said as much to Mr.
Astley.

But what a frail creature is man! No sooner was my first surprise
abated than I found myself rejoicing in the shock which we were about
to administer to the General. So much did the thought inspire me that I
marched ahead in the gayest of fashions.

Our party was lodging on the third floor. Without knocking at the door,
or in any way announcing our presence, I threw open the portals, and
the Grandmother was borne through them in triumph. As though of set
purpose, the whole party chanced at that moment to be assembled in the
General's study. The time was eleven o'clock, and it seemed that an
outing of some sort (at which a portion of the party were to drive in
carriages, and others to ride on horseback, accompanied by one or two
extraneous acquaintances) was being planned. The General was present,
and also Polina, the children, the latter's nurses, De Griers, Mlle.
Blanche (attired in a riding-habit), her mother, the young Prince, and
a learned German whom I beheld for the first time. Into the midst of
this assembly the lacqueys conveyed Madame in her chair, and set her
down within three paces of the General!

Good heavens! Never shall I forget the spectacle which ensued! Just
before our entry, the General had been holding forth to the company,
with De Griers in support of him. I may also mention that, for the last
two or three days, Mlle. Blanche and De Griers had been making a great
deal of the young Prince, under the very nose of the poor General. In
short, the company, though decorous and conventional, was in a gay,
familiar mood. But no sooner did the Grandmother appear than the
General stopped dead in the middle of a word, and, with jaw dropping,
stared hard at the old lady--his eyes almost starting out of his head,
and his expression as spellbound as though he had just seen a basilisk.
In return, the Grandmother stared at him silently and without
moving--though with a look of mingled challenge, triumph, and ridicule
in her eyes. For ten seconds did the pair remain thus eyeing one
another, amid the profound silence of the company; and even De Griers
sat petrified--an extraordinary look of uneasiness dawning on his face.
As for Mlle. Blanche, she too stared wildly at the Grandmother, with
eyebrows raised and her lips parted--while the Prince and the German
savant contemplated the tableau in profound amazement. Only Polina
looked anything but perplexed or surprised. Presently, however,