Page:Rowland--The closing net.djvu/82

68 She smiled. "They were all titled, I think. Barons and counts and princes and a general or two. Naturally, the one I remember the best is the man who took me out. He was Italian, I think, or possibly a Pole. Just before we went in Mrs. Billings took me aside and said: 'You have made a conquest, my dear. Captain Schlossberg was to have taken you out, but a man has just begged so hard for you that I must give you to him,' and she pointed out a handsome man who looked like an Italian. He was tall and slender, with thick black hair and a black moustache, waxed at the tips."

"What was his name?"

"I did not catch his last name, but during the dinner one of the other men called him 'Ivan.'

"Ivan," I repeated, as if to fix the name in my mind. "Now," I said, "can you remember what you talked about?"

"At dinner we talked principally about music," she answered. "He was very well informed and appeared to know most of the artists and composers. Also, he seemed to be acquainted with a good many nice people here in Paris."

"What happened after dinner?" I asked.

"There was a girl who sang. Then my dinner partner played some Hungarian folk-songs and sang one or two. He had rather a nice voice. At the end I played the harp. When I had finished, my dinner partner brought me some orangeade. There was some sort of liqueur in it, I think, and I did not like the taste, but the room was hot and I was thirsty and drank it all. Shortly after that I came home.