And she ceased speaking, giving Kaledine his cue in the conversation.
At the beginning the count appeared cold and rather disdainful in his words, as though he could not possibly lay aside his diplomatic haughtiness.

But this hauteur gradually melted away.
Through his "distinguished friend,--Madame Talberg," he had heard of many of Ferragut's nautical adventures.

Men of action, the heroes of the ocean, were always exceedingly interesting to him.
Ulysses suddenly noticed in his noble interlocutor a warm affection, a desire to make himself agreeable, just like the doctor's.

What a lovely home this was in which everybody was making an effort to be gracious to Captain Ferragut! The count, smiling amiably, ceased to avail himself of his English, and soon began talking to him in Spanish, as though he had reserved this final touch in order to captivate Ulysses' affection with this most irresistible of flatteries.
"I have lived in Mexico," he said, in order to explain his knowledge of the language.

"I made a long trip through the Philippines when I was living in Japan." The seas of the extreme Far East were those least frequented by Ulysses.