"Oh! yes," said I, "here is an almost imperceptible mark near the fastening; it's my father's private mark. With a magnifying-glass you can see his cipher." "Very good," he replied; "then the pin must have been left in one of our trunks, and I suppose I dropped it this morning when shaking some of my clothes. Luckily it's the only piece of jewelry we brought away by accident; all the rest was placed in charge of a reliable man and addressed to Delpech, who must have turned it over to your family. I don't believe that it is worth while to return this; it would excite your mother's grief anew for very little money." "It is worth at least ten thousand francs," I said. "Very well, keep it until you have an opportunity to send it back. By the way, are you ready? are the trunks locked? There is a gondola at the door and your house is waiting impatiently for you; supper is already served." Half an hour later we stopped at the door of a magnificent palace. The stairways were covered with amaranth-colored carpets; the white marble rails with flowering orange-trees, in midwinter, and with light statues which seemed to lean over to salute us. The concierge and four servants came forward to assist us to disembark. Leoni took a candlestick from one of them and raised it so that I could read on the cornice of the peristyle, in silver letters on an azure ground: _Palazzo Leoni_. "O my love," I cried, "you did not deceive us? You are rich and of noble birth and I am in your house!" [Illustration: _LEONI TAKES JULIETTE TO HIS PALACE._ _Leoni took a candlestick * * * and raised it so that I could read on the cornice of the peristyle, in silver letters, on an azure ground_: Palazzo Leoni. "_O my love," I cried, "you did not deceive us? You are rich and of noble birth, and I am in your house!_"]