"You relate mere
facts--have you no suppositions, no questions in your mind about the
man?"
"I want to know what his purpose in life may be. There is a purpose--one
sees it in his face. I want also to know what he does with his spare
time; he must have much to dispose of in England."
Vassili nodded, and suddenly launched into detail.
"Prince Pavlo Alexis," he said, "is a young man who takes a full and
daring advantage of his peculiar position. He defies many laws in a
quiet, persistent way which impresses the smaller authorities and to a
certain extent paralyzes them. He was in the Charity League--deeply
implicated. He had a narrow escape. He was pulled through by the
cleverest man in Russia."
"Karl Steinmetz?"
"Yes," answered Vassili behind the rigid smile; "Karl Steinmetz."
"And that," said De Chauxville, watching the face of his companion, "is
all you can tell me?"
"To be quite frank with you," replied the man who had never been quite
frank in his life, "that is all I want to tell you."
De Chauxville lighted a cigarette, with exaggerated interest in the
match.
"Paul is a friend of mine," he said calmly. "I may be staying at Osterno
with him."
The rigid smile never relaxed.
"Not with Karl Steinmetz on the premises," said Vassili imperturbably.
"The astute Mr. Steinmetz may be removed to some other sphere of
usefulness.
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