Baroness Orczy

“ Volenski had already opened the parcel, and, with the eyes of a connoisseur, was admiring the exquisite workmanship, the grace of design, of these truly unique bibelots.
"Their history," added his Eminence, "as His Majesty told me, is as interesting as the works of art themselves. The candlesticks are not entirely what they seem, and there is a charming secret about them." ”

“ Petersburg, the papers safely across the frontier, he would have exercised the finest stroke of strategy ever done by any member of the secret society.
"Well, Iván, and what do you think of them?" his Eminence's voice broke in, on Volenski's meditations.
"They are certainly most exquisite works of art," said the young man, pulling himself together, "but I do not wonder that your Eminence is anxious about them; they seem so brittle, so fragile, that one fears damage even in the packing." ”

“ Petersburg, my son, to be laid at the most beautiful feet in the world–those of the Princess Marïonoff–on behalf of his Catholic and Apostolic Majesty Franz Jozef I."
"And your Eminence has undertaken to convey this unwieldy parcel all the way to St. Petersburg, and are giving up your holiday in order to satisfy the Emperor's caprice?" asked Volenski in astonishment.
"What could I do?" said the Cardinal impatiently. "You know how insinuating the Hapsburg family can be–its respected chief more so than anyone in the world. ”