"Ah, my dear sweetheart, how pleasant to see you again!" said the base hypocrite. "I have had a busy day. Things are going well. It will not be long before my utmost ambitions are realised." He spoke confidently; he was ever an optimist, and he believed in his own particular star. La Belle Quéro felt an inward qualm. Corsini was nothing to her now. And, in that brief interview with Nada, she had surmised, through all her girlish dignity and reticence, that the Princess was more than half in love with him. Otherwise, would she have been so eager to save him? But if Zouroff triumphed, as he seemed to have every hope of doing, the Italian's fate would be sealed. And Le Belle Quéro was sure she could not save him a second time. The fates would not be propitious to her again. "Old friends are best, my dear," said the Prince in his most agreeable tones, as he seated himself in one of the luxurious easy-chairs and lighted a cigarette. "Somehow a little cloud seems to have come between us lately, I should like to remove it." Madame Quéro looked a little uneasy. She knew full well to what he was alluding. Her obvious _tendresse_ for the young director had occasioned a good deal of talk; no doubt some of it had floated to Zouroff's ears. "Do not let us speak of clouds, Boris. We have been long and good friends. Let us be good friends again." "With all my heart," responded the Prince, with his most charming smile. "Well, I have come to tell you I shall not be at the Opera to-night. I have to see a great many people, make a great many arrangements. I cannot tell you how sorry I am; I know it is one of your great nights. But you understand--business must always come before pleasure." Madame assented good humouredly. "It has always been so with you, Boris, at any rate. You are a great man in many ways, perhaps a little too optimistic, a little too sure of yourself." The Prince smiled his confident smile. "A pessimist is not much good in this world, my dear. Believe in yourself and your star, and you will become a leader of men." "Perhaps," sighed Madame Quéro. She was beginning to be very attracted to him again. He was certainly in a most charming mood to-night; she felt herself carried back to the old days when she had been infatuated with him, with his virility, his assurance, even the hint of that brutal strength which lay at the back of his plausible exterior. At length the Prince rose. "I wonder whether you would do me a little kindness. It is a long time since we had a meal together and I told them at home I should not be back till late to-night, after the meeting here. You have given instructions to Stepan to be in readiness?" Yes, she had given instructions to Stepan. "Then you will give me a little snack before you start for the Opera? No prolonged, heavy meal, we have neither of us time for that, just something light."