"You are sure?"
"Perfectly. I have only to raise my voice and say 'The air is cool,' and the Countess will understand; she will rejoin us, and that being so, a lady cannot search for a half-burned cigarette. You have the desire of your quest within your reach, and yet as far removed as the north is from the south."
I looked disdainfully at him and calmly smoked.
"You are too clever to waste yourself upon such pettiness," he whispered. "In Russia I would find you a sphere worthy of your talents, and make you a duchess."
"I fail to understand, monsieur."
He leaned forward until his eyes looked straight into mine, and spoke with deliberate emphasis.
"I am going to stoop and take from under your chair a cigarette, and you must perforce permit me."
"Why?"
"Because if you attempted to resist I should prevent it. See, I slowly stoop to regain my own."
He bent as he spoke, and then, as the inspiration flashed upon me, my hands went swiftly to my throat, and with a sudden clutch I snapped my necklace, and a shower of pearls scattered upon the balcony.