14/19 I seated myself in an easy-chair and looked at my betrayer with a calmly critical eye. He was what the English would call "got up for effect." Though in black, he had donned a velvet coat instead of the cloth one he had worn in the morning--he had a single white japonica in his buttonhole--his face was pale and his eyes unusually brilliant. He looked his best--I admitted it, and could readily understand how an idle, pleasure-seeking feminine animal might be easily attracted by the purely physical beauty of his form and features. I spoke a part of my thoughts aloud. "But I am well aware that you flatter me. |