But there was no mistaking that all the hard work was indeed improving her playing, for her fluency became smoother as the week progressed. To her the Count showed only his charming, dashing side, so much so that one morning Jillian had to confess to Alabeth that she found it impossible to believe that such a fine gentleman could ever have cheated at cards. Alabeth, naturally enough, reserved judgment, having witnessed for herself that there was quite another side to Count Adam Zaleski. He did not seem at all abashed by Alabeth’s rebuffs; indeed he lost no opportunity at all of trying to speak to her or to get her on her own, but she managed for the most part to elude him. For Jillian’s sake she endured his presence in the house, and that was her only reason for tolerating him, but she had a suspicion that he believed she had embarked upon some elaborate game. She was most careful, therefore, to give him no encouragement whatsoever, being at all times remote and icily civil, for never would she be able to forget how mercilessly he had used her unhappiness to try to seduce her.
