So she shrunk back in her corner and gave no reply.
"Are you angry with me?" he whispered. "It was the shaking of the
automobile which caused me to come too near you. Forgive me, I will try
not to sin again,"--but as he spoke he repeated his offense!
Tamara clasped her hands together, tightly, and answered in the coldest
voice--
"I did not notice anything, Prince, it must be a guilty conscience
which causes you to apologize."
"In that case then all is well!" and he laughed softly.
The Princess now joined in the conversation.
"Gritzko, you must tell Mrs. Loraine how these gipsies are, and what
she will hear--she will think it otherwise so strange."
He turned to Tamara at once.
"They are a queer people who dwell in a clan. They sing like the
fiend--one hates it or loves it, but it gets on the nerves, and if a
man should fancy one of them, he must pay the chief, not the girl. Then
they are faithful and money won't tempt them away. But if the man makes
them jealous, they run a knife into his back."
"It sounds exciting at all events," Tamara said.
"It is an acquired taste, and if you have a particularly sensitive ear
the music will make you feel inclined to scream. It drives me mad."
"Gritzko," the Princess whispered to him. "You promise to be _sage_,
dear boy, do you not? Sometimes you alarm me when you go too far.
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