"Your joke is too bad, it's witty but unjust," said Anna Pavlovna, shaking her little shriveled finger at him.

"We are not fighting pour le Roi de Prusse, but for right principles.

Oh, that wicked Prince Hippolyte!" she said.

The conversation did not flag all evening and turned chiefly on the political news.

It became particularly animated toward the end of the evening when the rewards bestowed by the Emperor were mentioned.