"A-a-a-h!" droned the other, picking up his cigarette to place it in the ash-tray, and lighting another; "y-e-s!" He stared again at his companion, then stole a glance at Leah. Apparently her desire to assist Muscovite politics was not entirely a question of pounds, shillings, and pence. She was less sordid and more subtle than he had guessed. Demetrius, giving him no time to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, went on with his explanation. "You will, therefore, understand that my marriage with your daughter is out of the question." "Of course," assented Aksakoff, absently, and wondering why Lady Jim engaged herself to this exile. "Of course," he added more briskly, "I trust you will permit me to announce this engagement to my daughter." "Certainly. It will show her that----" "That you are unworthy of her hand," ended Aksakoff, sharply, for here the father overleaped the diplomatist. "Quite so, Ivan Aksakoff, and I hope soon to congratulate the Countess Petrovitch." "You are too good, Constantine Demetrius." "In return for thus arranging your domestic affairs," continued the doctor, unmoved by the sarcasm, "will you gain my pardon from the Czar? Can you gain it?" he asked with emphasis. "I can and will." "My title, my money----" "Both shall be restored. And of course," added Aksakoff, with a keen glance, "you will no longer work in what you term the sacred cause of humanity." Demetrius waved his hand gloomily. "Dreams of youth--desires for the impossible. I am aware," he added bitterly, "that individuality in a bureaucratic administration is looked upon as a crime." "Can you wonder at it? If one wheel refuses to fit in with another, the machine will not work. We are all parts of a mighty engine----" "Which crushes the poor and the weak." "What matter, since you, Constantine Demetrius, are neither poor nor weak?" "My sympathy----" "A most dangerous word, current only in that Utopia you dreamed of. It is not in the Russian dictionary." Demetrius turned on the scoffer a glittering eye. "It will be, some day," said he, slowly. "My friend"--Aksakoff shook the ash from his cigarette--"if you propose to edit dictionaries you must remain Dr. Demetrius--in exile." "I gladly would," rejoined the other, heartily; "only----" His voice died away, as he looked towards Lady Jim. The diplomatist laughed. "There is always a woman. Ah, these dear ladies, how practical they are! In their hands we are wax, which they mould after the honey is squeezed out"; he laughed again, then resumed, business-like: "You will write to my daughter and place the truth of this engagement beyond question." "To-morrow, Ivan Aksakoff, when I am in London. And needless to say, I shall always profoundly respect Mademoiselle your daughter." "You mean the Countess Petrovitch." "If you can so far bend her to your ambition," retorted Demetrius. "You promise, then, to right me with the Czar?"