She could not understand. She kept repeating:
“My husband—you say—”
“I say that he has disappeared with your—your capital—that's all!”
She stood there, a prey to conflicting emotions, sobbing.
“Then he is—he is—he is a villain!”
And, faint from excitement, she leaned her head on her cousin's shoulder and wept.
As people were stopping to look at them, he pushed her gently into the vestibule of his house, and, supporting her with his arm around her waist, he led her up the stairs, and as his astonished servant opened the door, he ordered:
“Sophie, run to the restaurant and get a luncheon for two. I am not going to the office to-day.”