A Diplomatic Woman.

by Huan Mee.

THE RUSSIAN CIPHER

"Saints defend us!" I pettishly exclaimed. "Is there no one in the world with an atom of brains? I don't want to go as 'Night' or 'Morning,' nor as 'Marguerite' or 'Pierrette,' or 'Madame la Pompadour'; I want something original!" And I stamped my foot to give emphasis to the remark.

"Shall it be as 'Carmen,' madame?"

I sank into a chair in dismay. "Carmen!" This was the creature's idea of originality. It was too ludicrous for anger. I laughed, and then, as I raised my eyes to Madame Virot's indignantly bewildered countenance, my glance fell upon a dress in a wardrobe behind her, and I pointed to it in a flutter of excitement.

"Some one has originality, after all," I cried. "What does that dress represent?"

"An ice palace, madame."

"_Mon Dieu!_ It is superb."

"_Mais oui, madame, c'est magnifique, c'est un miracle_," and then, carried away with enthusiasm, she brought it forth and dilated upon it.

A pale green dress, covered with a shimmering, sparkling net-work that looked like frost itself.

"You see, madame, the head-dress forms the snowy pinnacle of the tower, and the _eau de Nil_ embroidered skirt follows the frosted outlines of the building, which is a _fac-simile_ of the ice palace raised last winter upon the Neva. An emerald satin mask, with tiny crystal icicles hanging from the edge, in place of the usual fringe of lace, completes the costume."

"I must have it," I cried; "it is incomparable."

"It is sold, madame."

"I will pay double."

"Impossible!"

"Treble!"

"I would willingly give it to madame, as it pleases her fancy, but I cannot; it was designed according to sketches sent to me."

"Tush!" I impatiently exclaimed; "make a duplicate."

"It is impossible, madame, for the dress is for the same _bal masque_ that you will attend."

"And for whom?" I superciliously queried, for I was beside myself with vexation. "Some n.o.body who has secured a card by chance, and wishes to be thought a princess in disguise, eh?"

"I make for no such people," Madame Virot exclaimed, with a reflection of my own annoyance. "The dress is for the Countess Zarfine. If madame will suggest something else--"

I turned my eyes from the dress that tormented me, and racked my brains for something that should excel its splendor, but the idea came not, and with a contemptuous glare I faced the inoffensive milliner, who had tried to please me for years, and had never more than half succeeded.

"To be original nowadays," I said, indifferently, "is, after all, so commonplace, that to be commonplace is to be original. I will go as 'Carmen.'"

The daintiness of my epigram pleased me so well that I was almost content, yet as I drove towards Le Bois the desire for the costume came upon me again, and I was disconsolate. For it was no ordinary _bal masque_, where everything was to be pretence, from the characters represented to the fable that the dancers knew not one another. It was all to be real, and no dissimulation. There was to be no unmasking time, but every one was to be _incognito_ from the beginning to the end. It was rumored that even our host and hostess would drive up to their own house and enter amid the throng. No one was to know any one, and yet every one was to know every one; no master of the ceremonies, no host and hostess, no introductions or formal presentations. The fact that one was there was an official stamp upon one's pa.s.sport of reputation. It was a Bohemian idea worthy of her who had brought it to Paris--the Countess Zarfine, wife of the Russian Amba.s.sador, and since, perforce, I must be masked, I would have dazzled by art instead of nature; yet it was not to be, and I grew peevish as I nursed my discomfiture.

My landau pulled up as we entered the gates, and Monsieur Roche, the Premier, from whom I had received in the past many diplomatic commissions, raised his hat and extended his hand.

"Madame, the G.o.ds love me."

"Monsieur, you are too modest; you should have used the feminine."

"I wanted to see you more than any other woman in Paris," he answered, "and therefore I repeat--'The G.o.ds love me.'"

"'Those whom the G.o.ds love,' monsieur--" and I smiled, for I would have given worlds to quarrel with some one, and preferably my best of friends.

"'Die young,' eh?" he chuckled. "Well, the danger for me is past." And then, without waiting for an invitation, he calmly stepped into the carriage and seated himself beside me.

Here was, indeed, candor too wonderful for words, and I gazed reprovingly upon him.

"You must help me, _ma chere_," he said, gravely. "It is no pleasantry, but a serious matter--one that touches my reputation nearly."

"Well, _mon ami_?"

"You know our relationship with Russia?"

"The pretty girl with inviting graces to a gallant who hesitates."

"Precisely," he answered, in a tone of appreciation at my simile; "but the pretty girl's love-letters are being opened."

"Humiliating."

"More than that," he cried, impetuously; "detrimental to me. Three times in the past month has the most secret cipher of the government been changed, because identical with the receipt of our message by Russia its import has become public property in the capitals of Europe."

"Then, ineffectually changed," I observed.

"Utterly. I have just left Count Zarfine, the Russian Amba.s.sador, and he has dared to imply, in almost undiplomatic language, that his government suspects us of trifling. _Mon Dieu!_" Monsieur Roche cried in an awe-stricken voice; "trifling with Russia!"

"Who holds this cipher?"

"Myself and Count Zarfine. When it is changed the new cipher is sent to St. Petersburg by him direct to the Minister, and the doc.u.ments by me, through the diplomatic departments. We have varied the cipher three times, we have sent different messengers each time, but the result has always been the same. The world learned the message at once, and we are fast becoming the laughing-stock of Europe, for the pretty girl is ready to offer so much for alliance."

"And the Count could not help you, _mon ami_?"

"He was brusque almost to rudeness, but his wife--"

"Ah, monsieur, his wife, what of her?" I asked, with a smile, for I well knew the fascinations of the Countess Zarfine.

"She knows, as I know," monsieur answered, "that, as in France, so in Russia, there are powerful influences against this alliance."

He lowered his voice and continued impressively, "Influences so powerful that it might be possible for them to obtain our secret papers, open them, read them, and then reseal them and pa.s.s them on to their destination."

"But that would be useless without the key to the cipher, _mon ami_."