Nevertheless, it was perfectly plain to both that the diplomatist would not willingly part with a possession on which he set so much store. The general-governor therefore bided his time until his excellency took a solitary ride outside the fortress. To guard against surprise, he had the drawbridges raised, then repaired to the church with Sophie, and a priest gave the young couple his blessing. While the ceremony was drawing to an end, to the ringing of all the steeples of Kaminiek, his excellency presented himself before the moat of the place, asking to be let in. He was informed of what had happened, and to corroborate the story they showed him the marriage-certificate duly signed and sealed, and in accordance with the _dénouement_ of every well-constructed comedy. And in order to spare the handsome delinquent the severe reproaches which in reality her ingratitude and her hurried desertion would have fully justified, the general sent word to the members of his excellency’s suite to pack up their traps and to join their chief without the walls. They were also to take back all the gifts Sophie had received from the marquis, not even excepting the fifteen hundred piastres of the primary contract; and the young bride added a letter full of excuses for having disposed of her hand and heart without the permission of her second father. M. de B---- could only give vent to his anger, not unjustified, by imprecations on and reproaches to those who were not to blame. Perfectly convinced, though, that he could not remain all his life contemplating the walls of the fortress, and that there was no probability of the two Courts suspending amicable relations to revenge an affront without a remedy, and to enforce restitution of another Helen to another Menelaus, the marquis pursued his journey, determined not to be caught a second time trafficking with a merchandise no doubt precious in its way, but only precious when it is given and not sold. After a honeymoon which lasted several years, and during which a son was born to him, the Comte de Witt obtained leave of absence, and journeyed to all the Courts of Europe with his beautiful Greek. Practically, theirs was a triumphal procession. The wondrous beauty of the girl, enhanced by all the sensuous and piquant charms of the East, transformed the tour into a kind of series of fairy tales. It was at that period that the Prince de Ligne, who at first gave me all those particulars, afterwards confirmed by Sophie herself, saw her at the Court of France. He subsequently saw her at the siege of Ismaël, where she was particularly distinguished by Prince Potemkin. Kings, statesmen, warriors, philosophers--all gave one the idea, in their intercourse with the beauteous Sophie, of Socrates, Pericles, and Alcibiades crowding around Aspasia to purify their taste and to sharpen the edge of their oratory.