Atilio and the Prince noticed Lewis standing at the bar, drinking the whisky which always restored his peace of mind, and permitted him to resume the complicated systems that were to give him back his paternal inheritance and restore his castle.
They called to him to inquire about the luck of the Duchess. Lewis shrugged his shoulders with an expression of indignation and protest. It was absurd to win like that, playing so badly.
"She must have the Count's rosary hidden in her skirts," said Atilio, gravely.
Lewis was puzzled for the moment as though he took the words seriously. Later he blushed like a proper Briton, as he remembered the strange ornaments on his friend's rosary. Suddenly he burst into a violent fit of laughter. "Oh, Mr. Castro!—--" Mr. Castro's supposition seemed to him so witty that he laughed till he nearly choked himself coughing, and then he decided to get another whisky to regain his serenity.
The two friends returned to the drawing room of the Florentine Graces.
The Prince saw Novoa and Valeria on the same divan continuing their conversation, but constantly becoming dreamier as they gazed into each other's eyes, as though in some deserted spot.
He came near them without their seeing him, and was able to hear some of what Alicia's companion was saying.
"I don't know Spain, but I am so interested in it. I adore all of the romantic countries where love is everything, and men are disinterested, where dowries don't exist, and a woman may marry even if she is poor."
The Prince, in passing, gave the scientist a casual glance of pity.