"Yes."
"What did he suggest?"
"He thinks I ought to marry him," she said, frankly.
"You marry him?"
"Yes. That was the only way, I daresay, in which he thought he could be of service to me. He really is so very kind, and thoughtful, and unselfish."
"And you answered——?"
He uttered these words with an air of forced carelessness. He wished her to understand that he would be rather glad if she thought well of the proposal. For a moment she looked at him, questioningly, as if to ask whether there was honest advice in that tone, and then she said, slowly—
"I said neither yes nor no. At the moment I did not know what to think. I—I knew that he would be kind to me, and that—he knew—that I liked him pretty well—as an acquaintance——"
"And you have not decided whether you ought to make the Count happy or no?"
The false cheerfulness of his voice did not deceive her.