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 *cess or myself personally, perhaps; but something which may take time to work out. She will cling to the hope of retaining the Prince on the throne to the last possible moment; and she may reckon, as she has done hitherto, that by removing the Princess the Russian scheme will be so maimed that the Prince may be able to retrieve and retain his position—at all events for a time. She may now include me in some such plan of assassination. The question for us to consider is, then, how soon we can complete our arrangements, by hurrying them forward at fever heat, so as to make us indifferent to what Kolfort can do."

I continued to urge this from every standpoint, until I saw with great satisfaction that Zoiloff's enthusiasm began to heat again. But suddenly his face clouded, and he said:

"Are you forgetting the strange story she is going to tell about yourself and the Princess? I know nothing of it, of course," he added, as though in assurance of his faith in me. "But if such a tale should reach old Kolfort—and she seemed mad enough to scream it from the housetops—you can judge what he may think."

"There is a ready answer to it," I returned, gloomy now in my turn at the thought behind my words.

"You mean denial. I don't like to speak of this, Count."

"I do not mean denial only in words. They count for little enough in a time like this," I replied bitterly.

"What then?"

"The Princess's only answer will be the hurrying forward of her marriage with the Duke Sergius. It is the inevitable corollary of her decision to-day."

"By God, but you are a man, Count!" cried Zoiloff,