'You know, _chère Excellence_, I have known most of these dear friends so long; we have spent happy years together in different capitals; that is the best of diplomacy: _ce qu'il y a de beau dans la carrière c'est qu'on se retrouve toujours_.' 'It is not unlike a large family, one may say,' replied the Roumanian. 'How well you phrase it!' exclaimed Madame Lafarge. 'Listen, everybody: His Excellency has made a real _mot d'esprit_, he says diplomacy is like a large family.' Eve and Julian looked up, and their eyes met. 'You are not eating anything, Ardalion Semeonovitch,' said Armand (he had once spent two months in Russia) to Miloradovitch, holding out a plate of sandwiches. 'No, nor do I want anything,' said Miloradovitch rudely, and he got up, and walked away by himself. 'Dear me! _ces Russes!_ what manners!' said Madame Lafarge, pretending to be amused; and everybody looked facetiously at Eve. 'I remember once, when I was in Russia, at the time that Stolypin was Prime Minister,' Don Rodrigo began, 'there was a serious scandal about one of the Empress's ladies-in-waiting and a son of old Princess Golucheff--you remember old Princess Golucheff, Excellency? she was a Bariatinsky, a very handsome woman, and Serge Radziwill killed himself on her account--he was a Pole, one of the Kieff Radziwills, whose mother was commonly supposed to be _au mieux_ with Stolypin (though Stolypin was not at all that kind of man; he was _très province_), and most people thought that was the reason why Serge occupied such a series of the highest Court appointments, in spite of being a Pole--the Poles were particularly unpopular just then; I even remember that Stanislas Aveniev, in spite of having a Russian mother--she was an Orloff, and her jewels were proverbial even in Petersburg--they had all been given her by the Grand Duke Boris--Stanislas Aveniev was obliged to resign his commission in the Czar's guard. However, Casimir Golucheff....' but everybody had forgotten the beginning of his story and only Madame Lafarge was left politely listening. Julian overheard Eve reproducing, in an undertone to Armand, the style and manner of Don Rodrigo's conversation. He also became aware that, between her sallies, Fru Thyregod was bent upon retaining his attention for herself. He was disgusted with all this paraphernalia of social construction, and longed ardently for liberty on Aphros. He wondered whether Eve were truly satisfied, or whether she played the part merely with the humorous gusto of an artist, caught up in his own game; he wondered to what extent her mystery was due to her life's pretence?