"Yet, what I can't understand, is what she hopes to gain by
masquerading, here, as your wife."
I looked at him and waited. He was steering into strange waters, it
seemed to me.
"Now, if she had done it in Paris, or Vienna, or any place outside of
Valeria," he went on, "one could see the temporary profit of it. But,
to come to Dornlitz and dare it under your very nose!"--he flung up his
hands. "She is a bit too much for me!"
I saw his drift, now. He wanted to know if I suspected him; and, to
that end, was quite willing to match his wit against mine. His
contempt for my discernment was not, especially, flattering; but,
sometimes, it does no harm to be taken for a fool--if one is not. And
I was conceited enough to consider myself the latter. Which, however,
may only have proven that Lotzen was right.
"And for me, too, at present," I answered.
"At present?" he echoed, blowing a succession of smoke rings and
watching them float away.