"Why, then, it would be base and wicked to endeavour to harm a poor weak girl like me. Let me go, I say; I must and will return home." "Come, come. Iris--be calm. What use is there in my speaking to you of Madame de Hansfeld, if you will not answer the questions I must unavoidably put to you? "I would much rather hear you speak of my mistress than address such language to me." "Well, then, let us talk only of Madame de Hansfeld. Tell me, is it not above a week ago since she accompanied her husband to the Théâtre Français?" "It is. I remember it the more particularly, because it was the first occasion of the prince's having gone out for a long while." "And you, charming Iris, remained probably all alone at the Hôtel. Ah! had I but known it, what happiness would it not have afforded me to have been permitted to share your solitude with you!" "Speak only of the princess, or I leave you." "Pardon me for forgetting your former wishes. In what state did your mistress appear to you on her return from the theatre?" "At first she seemed very uneasy, for the prince did not entirely recover from his indisposition for more than an hour after his return to the Hôtel." "Iris, what splendid eyes you have!--and what a beneficent moon we have that shews them to double advantage when compared with her own pale rays!" "Have you nothing further to ask me, or tell me, respecting her excellency?" "And I suppose, when once reassured as to her husband's health, Madame de Hansfeld resumed her ordinary state of calmness and composure?--What a lovely hand yours is, Iris!--and how small!" "Leave off these foolish compliments, I desire. What good is there in your asking me questions, when you pay not the slightest attention to the answers I make you?" "Now you shall see how attentive I will be. You are right: matters of the most vital import are at stake, and it is almost in spite of myself, that I yield to the fascinations with which you surround me. But now, then, go on--tell me of the princess?" "Far from becoming tranquil, when the state of the prince no longer excited her apprehensions, her agitation appeared to increase. I attended her as usual, with the rest of her women, but she dismissed them all but me; then, when we were alone, she wept. Oh! how bitterly she wept!" "Did she, indeed?" "And even I could scarcely restrain my tears." "She seemed very angry, did she, Iris?"