Seeing her husband enter, she did not finish the sentence.

“Oh yes, you must hear him! Barbini is a wonderful tenor,” she said, smiling amiably at the Governor’s wife. She referred to a singer newly arrived in Russia, and did so as naturally as though he had been the sole subject of their conversation.

The General’s daughter, a plump, pretty young girl, was sitting with her fiancé behind a Chinese screen at the other end of the drawing-room. They both rose and went up to her father.

“Dear me! Why, we have not yet seen one another today!” said the General, kissing his daughter and pressing her fiancé’s hand.

After greeting his guests, the General sat down at a small table, and began talking with the Governor about the latest news.