'Mr. Van Torp,' explained the young man.
'Yes,' Margaret said, after a moment's hesitation, 'I know Mr. Van
Torp; he came over on the same steamer.'
The others at the table were suddenly silent, and seemed to be listening. Lady Maud's clear eyes rested on Mr. Feist's face.
'He's quite a wonderful man, I think,' observed the latter.
'Yes,' assented the Primadonna indifferently.
'Don't you think he is a wonderful man?' insisted Mr. Feist, with his disagreeable drawl.
'I daresay he is,' Margaret answered, 'but I don't know him very well.'
'Really? That's funny!'
'Why?'
'Because I happen to know that he thinks everything of you, Madame
Cordova. That's why I supposed, you were intimate friends.'