Stern looked round the room eagerly.
"If he's gone to bed I'll never forgive him," she declared. "I'm just
crazy to know whether there isn't some sort of old chateau belonging to
the family, that Richard can buy and fix up. Have you seen Mr. de
Valentin?" she asked us.
"He's gone upstairs, sure enough," Mr. Van Reinberg answered. "Give the
poor man a rest till the morning. Where's the Marquis? Come and have a
drink, Marquis!"
"Quit fooling," Mr. Stern declared testily. "Here's Esther saying I'll
have to wear black satin knickerbockers and a sword!"
"Wear them in Wall Street," Mr. Van Reinberg declared, "and I'll stand
you terrapin at the Waldorf. Come on, Count, and the rest of you
noblemen. Let's toast one another."
Mrs. Van Reinberg motioned me to follow her into the billiard-room.
"Well!" she exclaimed, looking at me searchingly,
I could scarcely keep from smiling, but she was terribly in earnest.
"I want to know exactly," she said, "what you think of it all. I know my
husband has been making fun of it. He does not understand.
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