The Prince should see her especially attractive, she thought.
But when they arrived at the great house and walked among the brilliant
throng no Prince was to be seen!--It might be he had no intention to
come.
Presently Tamara went off to the refreshment room with her friend
Valonne.
The conversation turned to Gritzko with an easy swing.
He seemed on the brink of one of his maddest fits. Valonne had seen him
in the club just before dinner.
"If you really go to England I think he will follow you, Madame," he
said.
"How ridiculous!" and Tamara laughed. "How can it make a difference to
him whether I go or no? We do not exist for one another," and she
fanned herself rather rapidly, while Valonne smiled a fine smile.
"I should not be quite sure of that," he said. "If I might predict, I
should say you will be lucky if you get away from here without being
the cause of a duel of some sort."
"A duel!" Tamara was startled. "How dreadful, and how silly! But why? I
thought dueling had quite gone out in all civilized countries; and in
any case, why fight about me? And who should fight? Surely you are only
teasing me, Count Valonne."
"Duels are real facts here, I am afraid," he said. "Gritzko has already
engaged in two of them. He is not quarrelsome, but just never permits
any one to cross his wishes or interfere with his game.
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