"I've heard of him often enough," came in the American voice. "But I've
never seen him."
"You know him now," resumed the Englishman, "inside as well as out. French
always paints what he sees and always sees what he's painting."
"Well, what is it?"
"Let us go," whispered Marian. But Howard did not heed her.
"I see--a fallen man. He was evidently a real man once; but he sold
himself."
"Yes? Where does it show?"
"He's got a good mind, this fellow-countryman of yours. There are the eyes
of a thinker and a doer. Nothing could have kept him down. His face is
almost as relentless as Kitchener's and fully as aggressive, except that it
shows intellect, and Kitchener's doesn't. Now note the corners of his eyes,
Marshall, and his mouth and nostrils and chin, and you'll see why he sold
himself, and the--the consequences."
Howard and Marian, fascinated, compelled, looked where the unknown
requested.
"I think I see what you mean," came in Marshall's voice, laughingly. "But
go on."
"Ah, there it all is--hypocrisy, vanity, lack of principle, and, plainest
of all, weakness. It's a common enough type among your successful men. The
man himself is the fixed market price for a certain kind of success. But,
according to French, this ambassador of yours seems to know what he has
paid; and the knowledge doesn't make him more content with his bargain.
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