchant is one of them, and the Prince of India is the
other. I suppose you mean the Prince, since you know him. He accompanied
me to the landing this morning, and seated me in the boat. He was then
well."

There was no concealment here. Yet Sergius saw the disclosure was not
complete. He was tempted to go on.

"Two fathers! How can such thing be?"

She met the question with a laugh. "Oh! If it depended on which of them
is the kinder to me, I could not tell you the real father."

Sergius stood looking at her, much as to say: "That is no answer; you
are playing with me."

"See how we are falling behind," she then said. "Come, let us go on. I
can talk while walking."

They set forward briskly, but it was noticeable that he moved nearer
her, stooping from his great height to hear further.