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“How do you feel?” inquired Cooley with a wan smile.

Mellin’s head dropped back upon the pillow and he made one or two painful efforts to speak before he succeeded in finding a ghastly semblance of his voice.

“I thought I was at Madame de Vaurigard’s.”

“You were,” said the other, adding grimly: “We both were.”

“But that was only a minute ago.”

“It was six hours ago. It’s goin’ on ten o’clock in the morning.”

“I don’t understand how that can be. How did I get here?”

“I brought you. I was pretty bad, but you–I never saw anything like you! From the time you kissed Lady Mount-Rhyswicke–“

Mellin sat bolt upright in bed, staring wildly. He began to tremble violently.

“Don’t you remember that?” asked Cooley.

Suddenly he did. The memory of it came with inexorable clarity, he crossed forearms over his horror-stricken face and fell back upon his pillow.

“Oh,” he gasped. “Un-speakable! Un-speakable!”

“Lord! Don’t worry about that! I don’t think she minded.”

“It’s the thought of Madame de Vaurigard–it kills me! The horror of it–that I should do such a thing in her house! She’ll never speak to me again, she oughtn’t to; she ought to send her groom to beat me! You can’t think what I’ve lost–“

“Can’t I!” Mr. Cooley rose from his chair and began to pace up and down the chamber. “I can guess to within a thousand francs of what I‘ve lost! I had to get the hotel to cash a check on New York for me this morning. I’ve a habit of carrying all my money in bills, and a fool trick, too. Well, I’m cured of it!”

“Oh, if it were only a little money and nothing else that I’d lost! The money means nothing.” Mellin choked.

“I suppose you’re pretty well fixed. Well, so am I,” Cooley shook his head, “but money certainly means something to me!”

“It wouldn’t if you’d thrown away the most precious friendship of your life.”

“See here,” said Cooley, halting at the foot of the bed and looking at his stricken companion from beneath frowning brows, “I guess I can see how it is with you, and I’ll tell you frankly it’s been the same with me. I never met such a fascinating woman in my life: she throws a reg’ler ole-fashioned spell over you! Now I hate to say it, but I can’t help it, because it plain hits me in the face every time I think of it; the truth is–well, sir, I’m afraid you and me have had little red soldier-coats and caps put on us and strings tied to our belts while we turned somersets for the children.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? It seems to get more and more simple to me. I’ve been thinking it all over and over again. I can’t help it! See here: I met Sneyd on the steamer, without any introduction. He sort of warmed into the game in the smoking-room, and he won straight along the trip. He called on me in London and took me to meet the Countess at her hotel. We three went to the theatre and lunch and so forth a few times; and when I left for Paris she turned up on the way: that’s when you met her. Couple of days later, Sneyd came over, and he and the Countess introduced me to dear ole friend Pedlow. So you see, I don’t rightly even know who any of ’em really are: just took ’em for granted, as it were. We had lots of fun, I admit that, honkin’ about in my car. We only played cards once, and that was in her apartment the last night before I left Paris, but that one time Pedlow won fifteen thousand francs from me. When I told them my plans, how I was goin’ to motor down to Rome, she said she would be in Rome–and, I tell you, I was happy as a poodle-pup about it. Sneyd said he might be in Rome along about then, and open-hearted ole Pedlow said not to be surprised if he turned up, too. Well, he did, almost to the minute, and in the meantime she’d got you hooked on, fine and tight.”