Then his sensuous lips parted in scorn.
"How much do you know ?" he demanded with sullen contempt.
"I have been in that room for the half of an hour," I answered, rapping the partition with my knuckles.
"The dividing wall, as you will observe, is thin, and I heard everything that passed between you and Mademoiselle de Lavedan." "So that Bardelys, known as the Magnificent; Bardelys the mirror of chivalry; Bardelys the arbiter elegantiarum of the Court of France, is no better, it seems, than a vulgar spy." If he sought by that word to anger me, he failed.
"Lord Count," I answered him very quietly, "you are of an age to know that the truth alone has power to wound.

I was in that room by accident, and when the first words of your conversation reached me I had not been human had I not remained and strained my ears to catch every syllable you uttered.

For the rest, let me ask you, my dear Chatellerault, since when have you become so nice that you dare cast it at a man that he has been eavesdropping ?" "You are obscure, monsieur.

What is it that you suggest ?" "I am signifying that when a man stands unmasked for a cheat, a liar, and a thief, his own character should give him concern enough to restrain him from strictures upon that of another." A red flush showed through the tan of his skin, then faded and left him livid--a very evil sight, as God lives.

He flung his heavily-feathered hat upon the table, and carried his hand to his hilt.
"God's blood!" he cried.