The Mission of Poubalov — page 128: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

124 LOUISE RECEIVES A CALLER. ‘Nothing with your character, nothing else. You have done right, Clara. Iam very tired. Let us talk further of this in the morning.’’ Mr. Pembroke was not disposed to talk in the morning, however, and Clara was engrossed with a long letter from Louise that had been mailed on the train leaving Boston at midnight. ‘*Poubalov,’’ she wrote, ‘‘was at the house when 1 re- turned from seeing you off. If the man were capable of ex- pressing emotion, I should say that he was disappointed at not seeing you; but whatever he felt, he masked it un- der his grand assumption of dignity and courtesy. He had called, he said, to make his apologies for his extraordinary leave-taking of the evening before, and also, he added with ponderous humor, to recover his property. I got his hat and cane for him, and what do you think! he had brought a lovely basket of flowers for you, to plead his apologies, as he put it. There was no refusing such an of- fering, dear, and.I am enjoying their fragrance and rich colors as I write. I hope this will reach you in time tu be of use if Poubaloy’s call can be of use to you in New York, I thought it my duty to report it. I felt how immeasura- bly superior you are to me intellectually—I won’t draw other comparisons lest they be odious to one of us—for I was utterly at a loss to draw him out. He didn’t present his excuses to me, and how he managed to evade doing so I can’t quite see now asI think it over, for he remained several minutes, talking with apparent candor. The man himself is as great a mystery as anything connected with your trouble. All I can say is that with one hat on his head,and his other hat and his cane in his hand, he eventu- ally took his departure, promising to call again. There is one thing I managed not to do, though it was quite plain, even to me, that he was trying to findout. Ididn’t tell him where yon were. Of course I had to say that you were not at home, and in answer to direct questions that I did not expect you before Saturday, but I didn’t even hint at New York or Lizzie White, and he made no all@situuc foo stan