At last he stammered
out:
"You know, if I ..."; but he got no further. Words failed him, and
tears choked his utterance.
"Well, if you what?" asked Sanine loudly, and his eyes shone. "I can
but tell you this, that there is not and there never has been anything
between Lida and Sarudine."
Novikoff looked at him in amazement.
"I ... well ... I thought ..." he began, feeling, to his dismay, that
he could no longer believe what Sanine said.
"You thought a lot of nonsense!" replied Sanine sharply. "You ought to
know Lida better than that. What sort of love can there be with all
that hesitation and shilly-shallying?"
Novikoff, overjoyed, grasped the other's hand.
Then, suddenly Sanine's face wore a furious expression as he closely
watched the effect of his words upon his companion.
Novikoff showed obvious pleasure at the thought of the woman he desired
being immaculate. Into those honest sorrowful eyes, there came a look
of animal jealousy and concupiscence.
"Oho!" exclaimed Sanine threateningly, as he got up. "Then what I have
to tell you is this: Lida has not only fallen in love with Sarudine,
but she has also had illicit relations with him, and is now
_enceinte_.
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