Very well. In that
I think I can aid you, and thus have taken the liberty of requesting
your attendance here this morning. Let me fill your glass again,
Monsieur Valmont.'
'No more, I beg of you, Mr. Dacre.'
'What, do you think the receiver is as bad as the thief?'
I was so taken aback by this remark that I suppose my face showed the
amazement within me. But the young man merely laughed with apparently
free-hearted enjoyment, poured some wine into his own glass, and
tossed it off. Not knowing what to say, I changed the current of
conversation.
'Mr. Gibbes said you had been kind enough to recommend me to his
attention. May I ask how you came to hear of me?'
'Ah! who has not heard of the renowned Monsieur Valmont,' and as he
said this, for the first time, there began to grow a suspicion in my
mind that he was chaffing me, as it is called in England--a procedure
which I cannot endure. Indeed, if this gentleman practised such a
barbarism in my own country he would find himself with a duel on his
hands before he had gone far. However, the next instant his voice
resumed its original fascination, and I listened to it as to some
delicious melody.
'I need only mention my cousin, Lady Gladys Dacre, and you will at
once understand why I recommended you to my friend.
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