"I trust," she smiled, "that Herr Hoffer is not also in love with Madame Von Steinmetz."
Stelzner chuckled.
"It is not possible that you think he might be," he protested.
"Well, he seems inclined to pay her as much attention as her husband. His eyes never move from her."
"Oh," gasped Colonel Stelzner, "you will be the death of me, Mrs. Pendleton; you really will!" And when he had recovered from the fit of laughter into which her observation had thrown him, he added: "But consider, Madame von Steinmetz is not alone. Could it not be possible that Hoffer is interested in the English girl?"
Her fine eyes were fixed directly upon his face, as she said:
"Ah, that is it."
There was something in her tone which drove the laugh from his face; he answered soberly enough.
"I ask if it were not possible; that is all."
People who talk too much upon subjects regarding which it is best that they be silent often get glimpses of their weakness. And Colonel Stelzner had such a flash of inner vision just then. And while he was, more or less dismayed, thinking it over, Mrs. Pendleton discovered Matsadi and Okiu at the head of the staircase.