about being an ambassador.

"Yes, Lord Donal, if you will cruelly insist on calling me so; but this
cannot take from me the consolation that once, in the conservatory
of the White House, under the very shadow of the President, you
condescended to call me Don."

"You cannot expect one to remember what happened in Washington five
years ago. You know the administration itself changes every four years,
and memories seldom carry back even so far as that."

"I had hoped that my most outspoken adoration would have left
reminiscence which might outlast an administration. I have not found
forgetting so easy."

"Are you quite sure of that, Lord Donal?" asked the girl archly, closing
her fan and giving him for the first time a full view of her face.

The young man seemed for a moment perplexed, but she went on, giving him
little time for reflection. "Have your diplomatic duties taken you away
from Washington?"

"Yes, to the other end of the earth. I am now in St. Petersburg, with
ultimate hopes of Vienna, Princess. I happened to be in London this
week, and hearing you were to be here, I moved heaven and earth for an
invitation."

"Which you obtained, only to find yourself forgotten. How hollow this
world is, isn't it?"