His appointment to Sarzana at the outbreak of the war had enabled him to return to the ancestral palace, which had passed from the Bissolo family to that of the Michelozzo in the sixteenth century, but which had for a good number of years been closed and in the hands of caretakers. His was one of the most important naval commands in Italy, and the Austrians were viewing that naval base with increased anxiety, it being so very close to both Trieste and Fiume. Admiral Michelozzo-Alfani was one of the youngest of the officers of his grade in the Italian Navy. Many raids he had made upon Austrian ports on the Adriatic, and Ragusa, Zara, Sebenico and other places had suffered severe bombardment by his "mosquito" fleet; therefore, at the Admiralty in Vienna his great activity was being frequently discussed. "I see, my dear Elena, you have not forgotten your friend the Count," laughed the sallow-faced Italian across the table presently. "Neither has he forgotten you." "How do you know?" "Well, because he spoke to me about you only three weeks ago." "Three weeks ago!" echoed the Marchesa. "How could you have met?" Carlo Corradini grinned very mysteriously. "Well--I was in Vienna three weeks ago--that is all." "You in Vienna!" she gasped. "Are you, then, a friend of my country?" she asked, in a low, hoarse whisper. "Why, of course," he replied. "You are Austrian in all but name. I am a born Italian, but--well, I am a friend of Austria." "A well-paid friend--eh?" "Yes, just as you may be--if you will. The Count is still your friend, and he greatly admires you. It is his one regret that you preferred the Marchese Guilio. He is a good fellow is the Count. He is now prime favourite with the Emperor, and he still remains unmarried. Elena, he thinks always of you, and only you." The handsome Elena shrugged her shoulders. The man who had called upon her quite unexpectedly she had first met five years ago in Budapest. He was then a poor Italian composer of music. Yet now, in mysterious circumstances, he was, she knew, in possession of ample funds, and lived in an elegant flat close to the Piazza Colonna in Rome. They exchanged glances, whereupon he settled himself to speak more openly to her, and to give her a verbal message from her old admirer at the Herrengasse. Carlo Corradini began by laughing at her patriotic devotion to her husband's country. "Of course Guilio is a most excellent fellow," he said. "But, alas! he is merely fighting a lost cause. The Central Powers are bound to win, and it is now for you to assist your own country. Schreyer appeals to you. He knows of your difficulty in meeting that last loan which old Levitski, the Jew, in Milan, made to you a year ago, and--" "How does he know that?" she inquired, in quick surprise.