"On the strength of it you have cast eyes of love on one of the most beautiful women in England; you have dreamed of marrying Lady Blanche Huntingford, who bears one of the oldest names in the land?"
"And if I have, what then?"
"Has it ever occurred to you that your fortune rests on a very slender, a very unsafe, foundation?"
"Don't be angry, my friend, and, above all, look at everything calmly."
"Really, this is a trifle thick, isn't it? I'm afraid I must ask for an explanation of this peculiar manner of speech."
"I deeply regret that I shall have to give an explanation," and there was curious vibration in Romanoff's voice. "But please, please, Faversham, don't think unkindly of me because of what I have to tell you. Perhaps I have been very clumsy, but I have been trying all day to prepare you for—for what you will regard as bad news."
"Trying to prepare me? Bad news?"
"Yes, my friend. I told you this morning that I was not going to be serious while the sun shone, but that after the sun went down I was going to be tragically in earnest. The time has come."
"You spoke of my having no right here!" and a gleam of anger shot from Dick's eyes. "Might I suggest, Count, that it is a little out of the common for a guest to tell his host that he has no right to give him hospitality?"