“Buonaparte?” said Bilíbin inquiringly, puckering up his forehead to indicate that he was about to say something witty. “Buonaparte?” he repeated, accentuating the u : “I think, however, now that he lays down laws for Austria at Schönbrunn, il faut lui faire grâce de l’u ! 26 I shall certainly adopt an innovation and call him simply Bonaparte!”

“But joking apart,” said Prince Andréy, “do you really think the campaign is over?”