t a fortune!" he exclaimed. "It is not even a dot! It is
nothing at all, a year's income, a trifle."

"Nevertheless," Jeanne said calmly, "it is all that I possess. You
see," she continued, "I have come back to my stepmother to tell her
that if I am bound by law to do as she wishes until I am of age, I will
be dutiful and marry the man whom she chooses for me, but I wish to
tell you two things quite frankly. The first you have just heard. The
second is that I do not care for you in the least, that in fact I
rather dislike you."

The Princess buried her head in her hands. She was not anxious to look
at any one just then, or to be looked at. The Count rose to his feet.
There were drops of perspiration upon his forehead. He was distracted.

"Is this true, madam?" he asked of the Princess.

"It is true," she admitted.

He leaned towards her.

"What about my three thousand pounds?" he whispered. "Who will pay me
back that? It is cheating. That money has been gained by what you call
false pretences. There is punishment for that, eh?"

The Princess dabbed at her eyes with a little morsel of lace
handkerchief.

"One must live," she murmured. "It was not I who talked about Jeanne's
fortune. It was all the world who said how rich she was. Why should I
contradict them? I wanted a place once more in the only Society in
Europe which counts, English society. There was only one way and I took
it. So long as people believed Jeanne to be the heiress of a great
fortune, I was made welcome wherever I chose to go. That is the truth,
my dear Count."

"It is all very well," the Count answered, "but the money I have
advanced you?"

"You took your own risk," the Princess answered, coldly. "I was not to
know that you were expecting to repay yourself out of Jeanne's fortune.
It is not too late. You are not married to her."

"No," the Count said slowly, "I am not married to her."

The Princess watched him from the corners of her eyes. He was evidently
very much distracted. He walked up and down the room. Every now and
then he glanced at Jeanne. Jeanne was very pale, but she wore a hat
with a small green quill which he had once admired. Certainly she had
an air, she was distinguished. There was something vaguely provocative
about her, a charm which he could not help but feel. He stopped short
in the middle of his perambulations. It was the moment of his life. He
felt himself a hero.

"Madam," he said, addressing the Princess, "I h