he wine is there, not because we want it.
And then in the morning, we say, how foolish. Come now, light another
cigarette and listen to me. I have great things to talk about, great
questions to ask you. You must listen patiently, for this concerns your
happiness--as closely perhaps as anything will concern it as long as you
live."

He did not continue immediately, seeing the footman at his elbow with
the coffee. Alban, upon his part, lighted a cigarette as he had been
commanded, and waited patiently. He thought that he knew what was coming
and yet was afraid of the thought. Anna's sudden passion for him had
been too patent to all the world that he should lightly escape its
consequences. Indeed, he had never waited for any one to speak with the
anxiety which attended this interval of service. He thought that the
footman would never leave them alone.

"Now," said Gessner at last, "now that those fellows are gone we can
make ourselves comfortable. I shall be very plain, my lad--I shall not
deceive you again. When you first came to my house, I did not tell you
the truth--I am going to tell it to you to-night, for it is only right
that you should know it."

He stirred his coffee vigorously and puffed at his cigar until it glowed
red again. When he resumed he spoke in brief decisive sentences as
though forbidding question or contradiction until he had finished.

"There is a fellow-countryman of mine--you know him and know his
daughter. He believes that I am under some obligation to him and I do
not contradict him. When we met in London, many years after the business
transaction of which he complains, I asked him in what way I could be of
service to him or to his family, as the case might be. He answered that
he wanted nothing for himself, but that any favor I might be disposed to
show should be toward his daughter and to you. I took it that you were
in love with the girl and would marry her. That was what I was given to
believe. At the same time, this fellow Boriskoff assured me that you
were well educated, of a singularly independent character, and well
worthy of being received into this house. I will not deny that the
fellow made very much of this request, and that it was put to me with
certain alternatives which I considered impertinent. You, however, had
no part in that. You came here because the whole truth was not told to
you--and you remained because my daughter wished it. There I do not fear
contradiction. You kno