— 20 —
There is always something to be gained in the society of clever people."
I returned to the boudoir.
"Ah, there you are again," he said. "In this house, everyone obeys me. So you will do the same."
"Perhaps."
"There's no perhaps about it, and to begin with, you have got to have a drink with me!"
He rang the bell. Fanny quickly appeared.
"Bring something to drink!" he ordered.
She came back with three bottles and two glasses.
"Well, what would you like? Will you take a drop of rum, brandy or absinthe?"
"Thanks very much, but I only drink wine with water in it, and I am not at all thirsty just now."
"What the devil has that got to do with me? You've got to drink with me!"
"No!" I answered, most decidedly.
He swore like a trooper, and having filled up a glass with absinthe, tossed it off at a gulp.
"Now its your turn. Drink, or I'll beat you."
He filled up both glasses, and brought one
