Did you ever meet him--the Duke of Strelsau ?" "Yes, I did," growled Bertram.
"An extremely accomplished man, I thought him." It was not hard to see that George's references to the duke were intended to aggravate poor Bertram's sufferings, so that I drew the inference that the duke had distinguished Madame de Mauban by his attentions.

She was a widow, rich, handsome, and, according to repute, ambitious.

It was quite possible that she, as George put it, was flying as high as a personage who was everything he could be, short of enjoying strictly royal rank: for the duke was the son of the late King of Ruritania by a second and morganatic marriage, and half-brother to the new King.

He had been his father's favourite, and it had occasioned some unfavourable comment when he had been created a duke, with a title derived from no less a city than the capital itself.

His mother had been of good, but not exalted, birth.
"He's not in Paris now, is he ?" I asked.
"Oh no! He's gone back to be present at the King's coronation; a ceremony which, I should say, he'll not enjoy much.