"And then they would call me 'My Lord'?" he continued after a pause, almost coyly.
"Yes."
Peter smiled again to himself and at the back of the chauffeur's head.
"Such leaders as you in America do not make their money for sordid purposes. It means power," she went on.
"Perhaps," replied Peter, who remained thoughtful. "You have a way of putting things, Madame Ribot," he added, with another smile.
"You build in the joy of building; and with you, I should think that it was the joy of giving, too. It was easy to see when he was at Mervaux how devoted Phil was to you. He was always speaking of you."
"Was he?" Peter inquired eagerly. "Was he?" he repeated, with a touch of surprise in his tone.
"But it was admiration for you as a man, while it was clear that he meant to make his own way. How fond I became of him! How chivalrous he was to Henriette! How brave he had been! And now they say he will quite recover. I hope so, for his sake."
"He will!" replied Peter.
Tap-tap on the hassock! Soft, inaudible tap-tap!