h it."

The governess, who was clever, studied Caesar's hand and expressed
herself in sibylline terms:

"You have something of everything, a little of some things and a great
deal of others; you are not a harmonious individual."

"No?"

"No. You are very intelligent."

"Thank you."

"Let the sibyl talk," said the Sandoval girl.

"You have a strong sense of logic," the governess went on.

"That's possible."

"You are good and bad! You have much imagination and very little; you
are at the same time very brave and very timid. You have a loving
nature, but it is asleep, and little will-power."

"Little and... a great deal," said Caesar.

"No, little."

"Do you believe that I have little will-power?"

"I am telling you what your hand says."

"Look here. My hand's opinion doesn't interest me so much as yours,
because you are an intelligent woman. Do you believe I have no
will-power?"

"A sibyl doesn't discuss her affirmations."

"Now you are worried about your lack of will-power," said Mlle. de
Sandoval, mockingly.

"Yes, I am, a bit."

"Well, I think you have will-power enough," she retorted; "what you do
lack is a little more amiability."

"Fortunately for you and for me, you are not so perspicacious in
psychology as this young lady."

"I don't expect to earn my living telling fortunes."

"I don't believe this young lady expects to, either. You have told me
what I am," Caesar pursued; "now tell me what is going to happen to me."

"Let me look," said Mlle. Cadet; "close your hand. You will make a
journey." "Very good! I like that."

"You will get into a desperate struggle...."

"I like that, too."

"And you will win, and you will be defeated...."

"I don't like that so much."

Mile. Cadet could not give other details. Her sibylline science extended
no further. During this chiromantic interlude, the dancing kept up,
until finally, about three in the morning, the party ended.

XI. A SOUNDING-LINE IN THE DARK WORLD

_THE ADVICE OF TWO ABBES_

The Abbe Preciozi several times advised Caesar to make a new attempt at
a reconciliation with the Cardinal; but Caesar always refused.

"He is a man incapable of understanding me," he would insist with naive
arrogance.

Preciozi felt a great liking for his new friend, who invited him to
meals at good hotels and treated him very frequently. Almost every
morning he went to call on Caesar on one pretext or another, and they
would go for a w