"Comte d'Orbec? so much the better! I know him. He is the king's treasurer, and I go to him for the gold and silver to be used in my work, and for the sums which his Majesty's bounty allots to me. Comte d'Orbec is a crabbed, worn out old curmudgeon! He doesn't count, and there will be little glory in supplanting such an animal. Go to, Ascanio; it is I whom she will love, not for my sake, but for her own, because I shall be the demonstration of her loveliness, so to speak, because she will be appreciated, adored, immortalized. Moreover, I have said, 'I wish it!' and, I say again, I never have used that phrase that I have not succeeded. There is no human power which can hold out against the energy of my passion. I shall, as always, go straight to my goal, with the inflexibility of destiny. She shall be mine, I tell you, though I have to turn the whole kingdom topsy-turvy. And if perchance any rival should block my way--Demonio! let him beware! You know me, Ascanio: I will kill him with this hand now grasping thine. But forgive me, Ascanio, in God's name! Egotist that I am, I forget that you have a secret to confide to me, and a service to ask at my hands. I shall never pay my debt to you, dear child, but say on, say on. For you, as well as myself, I can do what it is my will to do." "You are wrong, master: there are things which God alone can do, and I know that I must rely upon Him and none other. I will leave my secret, therefore, between my feebleness and His might." Ascanio left the room. He had hardly closed the door when Cellini drew the green curtain, and, placing his table by the window, began to model his Hebe, his heart filled with joy in the present, and a sense of security for the future. END OF VOL. I. [ILLUSTRATION 05] THE SYDNEY LIBRARY EDITION THE ROMANCES OF ALEXANDRE DUMAS Volume XI. ASCANIO _PART SECOND_ NEW YORK GEORGE D. SPROUL Publisher 1898 _Copyright, 1896_, By Little, Brown, and Company. University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. CONTENTS Chapter I. The Trafficker in his own Honor II. Four Varieties of Brigands III. An Autumn Night's Dream IV. Stefana V. Domiciliary Visits VI. Charles the Fifth at Fontainebleau VII. The Ghostly Monk VIII. What One sees at Night from the Top of a Poplar IX. Mars and Venus X. The Rivals XI. Benvenuto at Bay XII. Of the Difficulty which an Honest Man experiences in Procuring his own Committal to Prison XIII. In which Jacques Aubry rises to Epic Proportions XIV. Of the Difficulty which an Honest Man experiences in Securing his Release from Prison XV. An Honest Theft XVI. Wherein it is proved that a Grisette's Letter, when it is burned, makes as much Flame and Ashes as a Duchess's XVII. Wherein it is proved that True Friendship is capable of carrying devotion to the Marrying Point XVIII. The Casting XIX. Jupiter and Olympus XX. A Prudent Marriage XXI. Resumption of Hostilities XXII. A Love Match