"It is frightful," she sighed, "to live like that, preying upon others, and being preyed upon--when the world is so beautiful."
"The world is just what men have made it. I, too, once dreamed----" His words trailed off into silence, and he looked out of the window into the night.
Something in the tone of her voice made him straighten and glance at her. He had seen the same look in other women's eyes.
"And now, I dream no more, Countess Strahni," he said abruptly.
There was another silence in which Captain Goritz took out another cigarette.
"I do not think that I quite--understand you, Countess Strahni----"
"Naturally," she broke in. "You have known me--let us see--a little less than twelve hours."
"You are far from transparent, Countess," he said quizzically.
"It would probably be because you wished me to see something beyond," with a laugh.
"To one who deals in mystery and intrigue, sincerity must always be bewildering."
"H--m! I was once stabbed in the back by a woman who was too sincere."
The smile left Marishka's face. "How terrible!"
"It was. I nearly died. It was my mistake, you see."
Marishka was silent for a long moment. And then,
"I'm afraid, Captain Goritz, that the world has left you bitter."
"To the secret agent the world is neither sweet nor bitter. He has no sense of taste or of feeling. He is merely a pair of ears--a pair of eyes which nothing must escape----"
"Deaf to music--blind to beauty," sighed Marishka. "From the bottom of my heart I pity you."
Captain Goritz gazed at her for a long moment, in silence, then his eyes narrowed slightly and his voice was lowered.
"It is rather curious, Countess Strahni, that you should hold in such low esteem a profession practiced by one of your most favored friends."
"Herr Renwick," he replied dryly, "is a secret agent of the Serbian government."
A gasp escaped her, and she struggled for her composure at the mention of Hugh Renwick's name.
"I beg your pardon," he said politely, "I happen to know it to be the truth."
"Until two weeks ago Herr Renwick was an attaché of the British Embassy," she asserted.
"Of course. But he has been also in the pay of the Serbian government--Austria's enemy."
"I beg your pardon. England and Serbia are on excellent terms. You will not deny that Herr Renwick has been to Belgrade in the last two weeks?"