Sabin looked along his cigarette and pinched it affectionately.
It was one of his own, which he had dexterously substituted for
those which his host had placed at his disposal.
"The Countess is a very charming, a very beautiful, and a most
attractive woman," he said slowly. "Her marriage has always seemed
to me a matter of certainty."
Mr. Brott hesitated, and was lost.
"You are an old friend of hers," he said. "You perhaps know more
of her recent history than I do. For a time she seemed to drop out
of my life altogether. Now that she has come back I am very anxious
to persuade her to marry me."
A single lightning-like flash in Mr. Sabin's eyes for a moment
disconcerted his host. But, after all, it was gone with such
amazing suddenness that it left behind it a sense of unreality.
Mr. Brott decided that after all it must have been fancy.
"May I ask," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "whether the Countess appears
to receive your suit with favour?"
Mr. Brott hesitated.
"I am afraid I cannot go so far as to say that she does," he said
regretfully. "I do not know why I find myself talking on this
matter to you. I feel that I should apologise for giving such a
personal turn to the conversation."
"I beg that you will do nothing of the sort," Mr. Sabin protested.
"I am, as a matter of fact, most deeply interested.
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