he's mean enough to kick up a row when his nose gets tickled a bit. See
that? That just paints him. Miserly and envious. You can't account for
it any other way. Can you? I have been studying him these three years."

He was anxious I should assent to his theory. And indeed on thinking it
over it would have been plausible enough if there hadn't been always the
essential falseness of irresponsibility in Schomberg's chatter. However,
I was not disposed to investigate the psychology of Falk. I was engaged
just then in eating despondently a piece of stale Dutch cheese, being
too much crushed to care what I swallowed myself, let along bothering my
head about Falk's ideas of gastronomy. I could expect from their study
no clue to his conduct in matters of business, which seemed to me
totally unrestrained by morality or even by the commonest sort of
decency. How insignificant and contemptible I must appear, for the
fellow to dare treat me like this--I reflected suddenly, writhing in
silent agony. And I consigned Falk and all his peculiarities to the
devil with so much mental fervour as to forget Schomberg's existence,
till he grabbed my arm urgently. "Well, you may think and think till
every hair of your head falls off, captain; but you can't explain it in
any other way."

For the sake of peace and quietness I admitted hurriedly that I
couldn't: persuaded that now he would leave off. But the only result was
to make his moist face shine with the pride of cunning. He removed his
hand for a moment to scare a black mass of flies off the sugar-basin and
caught hold of my arm again.

"To be sure. And in the same way everybody is aware he would like to get
married. Only he can't. Let me quote you an instance. Well, two years
ago a Miss Vanlo, a very ladylike girl, came from home to keep house for