cross oceans
and continents! A hundred times I have passed you without knowing it
till too late. And here, at the very moment when I believed it was all
over, you fling yourself into the loving arms of your adoring husband! I
do not understand."

"Be brief," she replied, the chill of snows in her voice. Her hate for
this man had no empty corners. "I have played foolishly into your hands.
Say what you will and be gone."

"What a welcome!"

"Be quick!"

There was danger in her voice now, and he recognized the tense quality
of it. "I shall telegraph to the attorneys in Rome to partition the
estates, my heart!" mocking her. "The king will not add to his private
purse the riches of Colonel Grosvenor and the Principi di Monte Bianca,
your father and mine, old fools! To tell the truth, I am badly in need
of money, and, head of Bacchus! your appearance here is life to me, my
dear Sonia. Life! I am a rich man. But," with a sudden scowl, dropping
the mask of banter, "I do not understand these companions of yours." He
eyed the group coldly. "What position in my household does this
gentleman occupy?" indicating Hillard and smiling evilly.

"Give no heed," said La Signorina, as Hillard took a step forward.

"So it is all true, then?" he asked despairingly. "You are his wife?"

"Yes. Forgive me, but did I not warn you many times? In the eyes of the
Italian civil law I am this man's wife, but in the eyes of God and the
Church, never, never!"

"What do you mean?"

"In a few days I shall write you; in this letter I promise to explain
everything. And you will forgive me, I know."

"Forgive you? For what? There is nothing to forgive on my side; the gift
is on yours. For I have been a meddler, an unhappy one."

"Will you and Mr. Merrihew go now? I do not wish you two to witness this
scene."

"Leave you alone with this wretch? No!" said Hillard.

"Well?" cried the prince impatiently. He was not inclined toward these
confidences between the American and his wife. "I have asked a question
and nobody replies. I inquire again, what position does he hold?"

"This villa is mine," she answered, the sharpness of her tone giving
hint to the volcano burning in her heart. "However the estates may be
partitioned, this will be mine. I command you to leave it at once, for
your presence here is as unwelcome to me as that of all creeping things.
I find that I do not hate you; I loathe you."

The prince laughed. That she loathed or hated