"In Paris," corrected Mrs. Wellington.
"Well. And from Paris disseminated glowingly throughout Europe—'"
"And the United States."
Koltsoff struggled with himself for a moment.
"Pardon," he said, "but, bah! It cannot be."
"Naturally, you are at the disadvantage of not having had the experience at American tables that I have had abroad," observed Mrs. Wellington rising. "But we shall hope to correct that while you are here.… As for the sauce you praised, it was not by Rambon—who is out to-day—but by Takakika, his assistant, a Japanese whom Mr. Wellington brought on from the Bohemian Club, I think, in San Francisco."
If Koltsoff did not catch Mrs. Wellington's intimation that he must have learned of the presence of Rambon in her kitchen,—which might have been more accurately described as a laboratory,—Anne Wellington did, and she hastened to intervene.
"Oh, Prince Koltsoff," she said, "I have been so interested in those torpedo boats out there. They 've been dashing about the lightship all through lunch. What is the idea, do you know?"
The Prince glanced out of the window.
"I cannot imagine." He gazed over the ocean in silence for several minutes. "Have you a telescope?" he said at length.