CHAPTER XIII
The Invisible Hand
Again Dick felt as though he were gripped by an irresistible power, and that this power was evil. It was true that the Count sat in the chair near him, faultlessly dressed, urbane, smiling, with all the outward appearance of a polished man of the world; all the same, Dick felt that an evil influence dominated the room. The picture which Romanoff made him see was beautiful beyond words, and he beheld a future of sensuous ease, of satisfied ambition, of indescribable delights. And what he saw seemed to dull his moral sense, to undermine his moral strength. Moreover, the man had by his news undermined the foundations of life, shattered the hopes he had nourished, and thus left him unable to fight.
"Tell me that this is a—a joke on your part," Dick said at length. "Of course it's not true."
"Of course it is true."
"Well, I'll have it proved, anyhow. Everything shall be sifted to the bottom."
"How?"
"I'll go and see Bidlake to-morrow. I'll tell him what you've said."
"You will do no such thing." The Count spoke in the most nonchalant manner.