“That’s what the other side say.”
“Who are the other side; and why the devil do people want to gossip and chatter about me?”
“My dear fellow, the place is full of gossip about you. I don’t know whether you care to hear it.”
“It don’t amount to anything what they say—at least to me.”
“I suppose it doesn’t. But when a man’s as rich as you are, they will talk. Have you heard that story about your dog?”
“My dog? What do you mean?”
“That big brute of yours, Chris. They say he saved the Princess Gatrina’s life in the Bosnian hills or somewhere; and that you were in it too. Of course I laughed at it.”
“Naturally. So should I,” I said; but I was in no laughing mood. “How do you suppose such a tale got going?”
“Someone with a grudge against the Princess started it. You know what spiteful devils there are hanging about the Court?”
“I suppose there are.”