Peter was not on his guard and a little exclamation escaped him.
"Bernadine!" he murmured, softly. "So the game begins once more!"
His interest was unmistakable. It was not only the chill November air which had brought a touch of colour to his cheeks and the light to his eyes.
"You seem pleased," Sir William Bounderby remarked, curiously. "You do know the fellow, then? Friend of yours, perhaps?"
Peter shook his head.
"Oh, yes! I know him, Sir William," he replied, "but I do not think that he would call himself a friend of mine. I know nothing about his shooting except that if he got a chance I think that he would like to shoot me."
Sir William, who was a very literal man, looked grave.
"I am sorry," he said, "if you are likely to find this meeting in any way awkward. I suppose there's nothing against him, eh?" he added, a little nervously. "I invited him purely on the strength of his being a guest of Portal's."
"The Count von Hern comes, I believe," Peter assured his host, "of a distinguished European family. Socially there is nothing whatever against him. We happen to have run up against each other once or twice, that's all. That sort of thing will occur, you know, when the interests of finance touch the border-line of politics."
"You have no objection to meeting him, then?" Sir William asked.