“Utterly.”
“Have you any idea what sort of man my friend is?”
“He lacks the polish of a man of affairs, and he surrenders too easily.”
“He will never surrender—Madame.”
“How?”
“You remember his father; he will prove his father's son, every inch of him. O, my Colonel, the curtain has only risen. One fine morning your duchy will wake up without a duchess.”
“What do you imply—an abduction?” The Colonel laughed.
“That is my secret.”
“And the pretty countess?” banteringly.
“It was rather bad taste in Madame. It was putting love and patriotism to questionable purposes. I am a gentleman.”