"He is a relative of the Kishkis, and through the Kishkis of us."
"In his fashion he is a devil, and an opponent dangerous in the highest degree."
"He? You might command him to go to Tsargrad[1] and pull the Sultan from his throne, or tear out the beard of the King of Sweden and bring it to Kyedani. But what did he not do here in time of war?"
"He has that look, but he has promised us vengeance to the last breath. Luckily he has a lesson from me that 't is not easy to encounter us. Acknowledge that I treated him in Radzivill fashion; if a French cavalier had done a deed like mine, he would boast of it whole days, excepting the hours of sleeping, eating, and kissing; for they, when they meet, emulate one another in lying, so that the sun is ashamed to shine."
"It is true that you squeezed him, but I would that it had not happened."
"And I would that you had chosen better confidants, with more respect for the Radzivill bones."
"Those letters! those letters!"
The cousins were silent for a while. Boguslav spoke first.
"But what sort of a maiden is she?"
"Panna Billevich?"
"Billevich or Myeleshko, one is the equal of the other. I do not ask for her name, but if she is beautiful."
"I do not look on those things; but this is certain, — the Queen of Poland need not be ashamed of such beauty."
"The Queen of Poland? Marya Ludvika? In the time of Cinq-Mars maybe the Queen of Poland was beautiful, but now the dogs howl when they see her. If your Panna Billevich is such as she, then I'll hide myself; but if she is really a wonder, let me take her to Tanrogi, and there she and I will think out a vengeance for Kmita."
Yanush meditated a moment.
"I will not give her to you," said he at last, "for you will constrain her with violence, and then Kmita will publish the letters."
"I use force against one of your tufted larks! Without boasting I may say that I have had affairs with not such as she, and I have constrained no one. Once only, but that was
- ↑ Tsargrad = Tsar's city, Constantinople.
