eceptions, and balls in the aristocratic circles of the faubourg
Saint-Germain.

Remarkably handsome, extremely rich, Thomery had had many love affairs.
Gossips had it that between him and Madame de Vibray there had existed a
tender intimacy; and, for once, gossip was right. But they had been
tactful, had respected the conventions whilst their irregular union had
lasted. Though now a thing of the past, for Thomery had sought other
loves, his passion for the Baroness had changed to a calm, strong,
semi-brotherly affection; whilst Madame de Vibray retained a more
lively, a more tender feeling for the man whom she had known as the most
gallant of lovers.

Thomery suddenly ceased talking of his rheumatism:

"But, my dear friend, I do not see that pretty smile which is your
greatest charm! How is that?"

Madame de Vibray looked sad: her beautiful eyes gazed deep into those of
Thomery:

"Ah," she murmured, "one cannot be eternally smiling; life sometimes
holds painful surprises in store for us."

"Is something worrying you?" Thomery's tone was one of anxious sympathy.

"Yes and no," was her evasive reply. There was a silence; then she said:

"It is always the same thing! I have no hesitation in telling you that,
you, my old friend: it is a money wound--happily it is not mortal."

Thomery nodded:

"Well, I declare it is just what I expected! My poor Mathilde, are you
never going to be sensible?"

The Baroness pouted: "You know quite well I am sensible ... only it
happens that there are moments when one is short of cash! Yesterday I
asked my bankers to send me fifty thousand francs, and I have not heard
a word from them!"

"That is no great matter! The Barbey-Nanteuil credit cannot be shaken!"

"Oh," cried the Baroness, "I have no fears on that score; but, as a
rule, their delay in sending me what I ask for is of the briefest, yet
no one has come from them to-day."

Thomery began scolding her gently:

"Ah, Mathilde, that you should be in such pressing need of so large a
sum must mean that you have been drawn into some deplorable speculation!
I will wager that you invested in those Oural copper mines after all!"

"I thought the shares were going up," was Madame de Vibray's excuse: she
lowered her eyes like a naughty schoolgirl caught in the act.

Thomery, who had risen, and was walking up and down the room, halted in
front of her:

"I do beg of you to consult those who know all the ins and outs, persons
co