"Let us agree to delay the decision, your Highness. The subject in question is no child's play; nor is it the fighting down any youthful love affair. Let your Imperial Highness weigh well what you are renouncing--the nineteen crowns of Russia! From Ivan Alexievitch's crown, inlaid with its nine hundred brilliants, to the simple 'cap' of Peter the Great; the Novgorod crown with the Deissus, crown of the Republic, worn by Ruric; the Astrakhan cap of Michael Feodorvitch; the Siberian hat of Fedor Alexievitch; lastly, the ancient, most sacred relic, the crown of Monomachos, who dates from legendary times. And would my illustrious chief renounce all this splendor for the sake of a 'woman's charms'?" Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Chevalier Galban, who appeared in the doorway humming a ballet air. "Well, Galban," shouted the Grand Duke, as he appeared, "how do you like the Belvedere?" "Grand!" returned the Chevalier, "and, moreover, an _impregnable fortress_!" The two last words were directed to Araktseieff, accompanied with a meaning look. Possibly the Grand Duke intercepted it, for with sharp intonation he repeated: "An impregnable fortress? I did not know that you concerned yourself with the storming of fortresses among other things." "Oh yes," retorted the Chevalier, in a tone equally sarcastic. "I have had the good-fortune to succeed in storming many a castle hitherto held to be impregnable." Araktseieff here cut short the allegory by interposing, abruptly: "I know the castles in the taking of which you have won your spurs--Château Lafitte and Château Margot!"--both well-known Bordeaux wines--at which the Grand Duke, with a laugh, rose from the table. CHAPTER XX THE BLIND HEN'S GENUINE PEARL What had Chevalier Galban found so admirable on the terrace of Belvedere Castle, and what did he find so impregnable there?