"It is false,
I say; no one saw you there! Ah, you dare, then, to impose a falsehood
upon your empress? You would--"
"I was at the court ball," interposed Lestocq; "I saw and noted all
that occurred there. I saw that my empress beamed in all the splendor of
beauty, and yet with her amiable modesty she thought Eleonore Lapuschkin
handsomer than herself. I read in Elizabeth's noble brow that she was
pained by this, and that she promised to punish the presumption of the
insolent countess."
"And to what end have you read all that," responded Elizabeth, with
vehemence, "to what end, since you are so sluggish a servant that you
make no effort to fulfil any wish of your mistress? To what end, since
you are so disregardful of your word as not to hold even your oath
sacred?"
"I was at the ball precisely because I remembered my oath," said
Lestocq, "because I was intent upon redeeming my word and delivering
over to you this Countess Lapuschkin as a criminal! But you could not
recognize me, as I was in the disguise of a lackey of the Countess
Eleonore Lapuschkin."
Elizabeth springing up from her seat, stared with breathless curiosity
into Lestocq's face.
"Well?" she anxiously asked, as Lestocq remained silent.
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