'Offends!' cried Pauline.
'Offends,' repeated Mr. Wetter. 'I have asked you to do nothing extraordinary, nothing but what any gentleman might ask of any lady.'
'And suppose I were to refuse--suppose I were to decide from pique, jealousy, or whatever other motive you may choose to accredit me with, that it was inexpedient for me to present you to my friend--what then?'
'Then,' said Mr. Wetter, with smiling lips, but with an unpleasant look in his eyes, 'I should be forced to present myself. I have made up my mind to make this lady's acquaintance, and it's a characteristic of mine, that I invariably carry out what I once undertake, and in making her acquaintance, I should have occasion to inquire how much she knew of the character and antecedents of the person who was domesticated with her.'
'You threaten?' cried Pauline.
'Everything,' said Mr. Wetter, again bringing his hand down upon the table. 'And I not merely threaten, but I execute! Your position at Marseilles, the name and social status of your husband, and the circumstances under which you married him,--all these will be news I should think to Mrs.--by the way you have not told me how the lady calls herself.'
While he had been speaking Pauline's head had fallen upon her breast. She raised it now but a very little as she said, 'Her name is Claxton; I will present you to her whenever you choose.'
'Of course you will,' said Mr. Wetter, gaily touching her hand with the back of his. 'And there is no time like the present for such a pleasurable interview. She is in the house, I suppose.'
'She is,' said Pauline.
'Very well, then; introduce me at once. By the way, it will be advisable perhaps to say that I am your cousin, or something of that sort. We are both foreigners, you know, and English people are not clever in distinguishing between Germans and French either in name or accent.'