“Why not?”
“Because it is useless.”
“Are you afraid that I shall corrupt her by speaking a few words to her?”
“Perhaps.”
“Bravo! Well, you are frank now, at any rate.”
Lichtenbach raised himself to his full height, and, repaying Sophia in a single moment for all the insolent expressions she had been so prodigal with the last hour, said—
“Mademoiselle Lichtenbach can have nothing in common with the Baroness Grodsko.”
Sophia gave a gesture of indifference.
“Very well. As you please. Au revoir, Lichtenbach.”