The Count was ashamed of his momentary hesitation. "There you have my hand and my word!" he exclaimed, laying his hand in that of the Italian. "I will speak of it to no one." "Not even to the Baroness," continued Giraldi. "She wishes to be entirely unconcerned; that is to say, quite free. The Count will understand this womanly delicacy, not to say weakness." "Perfectly," said the Count. "Even her name--that is her particular wish--must not appear in any part of the transaction; so that the mortgage must be made out in my name. Do you agree!" "Of course," said the Count. Giraldi dropped, with a friendly pressure, the hand which he had till then held in his, and leaned back in his chair. "Then we are agreed," he said. "I on my side consider myself fortunate in having delivered a nobleman, whose intelligence and energy had won my entire sympathy even before I had the happiness of making his personal acquaintance, from the unclean hands of these roturiers, and in having placed him in a position which, as it appears to me, confers on him that leading position in this affair which in every way is his right. I at least see the road quite clear before him. To raise the second half of the purchase-money--let us for the present fix the 1st of March as the term--I say to raise the second half of the purchase-money cannot be the least difficult, as by that time you will have long ago sold the property to your associates for double the money; you must not on any account agree for less than two millions. And now, Count, if it is agreeable to you, allow me to conduct you to the Baroness, who is longing to make your acquaintance, as I am sure you will be happy to become acquainted with a lady whom no one can know without loving and honouring her." Giraldi had risen; the Count stood embarrassed and undecided. "You will easily believe that I should prize the happiness proposed to me at its fullest value; but--your servant--there are a lot of people--nearly all the family--in the salon. I fear I should be looked upon as a stranger and an intruder at such a moment." "But if," answered Giraldi, "it should just be in the presence of her family that the Baroness especially needs the friendship of men of position and weight? If she lays the greatest stress on showing that wherever she appears the friendship of those men is secured to her." "Let us go!" exclaimed the Count. "One word more," said Giraldi. In the hitherto calm eyes of the Italian a deeper fire burned. The Count stood breathless; he had an undefined feeling that now he was to hear the solution of the riddle which, in spite of all, was still a mystery to him.