A sucking babe. This man, he could see by his simple society
face, had not even made an arrangement with the Count as to a
commission for himself in the event of a purchase being concluded. He
was satisfied with his salary. These experts--what a crowd of fools they
were! Especially the honest ones.
None the less, he was delighted with Sir Herbert's opinion. It was
exactly what he wanted. For he meant to help the County who, he was
sure, would never accept a cent from him save under a pretext like that
of the sale of the Faun. He loved old Caloveglia. There was something
clean and purposeful about him. His friendship with such a man filled
up what he knew to be a void in his own equipment as citizen of the
world. And the count was working--was lying--for a worthy purpose: a
daughter's dowry. For that reason alone he was deserving of assistance.
Mr. van Koppen was unmarried. Knowing life as he did, from its more
seamy or mercenary side, he had never brought himself to accept a
single one of several hundred offers of marriage which had been more or
less overtly made to him--to his millions.
Pages:
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609