"For the moment," he said, "we will quit the subject. I have another matter, equally delicate, which I should like to discuss with you."
"I am quite at your service," I assured him.
"You have a saying in English," he continued, "which, if I remember it rightly, says that necessity makes strange bedfellows. I myself am going into a strange country upon a strange errand. I do not consider myself a person of hyper-exclusive tastes, but I must confess that I do not find myself in sympathy with the country-people and friends of Mrs. Van Reinberg!"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Then why go amongst them?" I asked. "You are surely at liberty to do as you choose!"
Mr. de Valentin took up his case and chose another cigarette.
"In this instance," he said coldly, "I am not entirely my own master.
There were powerful reasons why I should have taken this voyage to
America, and there are reasons why I should have done so with Mrs. Van
Reinberg. Which brings me, by the bye, to the second matter concerning
which I wished to speak to you."
I accepted another of Mr. de Valentin's excellent cigarettes, and composed myself once more to listen.
"I am going to Lenox," he continued, "to meet there a few American friends, with whom I have certain affairs of importance to discuss. You, also, have been invited to Lenox. My request is that you defer your visit there until after my departure."
I raised my eyebrows at this. It seemed to me that Mr. de Valentin was going a little too far.