"Through me? I do not know him except by name. He is a bachelor; therefore there is no wife who can be induced to become a mediator."
"No, there is no wife, to be sure, but there is a lady-love whom he hopes to make his wife, and she, also, is one of your patrons; it is the sister of Lord Linden; you might solicit her, or you might obtain her influence through his lordship."
"Through his lordship? That is not possible," replied Madeleine, decisively.
"Surely it may be," remarked the count, "since you are acquainted with him, and I have faith in your powers of persuasion."
Madeleine looked very much astonished as she answered, "What has made you imagine that I have any acquaintance with Lord Linden?"
"I saw him upstairs in one of your salons, sitting in a comfortable arm-chair, as though he were very much at home, reading a book."
Madeleine looked confounded.
"Lord Linden?"
"Yes; you will therefore admit that it was quite natural for me to suppose that he had the entrée here?"