"Your charming cousin there," rejoined the young diplomat.
"Indeed!" Gabrielle said with incredulous emphasis, bending her head a little on one side as is the fashion with pretty women when they undertake the inconvenient task of eating asparagus.
"Yes, verily, he says 'pardon' even to his horse, when he scratches it with his spurs."
"Ah! Apparently he lavishes all his courtesy upon horses," Gabrielle said pointedly.
"In the case to which I allude, he really did owe some consideration to his horse, for the poor animal could not possibly know why he was made to feel the spur. The fact was that at the races the other day Lodrin saw a lady the sight of whom so electrified him that he turned positively all round on his horse, and in doing so scratched the poor beast with his spur."
"Ah, and who, if one may ask, was this remarkable lady?" asked Gabrielle.
"Ella, since when have you become conscience keeper for young gentlemen?" asked Truyn.
She blushed to the roots of her hair, but Oswald said with perfect composure, looking her directly in the face: "Certainly--it was Countess Gabrielle Truyn."
She bit her lip angrily.
"It serves you right," said Truyn smiling, "why do you ask about matters that do not concern you? The jest, however, is a little stale, Ossi."'