"You might be worth knowing,"--musingly.
"I promise to be."
"I shall give it thought. I should never forgive myself if I were the
indirect cause of your joining this carnival of fools."
"I see that I shall last longer in your thoughts as the Unknown."
"Eat," she commanded.
"I am not hungry; I have dined."
"Drink, then."
"I am not thirsty."
She took my glass and poured the contents into hers, then handed it to
me. "Now!" she said.
"Why?"
"You make me think of Monte Cristo: what terrible revenge are you going
to take?"
"It will be upon myself: that of never forgetting you."
"One single sip!"
I accepted the glass and took one sip. "Now I have lost what I desired
to retain--my respect. So long as I touched nothing at this table I held
the advantage. My name is--"