"At the age of twenty," continued Henryet, "Leoni found himself in possession of a reasonably handsome fortune, and entirely in control of his own movements. He was in a most advantageous position to do good; but he found his means inferior to the requirements of his ambition, and pending the time when he should build up a fortune equal to his desires, as a result of I know not what insane or culpable schemes, he squandered his inheritance in two years. His house, which he decorated with the splendor you have seen, was the rendezvous of all the dissipated youths and abandoned women of Italy. Many foreigners, connoisseurs in the matter of fast living, were received there; and thus Leoni, who had already made the acquaintance, during his travels, of many people of fashion, formed the most brilliant connections in all countries and made sure of many invaluable friends. "As is everywhere the case, schemers and blacklegs succeeded in insinuating themselves into this large circle. I saw in Leoni's company in Paris several faces that aroused my distrust, and whose owners I suspect to-day of forming with him and the Marquis de ---- an association of fashionable sharpers. Yielding to their counsels, to Zanini's lessons, or to his natural inclinations, young Leoni seems to have soon tried his hand at cheating at cards. This much is certain, that he became eminently proficient in that art and probably practised it in all the capitals of Europe without arousing the slightest suspicion. When he was absolutely ruined, he left Venice and began to travel again as an adventurer. At this point the thread of his history escapes me. Zanini, from whom I gleaned a part of what I have told you, claimed to have lost sight of him from that time and to have learned only by means of correspondence, frequently interrupted, of Leoni's innumerable changes of fortune and innumerable intrigues in society. He apologized for having produced such a pupil by saying that Leoni had perverted his doctrines; but he excused the pupil by praising the incredible cleverness, the strength of will and the presence of mind with which he had challenged fate, endured and conquered adversity. At last Leoni came to Paris with his faithful friend the Marquis de ----, whom you know, and it was there that I had an opportunity to see and judge him. "It was Zanini who introduced him to the Princesse de X----, of whose children he was the tutor. The abbé's superior mental endowments had given him for several years past a less subordinate position in the princess's household than that usually occupied by tutors in great families. He did the honors of the salon, led the conversation, sang beautifully, and managed the concerts.