"I do," he said quietly.
"And yet you offer me your friendship?"
He bowed in acquiescence.
"Why?" she asked.
"For Paul's sake, my dear lady."
She shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him.
"Of course," she said, "it is quite easy to be rude. As it happens, it
is precisely for Paul's sake that I took the trouble of speaking to you
on this matter. I do not wish him to be troubled with such small
domestic affairs; and therefore, if we are to live under the same roof,
I shall deem it a favor if you will, at all events, conceal your
disapproval of me."
He bowed gravely and kept silence. Etta sat with a little patch of color
on either cheek, looking into the fire until the door was opened and
Maggie came in.
Steinmetz went toward her with his grave smile, while Etta hid a face
which had grown haggard.
Maggie glanced from one to the other with frank interest. The
relationship between these two had rather puzzled her of late.
"Well," said Steinmetz, "and what of St. Petersburg?"
"I am not disappointed," replied Maggie. "It is all I expected and more.
I am not blasee like Etta. Every thing interests me."
"We were discussing Petersburg when you came in," said Steinmetz,
drawing forward a chair. "The princess does not like it. She complains
of--nerves."
"Nerves!" exclaimed Maggie, turning to her cousin.
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