“Will you pardon me, Mr. Carter, if I mention another subject first? I wish to do so because our conversation, since you entered the room, has suggested that what I wish now to speak about may have some bearing upon my errand here to-day.”
“Speak as you please, Colonel Turnieff,” replied Nick. “I will tell you that I don’t know a thing about your errand here. I have been instructed that a gentleman would call upon me, sent here by the Russian ambassador; farther than that my information does not extend. If you were to talk about the North Pole, or the South Pole, it would be all the same to me—save only that I would like to get at the real purpose of your visit as soon as possible.”
“Certainly. I was about to refer again to my father.”
“Yes? Well?”
“Did you, perhaps, know him personally?”
“No. I never met him or saw him. All that I know about him refers to his unfortunate death, in Paris, some time ago.”
“Do you know any of the particulars in relation to his—death?”
“Only such as were related to me by the chief of the secret police of Paris, when I was in that city on quite another matter. The subject of your father came up between us, and it was mentioned; that is all.”
“You were told that he—that he killed himself?”
“If it is a painful subject to you, colonel, why continue it? Yes, I was so informed.”