"Ah," he said, "the interviewer, eh? You wish to--"

Clarence began to explain his mission. While he was doing so the Grand
Duke strolled to the basin and began to remove his make-up. He
favoured, when on the stage, a touch of the Raven Gipsy No. 3
grease-paint. It added a picturesque swarthiness to his appearance, and
made him look more like what he felt to be the popular ideal of a
Russian general.

The looking-glass hung just over the basin.

Clarence, watching him in the glass, saw him start as he read the first
paragraph. A dark flush, almost rivalling the Raven Gipsy No. 3, spread
over his face. He trembled with rage.

"Who put that paper there?" he roared, turning.

"With reference, then, to Mr. Hubert Wales's novel," said Clarence.

The Grand Duke cursed Mr. Hubert Wales, his novel, and Clarence in one
sentence.

"You may possibly," continued Clarence, sticking to his point like a
good interviewer, "have read the trenchant, but some say justifiable
remarks of the Rev. Canon Edgar Sheppard, D.D., Sub-Dean of His
Majesty's Chapels Royal, Deputy Clerk of the Closet, and Sub-Almoner to
the King."

The Grand Duke swiftly added that eminent cleric to the list.