myself?"
"Perhaps you've got an appointment with
Carter here. The latest from Geneva. Interna-tional
situation now acute. The stolen plans must
be found or war will be declared tomorrow!"
Pauline Weatherby said cuttingly:
"Must you be so completely idiotic, Tony?"
"Sorry, Pauline."
Tony Chapell relapsed into crestfallen silence.
"How severe you are, Mademoiselle."
"I hate people who play the fool all the time?
"I must be careful, I see. I must converse only
of serious matters."
112
Agatha Christie
"Excuse me, must just speak to a fellow I know
over there. Fellow I was with at Eton."
Stephen Ca-ter got up and walked to a table a
few places away.
Tony said gloomily:
"Somebody ought to drown old Etonians at
birth."
Hercule Poirot was still being gallant to the
dark beauty beside him.
He murmured:
"I wonder, may I ask, what are the favorite
flowers of Mademoiselle?"
"Ah, now, why ees eet you want to know?"
Lola was arch.
"Mademoiselle, if I send flowers to a lady, I am