"No. Lady Henry has more personal hold than we thought."
"And Mademoiselle Julie less tact. Why, in the name of goodness, does she go and get herself talked about with the particular man who is engaged to her little cousin? You know, by-the-way, that the story of her parentage is leaking out fast? Most people seem to know something about it."
"Well, that was bound to come. Will it do her good or harm?"
"Harm, for the present. A few people are straitlaced, and a good many feel they have been taken in. But, anyway, this flirtation is a mistake."
"Nobody really knows whether the man is engaged to the Moffatt girl or no. The guardians have forbidden it."
"At any rate, everybody is kind enough to say so. It's a blunder on Mademoiselle Julie's part. As to the man himself, of course, there is nothing to say. He is a very clever fellow." Montresor looked at his companion with a sudden stiffness, as though defying contradiction. "He will do this piece of work that we have given him to do extremely well."
"The Mokembe mission?"
Montresor nodded.
"He had very considerable claims, and was appointed entirely on his military record. All the tales as to Mademoiselle's influence--with me, for instance--that Lady Henry has been putting into circulation are either absurd fiction or have only the very smallest foundation in fact."
Sir Wilfrid smiled amicably and diverted the conversation.