object of
saving me?" asked Nello. There was a very tender look in his eyes as
he spoke her name.

"I have known the Princess Nada from her childhood," said Beilski,
speaking with some emotion. "Her mother, father, and I were of the
same generation. The Princess Zouroff is a sweet woman--generous,
kind-hearted, charitable; the daughter is the same. The old Prince was
a ruffian in every sense of the word--drunken, dissolute, vicious. The
son is a ruffian also, but he has missed a few of the paternal vices.
He is not a confirmed drunkard, although he takes more than is good
for him, as is well known to his family and his intimates. And he is
only moderately dissolute. He has one superiority over his father: he
has got brains and ambition."

"How did such a fair flower spring from such a contaminated soil?"
asked Corsini wonderingly.

Beilski shrugged his shoulders. "Who can tell? A freak of nature, I
suppose. But remember the mother is pure, and comes from a family
without a taint. Well, to resume. When the maid had stammered forth
her confession, for an instant a horrible suspicion assailed my mind.
We know Zouroff to be a traitor whom we have not yet succeeded in
unmasking. Was his innocent-looking sister involved in his schemes?"

Nello leaned forward in a state of agitation. For an instant, on
hearing that it was the Princess and not La Belle Quero who had sent
that letter, a similar doubt had occurred to him.

"I took the bull by the horns. I sent a message by the maid that I
would call upon her mistress that same day, that she was to inform her
of what she had confessed."

"And you went and interviewed the Princess?" asked Corsini.

"Yes; fortunately I found her alone; her mother was in bed with a
feverish cold. She was nervous and agitated, as was to be expected,
but one moment's glance at her face convinced me that she was no
guilty woman, enmeshed with her own consent in her brother's vile
schemes."

The young man drew a deep breath of relief. He had always held the
highest opinion of her character. There would be some satisfactory
explanation forthcoming of her actions.

A little note of pomposity and self-congratulation crept into
Beilski's voice. "I need hardly tell you that an innocent and
inexperienced girl like this was as wax in my hands. With a woman of
Madame Quero's experience, my task might have been more difficult."

"I can quite believe it," murmured Corsini.

"In five minutes I had th