s."

These delightful labours occupied the remainder of the night until the
alarum warned us that it was time to part. I accompanied my lovely nun as
far as her gondola, and then went to bed; but I could not sleep. I got up
in order to go and pay a few small debts, for one of the greatest
pleasures that a spendthrift can enjoy is, in my opinion, to discharge
certain liabilities. The gold won by my mistress proved lucky for me, for
I did not pass a single day of the carnival without winning.

Three days after Twelfth Night, having paid a visit to the casino of
Muran for the purpose of placing some gold in M---- M---- 's bureau, the
door-keeper handed me a letter from my nun. Laura had, a few minutes
before, delivered me one from C---- C----.

My new mistress, after giving me an account of her health, requested me
to enquire from my jeweller whether he had not by chance made a ring
having on its bezel a St. Catherine which, without a doubt, concealed
another portrait; she wished to know the secret of that ring. "A young
boarder," she added, "a lovely girl, and my friend, is the owner of that
ring. There must be a secret, but she does not know it." I answered that
I would do what she wished. But here is the letter of C---- C----. It was
rather amusing, because it placed me in a regular dilemma; it bore a late
date, but the letter of M---- M---- had been written two days before it.

"Ali! how truly happy I am, my beloved husband! You love Sister
M---- M----, my dear friend. She has a locket as big as a ring, and she
cannot have received it from anyone but you. I am certain that your dear
likeness is to be found under the Annunciation. I recognized the style of
the artist, and it is certainly the same who painted the locket and my
ring. I am satisfied that Sister M---M---has received that present from
you. I am so pleased to know all that I would not run the risk of
grieving her by telling her that I knew her secret, but my dear friend,
either more open or more curious, has not imitated my reserve. She told
me that she had no doubt of my St. Catherine concealing the portrait of
my lover. Unable to say anything better, I told her that the ring was in
reality a gift from my lover, but that I had no idea of his portrait
being concealed inside of it. 'If it is as you say,' observed M---- M----,
'and if you have no objection, I will try to find out the secret, and
afterwards I will let you know mine.' Being quite certain that s