“You will be surprised to hear, no doubt, Mr. Sterling, that I have brought you an invitation from the Emperor.”
“From what Emperor?” was the retort on the tip of my tongue. Fortunately I suppressed it; there is no accomplishment so fatal to success in life as wit, except kindness.
I simply answered,
“I am not readily surprised, M. Petrovitch. Neither, I imagine, are you.”
The financier smiled.
“May I call you M. V——?” he asked. “His majesty has told me who you are.”
“Were you surprised by that?” I returned with sarcasm.
Petrovitch fairly laughed.
“I hear you have been denouncing me to Nicholas,” he said lightly. “Can’t I persuade you to let our poor little Czar alone. I assure you it is a waste of breath on your part, and you will only worry a well-meaning young man who has no head for business.”
This was plain speaking. It argued no ordinary confidence on the part of the intriguer to speak in such a fashion of the Autocrat of All the Russias.