He seemed for a moment to lose himself in thought.

His hard and somewhat cruel mouth was tightly closed; there was a slight frown upon his forehead.

He was sitting upright, taking no advantage of the cushioned back of his easy-chair, his eyes a little screwed up, the frown deepening.

For quite five minutes there was complete silence.

One might have gathered that, turning aside from great matters, he had been devoting himself entirely to the scheme in which Dominey was concerned.
"Von Ragastein," he said at last, "I have sent for you to have a few words concerning your habitation in England.