"Oh! who is our new secretary?" asked the countess much interested. "If he is a protégé of those creatures he must be a terrible specimen."
"He is one Sterzl--and highly recommended; he comes from Teheran where he has distinguished himself greatly," said Sempaly.
"Sterzl!" repeated Ilsenbergh scornfully.
"Sterzl!" cried the lady in disgust. "It is to be hoped he has no wife,--that would crown all."
"On that point I can reassure you," said the general; "Sterzl is unmarried."
"You know him?" murmured the countess slightly abashed.
"He is the son of one of my dearest friends--a fellow-officer," replied the general, "and if he has grown up as he promised he must be a man of talent and character--his abilities were brilliant."
"That is something at any rate," Ilsenbergh condescended to say.
"Yes, so it strikes me," added Sempaly; "we require one man who knows what work means."
"I was promised that my nephew should have the appointment," muttered the countess. "It is disgusting!"