“We have mutual friends in Paris,” said Mirelle. “I have heard of you from them, but I come to see you today for another reason. I have heard of you since I came to Nice⁠—in a different way, you understand.”

“Ah?” said the Comte softly.

“I will be brutal,” continued the dancer; “nevertheless, believe that I have your welfare at heart. They are saying in Nice, Monsieur le Comte, that you are the murderer of the English lady, Madame Kettering.”

“I!⁠—the murderer of Madame Kettering? Bah! But how absurd!”

He spoke more languidly than indignantly, knowing that he would thus provoke her further.

“But yes,” she insisted; “it is as I tell you.”

“It amuses people to talk,” murmured the Comte indifferently. “It would be beneath me to take such wild accusations seriously.”