What other strange
appointments were present Parker was far too nervous to observe.
He stood dumbly before a man who lolled back in a deep, cushioned
chair and whose almond-shaped eyes, black as night, were set
immovably upon him. This man was apparently young. He wore a
rich, brocaded robe, trimmed with marten fur, and out of it his
long ivory throat rose statuesquely. His complexion was likewise
of this uniform ivory colour, and from his low smooth brow his
hair was brushed back in a series of glossy black waves.
His lips were full and very red. As a woman he might have been
considered handsome--even beautiful; in a man this beauty was
unnatural and repellent. He wore Oriental slippers, fur-lined,
and his feet rested on a small ottoman. One long, slender hand
lay upon a cushion placed on the chair arm, and a pretty girl was
busily engaged in manicuring his excellency's nails. Although the
day held every promise of being uncomfortably hot, already a huge
fire was burning in the grate.
As Parker stood before him, the languid, handsome Oriental did
not stir a muscle, merely keeping the gaze of his strange black
eyes fixed upon the nervous cobbler. The manicurist, after one
quick upward glance, continued her work. But in this moment of
distraction she had hurt the cuticle of one of those delicate,
slender fingers.
Ormuz Khan withdrew his hand sharply from the cushion, glanced
aside at the girl, and then, extending his hand again, pushed her
away from him.
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