"You have just heard from Mr. Giraldi," said Carla, as the Count grew embarrassingly silent. "Just express it frankly; it will not offend me; he is the wisest of men, from whom you can conceal no secrets even if you would and--I don't wish to; you--should not wish to, either. He loves you very much; he wishes the best for you.--Believe me! Trust him!" "I believe it," said the Count--"and I should trust him unconditionally if the union in question had not also a little bit of business flavor in it. You know I bought the Warnow estate today. I should hardly have been able to assume such a great risk, should not have assumed it at all, if they had not intimated that I should have at least half of the purchase price in the form of a dowry." "_Fi donc!_" said Carla. "For Heaven's sake, dear lady, don't misunderstand me!" exclaimed the Count. "It is understood, of course, that this intimation could have come from no one else in the world but Mr. Giraldi, as attorney of the Baroness----" [Illustration: THE LITTLE THIEF _Permission Ch. Sedelmeyer, Paris_ MICHAEL VON MUNKACSY] "Spare me such things, dear Count!" exclaimed Carla; "I don't understand anything at all about them! I only know that my sister-in-law is a charming creature, and that you are a terribly blasé man, before whom every honorable girl must shudder. And now let us go into the reception room. I hear Baroness Kniebreche; she would never forgive you if you did not kiss her hand within the first five minutes!" "Give me courage for the execution," whispered the Count. "How?" The Count did not answer, but took her hand from the keys of the piano, pressed a few passionate kisses upon it, and, with a movement half feigned and half real, hastened into the other room. "But he is such a fool!" whispered Carla, looking after him over her shoulder with her lorgnette as he hastened out. "That he is," said a voice near her. "_Mon Dieu!_ Signor Giraldi!" "As ever, at your service!" "As ever, at the proper moment! You have not yet been in the reception room? Of course not! Come! Let us chat a few minutes longer. A _tête-à-tête_ with you is a much envied distinction, which even Baroness Kniebreche appreciates." "And, besides, this respectable _tête-à-tête_ is not so dangerous as the preceding," said Giraldi, taking a seat on the sofa by Carla at the far end of the room, under a cluster of lights.--"Have you spoken to him?" "Just now!" "And what did he answer?" "He understands everything, except----" "Not all, then?" "Stop that ironical smile; he is really not so insignificant. He is clever enough, for example, to inquire what special interest you can have in his union with Else."