When Paul received this letter the following morning it was almost more than he could bear. How could she have misjudged him so! A longing seized him to find her--in spite of her charge. The situation was unendurable--he must seek her out and convince her that it was she herself alone that mattered. What was position to him? He had position. He was endowed with worldly goods. And he could marry whom he chose. He looked at the note again.
Ah! he had it! She was a secret agent--there was no doubt--working probably in the service of the Dalmatian government. Well, for all that Paul cared nothing. The only course of action open to him was to follow her, to the ends of the world, if need be.
He would convince her--she _must_ be convinced--and then, he hoped, all would be well. She cared for him, somewhat--the tone of the letter seemed to show that--though she tried to conceal it, evidently. The Countess was expected back that day--he would seek her help.
Paul wasted no time. Another hour found him at the Dalmatian Embassy, face to face with the Countess Oreshefski, who was instantly all sympathy as she noted his agitation.
"My dear lady," he said to her, "you will not think it strange, I hope, if I ask your help in a matter of great importance to me?"
"What is it, Sir Paul? You know that if I can be of assistance to you in any way it will make me only too happy." And the Countess regarded him with a tender look.
Paul had a strange attraction for women, as I have said, and this fine woman, having lost her only son--Paul's own age--many years before, had always felt a mother's interest in him.
"You are very kind," Paul continued, "and I will be quite frank with you. I shall have to presume upon your good nature to ask your advice and help once more. To come to the point at once: Yesterday, here in your house, I told Mademoiselle Vseslavitch that I loved her. To-day she is gone,--where I do not know." Paul looked at his companion with appealing eyes.
"My dear friend!" the Countess exclaimed, with truly feminine irrelevancy, "I am delighted. I would not be a woman if I were not always ready to enlist in the cause of a lover. And as for helping you, I would do anything for Sir Paul Verdayne which lay in my power. You want to find her at once?" she asked him.