Isaacs was lost in meditation.

Suddenly he rose to his feet, and took a cigarette from the table.
"I wonder"-- the match would not light, and he struggled a moment with another.

Then he blew a great cloud of smoke, and sat down in a different chair--"I wonder whether a fourth would act as a fly-wheel," and he looked straight at me, as if asking my opinion.
I had never been in direct relations with a Mussulman of education and position.

To be asked point-blank whether I thought four wives better than three on general principles, and quite independently of the contemplated spouse, was a little embarrassing.

He seemed perfectly capable of marrying another before dinner for the sake of peace, and I do not believe he would have considered it by any means a bad move.
"Diamond cut diamond," I said.