"It's more than I am."

"I'm bigger than you are."

"I'm not in the least afraid of you."

He laughed.

"You hardly know me well enough to be afraid of me."

"Then I don't want to know you any better."

"You're candid at any rate. But when I like I can be most unpleasant.
Ask Olga Tcherny."

Her gaze flickered then flared into steadiness as she said coolly.

"I haven't the remotest idea what you're talking about."

"Do you mean to say that you don't remember?" he asked smiling.

"My memory is excellent. Perhaps I lack imagination. What should I
remember?"

"My studio--in New York. You visited me with the Countess Tcherny."

"I do not know--I have never met the Countess Tcherny."

The moment was propitious. There was a sound of voices, and Markham
and his visitor glanced over their shoulders past the angle of the