"Now look here, Otto, as man to man, if that girl in her heart of hearts hadn't wished me—"
"You damned cur," flashed Angelescu, "you to lay the blame on a woman! If you say another word I shall choke you where you stand. I—"
He threw out his arm, then realizing that he could control himself no longer, he wrenched open the door and strode out, flinging it to behind him.
Mirko flushed angrily. That he should have humbled himself to meet this response!
"You'll pay for that, my friend," he snarled. He turned thinking to pour himself a glass of liqueur and the sight of the broken decanter and its wasted contents completed his discomfiture. He was furious with Angelescu, furious with Ragna, all the more so as he was distinctly conscious of having played a very ugly role.
"Damn the girl, I wish I had never seen her!"
His servant, coming in response to his furious summons, met with a most unpleasant reception; he was used, however, to acting as souffre douleur in his Royal Master's fits of anger and philosophically bore the storm of invective hurled at his defenceless head.
The outburst had its usual calming effect on Mirko, who to do him justice, soon felt thoroughly ashamed of himself. Most of all he regretted the estrangement of Angelescu; from boyhood up he had always depended on Otto's devotion and clear judgment, and to have lost such a friend over such a foolish affair would be much too hard luck, a punishment far in excess of his fault. The wrong done to Ragna was much less important in his eyes; like every Don Juan, he had a contempt for women, and now that his passion had subsided he wondered what had attracted him in the girl, who after all was no great beauty.
"I will see what can be done to-morrow," he promised himself; he felt even ready to humble himself if necessary, to draw Otto back to him again, never doubting that by some means he would succeed in doing so. But alas for his plans! When he awoke late the next morning and sent his valet to inquire for the aide, the man came back with the announcement that Count Angelescu had left by the early train.