met Lady Clavering, and how "doosed" glad he was to meet Harry himself
on this present occasion.

"And now, my boys, we'll set down," said the count. "There's just a
little soup, printanier; yes, they can make soup here; then a cut of
salmon--and after that the beefsteak. Nothing more. Schmoff, my boy, can
you eat beefsteak?"

Schmoff neither smiled nor spoke, but simply bowed his head gravely, and
sitting down, arranged with slow exactness his napkin over his waistcoat
and lap.

"Captain Boodle, can you eat beefsteak," said the count; "Blue Posts'
beefsteak?"

"Try me," said Doodles. "That's all. Try me."

"I will try you, and I will try Mr. Clavering. Schmoff would eat a horse
if he had not a bullock, and a piece of jackass if he had not a horse."

"I did eat a horse in Hamboro' once. We was besieged."

So much said Schmoff, very slowly, in a deep bass voice, speaking from
the bottom of his chest, and frowning very heavily as he did so. The
exertion was so great that he did not repeat it for a considerable time.

"Thank God we are not besieged now," said the count, as the soup was
handed round to them. "Ah, Albert, my friend, that is good soup; very
good soup. My compliments to the excellent Stubbs. Mr. Clavering, the
excellent Stubbs is the cook. I am quite at home here, and they do their
best for me. You need not fear you will have any of Schmoff's horse."

This was all very pleasant, and Harry Clavering sat down to his dinner
prepared to enjoy it; but there was a sense about him during the whole
time that he was being taken in and cheated, and that the count would
cheat him and actually escape away from him on that evening without his
being able to speak a word to him. They were dining in a public room, at
a large table which they had to themselves, while others were dining at
small tables round them. Even if Schmoff and Boodle had not been there,
he could hardly have discussed Lady Ongar's private affairs in such a
room as that. The count had brought him there to dine in this way with a
premeditated purpose of throwing him over, pretending to give him the
meeting that had been asked for, but intending that it should pass by
and be of no avail. Such was Harry's belief; and he resolved that,
though he might have to seize Pateroff by the tails of his coat, the
count should not escape him without having been forced at any rate to
hear what he had to say. In the meantime the dinner went on very
pleasantly.