"He came into his vast fortune rather too young, and lived rather
fiercely. His mother was a Basmanoff; that means a kind of Croesus in
Russia. He is a great favorite with the powers that be, and is in the
Cossacks of the Escort. Something in their wild freedom appealed to him
more than any other corps. He is a Cossack himself on the mother's side,
and the blood is all rather wild, you know."
Tamara looked as she felt--interested.
"They tell the most tremendous stories about him," the old man went on,
"hugely exaggerated, of course; but the fact remains, he is a
fascinating, restless, dauntless character."
"What sort of stories?" asked Tamara, timidly.
"Not all fit for your ears, gentle lady," laughed Stephen Strong.
"Sheer devilment, mostly. It was the amusement in the beginning to dare
him to anything, the maddest feats. He ran off with a nun once, it is
said, for a bet, and deposited her in the house of the man she had
loved before her vows were taken. That was in Poland. Then he has
orgies sometimes at his country place, when every one is mad for three
days on end. It causes terrible scandal. Then he comes back like a
lamb, and purrs to all the old ladies. They say he obeys neither God
nor the Devil--only the Emperor on this earth."
"How dreadful!" force of habit made Tamara say, while her thoughts
unconsciously ran into interested fascination.
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