"I was afraid, just a little afraid," he said slowly, "of the other woman. I am glad she didn't count enough. Women are the very devil sometimes when they come between us and the right thing!"
CHAPTER XXXIII
Selingman came into the restaurant with a huge rose in his buttonhole and another bunch of flowers—carnations this time—in his hands. He made his way to the little round table where Julia and Aaron were seated.
"For you, Miss Julia," he declared, depositing them by her side. "Pin them in the front of your frock. Drink wine to-night. Be gay. Let us see pink, also, in your cheeks. It is a great evening, this. Maraton is here?"
"Not yet," Julia answered, smiling.
Selingman sat down between them. He gave a lengthy order to a waiter; then he turned abruptly to Julia.
"He will keep to it, you think? This time you believe that he has made up his mind?"
"I do," she asserted vigorously.
"What is he made of, that man?" Selingman continued, sipping the
Vermouth which he had just ordered. "He makes love to you, eh? Ach!
never mind your brother. For a man like Maraton, what does it matter?
You are of the right stuff. You would be proud."
She looked steadily out of the restaurant.