In any other person, this senile self-conceit would have appeared intensely absurd to Daniel; in his Henrietta’s father, it pained him deeply.  The count actually noticed his downcast look, and, misinterpreting it, asked him,—­

“Could you doubt what I say?”

“Oh, no, sir!”

“Very well, then.  I can assure you, at all events, that this discovery troubled me not a little.  I was so surprised by it, that for three days I could neither think of it coolly, nor decide on what I ought to do.  Still it was necessary I should make up my mind.  I did not for a moment think of abusing the confidence of this innocent child; and yet I knew, I felt it, she was absolutely in my power.  But no!  It would have been infamous in me to repay the hospitality of excellent Mrs. Brian, and the kindness of noble M. Elgin, with such ingratitude.  On the other hand, must I necessarily deny myself my pleasant visits at the house in Circus Street, and break with friends who were so dear to me?  I thought of that, also; but I had not the courage to do so.”

He hesitated for a moment, trying to read in Daniel’s eyes his real opinion.  After a while, he said very gravely,—­

“It was then only, that the idea of marrying her occurred to me.”

Daniel had been expecting the fatal word; thus, however heavy the blow was, it found him prepared.  He remained immovable.

This indifference seemed to surprise the count; for he uttered an expression of discontent, and curtly repeated,—­

“Yes, I thought of marrying her.  You will say, ’That was a serious matter.’  I know that only too well; and therefore I did not decide the question in a hurry, but weighed the reasons for and against very carefully.  I am not one of those weak men, you know, I am sure, who can easily be hoodwinked, and who fancy they alone possess the secret of perennial youth.  No, no, I know myself, and am fully aware, better than anybody else, that I am approaching maturer years.

“This was, in fact, the first objection that arose in my mind.  But then I answered it triumphantly by the fact that age is not a matter to be decided by the certificate of baptism, but that we are just as old as we appear to be.  Now, thanks to an exceptionally sober and peaceful life, of which forty years were spent in the country, to an iron constitution, and to the extreme care I have always taken of my health, I possess a—­what shall I say?—­a vigor which many young men might envy, who can hardly drag one foot after the other.”

He rose as he said this, threw out his chest, straightened his back, and stretched out his well-shaped leg.  Then, when he thought Daniel had sufficiently admired him, he continued,—­

“Now, what of Miss Brandon?  You think, perhaps, she is still in her teens?  Far from that!  She is at least twenty-five, my dear friend; and, for a woman, twenty-five years are—­ah, ah!”

He smiled ironically, as if to say that to him a woman of twenty-five appeared an old, a very old woman.  Then he went on,—­