"Yes, for one of them sends you to my rooms to-day."
He had never spoken to her in this way before, and the tone of it found her amazed. Hitherto the man of affairs and the woman of the useful vanities had been speaking; but John Faber had changed all that in an instant. She felt his wide eyes focused upon her with a sudden glance which burned. He had taken a step toward her, and for a moment she feared that some mad impulse would drive him to forget the true circumstance of their meeting, and to suppose another. She felt her heart beat rapidly—a true instinct warned her to act upon the defensive.
"I think we were talking of another kind of bogy," she said quickly—"women deserve a new chapter."
He laughed a little hardly, and turned upon his heel.
"The goose awoke and the Capitol is saved. Well, about this frost?"
"Oh, I shall hope for a thaw."
"That's what your I.A.L. is doing all the time. Tell them that John Faber wishes them well, and will sell them a hundred thousand rifles any time they are reconsidering the position. Perhaps I shall meet you when I return from Paris. We can put the contract through then."
She shook her head, trying to hide the annoyance of the rebuff.
"I don't suppose I shall ever see you again," she said.
"I'll bet you a thousand dollars you do, either in Paris or Berlin."