"Yes, I did," said he.
"And you really don't know what followed?"
"Good heavens! how can I?"
"Well, then, as you ran out--to faint, Mademoiselle Klosking came in,
just as she did at the opera, you know, the time before, when you ran
out--to bleed. She slipped into your chair, the very moment you left it;
and your friend with the flaming neck-tie told her you had set him to bet
with your money. By-the-by, Mr. Severne, how on earth do you and
Mademoiselle Klosking, who have both so much taste in dress, come to have
a mutual friend, vulgarity in person, with a velveteen coat and an
impossible neck-tie?"
"What are you talking about, Miss Dover? I do just know Mademoiselle
Klosking; I met her in society in Vienna, two years ago: but that cad I
commissioned to bet for me I never saw before in my life. You are keeping
me on tenter-hooks. My money--my money--my money! If you have a heart in
your bosom, tell me what became of my money."
He was violent, for the first time since they had known him, and his eyes
flashed fire.
"Well," said Fanny, beginning to be puzzled and rather frightened, "this
man, who you _say_ was a new acquaintance--"
"Whom I _say?_ Do you mean to tell me I am a liar?" He fumbled eagerly in
his breast-pocket, and produced a card.
Pages:
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242