"Then I congratulate Monsieur on his—possibilities."
His manner of speech was suggestive of a desire to conceal a glibness which is usually accounted a fault.
"And I hope that Mr. Howard's obvious absorption was not due to—discouragement."
"On the contrary," answered Isabella, "Mr. Howard has just given us a most hopeful report."
"Has he caught the thief?"
"No; but his agent, a Mr. Sander, writes from Brussels that he has traced the thief to the Netherlands, and there seems to be some probability that he will be taken."
"My experience of thieves," said Mr. Devar airily, "has been small. But I imagine they are hard to take when they once get away. Mr. Howard is, I fear, wasting his time."
Isabella answered nothing to this, though her pinched lips seemed to indicate a doubt whether such a waste was in reality going forward.
"Our neighbour's enterprise usually appears to be a waste of time, does it not?" he said, with the large tolerance of a man owning to many failings.
Alphonse shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands with a gesture of helplessness, further accentuated by the bandage on his wrist.