If anything else besides Felix's letter had been needed to kindle in Anna Maria's heart the flame of wrath, it was the manner in which Albert Timm was presenting to her the topic which she so bitterly hated. Nevertheless she answered with a calmness which she observed strictly in all matters of business. "May I beg to know, Mr. Timm, why you honor me with this communication?" "Certainly, baroness; certainly. That is what I came for. You know that a bird in hand is worth a great deal more than a bird on a tree, and that a man who sells his property for less than its value is entitled to the name of a fool. Now you know under what conditions I have promised Baron Felix to keep my counsel with regard to that legacy----" "Pardon me if I interrupt you, Mr. Timm. I know nothing of such conditions. I directed my nephew to pay you a certain sum, solely for the purpose of getting rid of you; and my nephew assured me, shortly before he left us, that the matter was finally settled. I must therefore beg you will please not return to matters fully settled; and excuse me if I cannot see you any longer." The baroness was on the point of rising, when Albert said, in a most decided and incisive manner: "Pray, keep your seat for a moment longer, baroness!" She obeyed his request, half wondering and half frightened. "I am tired of being played with in this manner," continued Albert, in the same tone. "If Baron Felix has not told you the arrangement on which we agreed, he was afraid of you, or he had a purpose of his own. After all, it does not matter much whether you know the former agreement; for I have come for the very purpose of telling you that, after what I have recently discovered, I am no longer disposed to let you off so cheap. I now demand nothing less than thirty thousand dollars, payable within the next fortnight, and request that you will with like candor tell me whether you are ready to pay or not?" "This impudence exceeds all bounds," said Anna Maria, rising from her seat and seizing the bell, which was standing by her on the table. "Let that thing alone," said Albert, coolly; "that bell might cost you pretty dear. Consider well what you are about to do! If we cease to be good friends we become mortal enemies, and you may rest assured Albert Timm gives no quarter. Once more: Are you willing to pay or not?" At that moment the door opened. The servant entered with two lighted candelabra, and close behind him came the prince. The servant placed the lights on the table and went out; the prince had come up half-way before he became aware that the baroness was not alone! "Ah! pardon, madame," he said. "I thought the servant said you were alone. Do you wish me to leave you alone?" "By no means, prince," replied Anna Maria. "I have nothing more to say to this young man." And she made a motion with her hand, as if she wished to intimate to Albert that he was dismissed.