"Even enough to tell me the absolute, exact truth?"
"Yes, Mam'zelle."
"Well, what do you think, way down in your heart, of the Prince of Kravalow?"
"Ah, the devil!"
"You see that you are already preparing to lie."
"Not at all, but I am seeking the words, the proper words. Great Heavens, Prince Kravalow is a Russian, who speaks Russian, who was born in Russia, who has perhaps had a passport to come to France, and about whom there is nothing false but his name and title."
She looked him in the eyes: "You mean that he is—?"
"An adventurer, Mam'zelle."
"Thank you, and Chevalier Valreali is no better?" "You have hit it."
"And Monsieur de Belvigne?"