"Wine?" excitedly.

"Does not the name sound good? And, by the way, did you know that that
woman with the grey mask, who was at the Corne d'Abondance . . ."

"I have seen her," quietly.

"What is her name, and what has she done?" indifferently.

"Her name I can not tell you, Paul."

"Can not? Why not 'will not'?"

"Will not, then. I have given my promise."

"Have I ever kept a secret from you, Victor?"

"One."

"Name it."

"That mysterious mademoiselle whom you call Diane. You have never even
told me what she looks like."

"I could not if I tried. But this woman in the mask; at least you
might tell me what she has done."

"Politics. Conspiracy, like misery, loves company. . . . Who has been
burning paper?" sniffing.