"Ah!" His face was immovable, but a gleam in his eyes betrayed him.
She turned upon him sharply. "You did not know?"
He shook his head. "I know nothing--certainly. I wish I did!" he added simply.
"That is true--you swear it?" She leaned toward him a little, her bosom heaving tumultuously.
"If I could believe you!" she faltered. "I need a friend! Oh, if you could know how I have been torn by doubts, beset by fears--oppressions!" Her voice quivered. "It is illegal, you know, and terrible! If you would help me---- Wait. May I test you with a question?"
"And you will answer--truthfully?" In her eagerness she was like a child.
He smiled. "If I answer at all, be sure it will be truthful."
"Tell me then, is Mr. Baggin your friend?"
"He is my dearest enemy," he returned promptly.
She drew a deep breath of relief. "And my father?" The question was a whisper. She appeared to hang upon his reply.
The count hesitated. "I do not know," he admitted finally. "If he were not influenced by Mr. Baggin, I believe he would be my friend."
For the first time that evening Doris looked at him with warmth in her manner. "By that," she said, smiling faintly, "I know you have told the truth. My father likes you, but Mr. Baggin sways him completely." The smile deepened in her eyes and she laughed a little unsteadily. "You--you will be kind, and forgive my rudeness and--and my anger?" The coldness had departed from her face completely and she was charming.
The count looked hard at her. Her glance wavered, fell, and met his again for a long moment. Her colour heightened, and her breath came more quickly. A cloud of passion was about them. It brushed them with invisible wings.
"I am happy to have convinced you of my--ah--sincerity," he murmured. "And you do, in truth, believe me?"
He bent nearer to her. His face was quite pale and his eyes burned like living things. "May I put my original question, then--my personality is not utterly displeasing to you?"
"My dear count," it was Lady Dinsmore's voice again, "it occurs to me that you are putting several hundred questions besides the one which I permitted you."
"It is I who am the culprit, auntie," exclaimed Doris gaily. "You see it was a game--taking down bottles off the shelf! Each one of us had ten questions which the other must answer truthfully. I finished mine first, and the count had just begun on his!"