They
are, in jest, called the Vultures. It is a French jest, as you would
conclude. And the Vultures have been congregating at Warsaw. Therefore,
the powers know something. At Cracow, it is said--I ask your pardon
for repeating it--that they know, and that Cartoner knows what he
knows--through the Bukatys."
The prince's lips moved beneath his mustache, but he did not speak.
Wanda, who was seated near the fire, had turned in her chair, and was
looking at Kosmaroff over her shoulder with steady eyes. She was not
taken by surprise. It was Cartoner himself who had foreseen this, and
had warned her. There was deep down in her heart, even at this moment,
a thrill of pride in the thought that her lover was a cleverer man than
any she had had to do with. And, oddly enough, the next words Kosmaroff
spoke made her his friend for the rest of her life.
"I have nothing against him. I know nothing of him, except that he is a
brave man. It happens that I know that," he said. "He knows as well as
I do that his life is unsafe in this country, and yet, before I left
London I heard--for we have friends everywhere--that he had got his
passport for Russia again. It is to be presumed that he is coming back,
so you must be prepared.
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