Page:Pleased to Meet You (1927).pdf/52

 not been spoken to in that voice of calm authority since the Grand Duke flitted.

"Heavenly old place, isn't it," said Cointreau to Nyla, in the casual tone of an old friend. "I hope you are going to be very happy here. I shall make it my business to see that you are. What a pretty frock. The printed chiffons are delightful, especially on the slender figures. Have a gasper?"

"Why—thank you," said Nyla. "I'd love one, but I didn't know whether—in the palace"

"Bosh!" cried the surprising young man. "Palaces are made to do what you like in." With skillful legerdemain he snapped a match into flame on his thumbnail, a trick new to her, and gave her a light.

"You have no objection to a pipe?" he asked, taking out a well-glossed briar. "Isn't that a beauty," he said, holding it out to the President. Guadeloupe, with the habit of the seasoned smoker, took it, sniffed the fragrant char in the bowl, and then produced his own.