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visit from Mademoiselle Marie Vassiltchikoff—the famous
Macha—whom I mentioned incidentally in Chapter V.
“What fair wind has brought you, and how
have you managed to leave the charming but enemy
country?” I asked her, alluding to the delightful
environs of Semmering where, lodged in a pretty chalet
between the villa of the Szecenyis and the castle of
the Lichtensteins, my compatriot led a wholesome and
charming life, made up of long walks on the mountain,
harmless gossip and luxurious tea parties.
“Oh! it’s a long story!” replied Mademoiselle
Vassiltchikoff. “I was allowed to leave, but on
parole; I am to go back there. Also, I am in a great
hurry to start; I shall start to-morrow. And I have
come to beg you, my dear Minister, to give me a permit,
or else to affix your seals to one of my handbags so
that I can get it through the custom-house at Tornea
easily.” “Dear me! dear me!” thought I, “and what
is the meaning of this trip on parole; and what is this
little bag that must be safeguarded from indiscreet
eyes? Is it possible that our mutual good friends in
Vienna wish to employ the plump Macha as the dove
out of the ark? I should have thought they would
have had more sense!” Aloud I said: “And is it long
since you left Vienna? Did you see Prince Lichtenstein
before you left?”
“Yes.... No.”... the face of the speaker became
crimson and betrayed intense embarrassment. “You
see, I left Austria four months ago.” And then with
the determined expression of some one who is going
to jump into the water, she let herself go: “I have been
in Germany all this time; I have heard and seen many
interesting things; I was shown over the Russian
prisoners’ camps; I had several talks with the
Grand-Duke of Hesse.... You understand that I must make
haste. One thing only worries me: shall I be allowed to
go back, do you think? For I have given my word that
I will go back.”
“But this is quite a case of Regulus of ever blessed
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