en; the dark figure of a man was seen
against the light; he said, "Come in! come in!" and his hand was
outstretched. The stranger seemed greatly surprised.

"What, you, Calabressa!" he exclaimed. "Your time has not yet expired!"

"What, no? My faith, I have made it expire!" said the other, airily, and
introducing a rather badly pronounced French word or two into his
Italian. "But come in, come in; take a seat. You are early; you may have
to wait."

He was an odd-looking person, this tall, thin, elderly man, with the
flowing yellow-white hair and the albino eyes. There was a semi-military
look about his braided coat; but, on the other hand, he wore the cap of
a German student--of purple velvet, with a narrow leather peak. He
seemed to be proud of his appearance. He had a gay manner.

"Yes, I am escaped. Ah, how fine it is! You walk about all day as you
please; you smoke cigarettes; you have your coffee; you go to look at
the young English ladies who come to feed the pigeons in the place."

He raised two fingers to his lips, and blew a kiss to all the world.

"Such complexions! A wild rose in every cheek! But listen, now; this is
not about an English young lady. I go up to the Church of St.
Mark--besides the bronze horses. I am enjoying the air, when I hear a
sound; I turn; over there I see open windows; ah! the figure in the
white dressing-gown! It is the _diva_ herself. They play the _Barbiere_
to-night, and she is practicing as she dusts her room. _Una voce poco
fa_--it thrills all through the square. She puts the ornaments on the
mantel-piece straight. _Lo giurai, la vincero!_--she goes to the mirror
and makes the most beautiful attitude. Ah, what a spectacle--the black
hair all down--the white dressing-gown--_In sono docile_"--and again he
kissed his two fingers. Then he said,

"But now, you. You do not look one day older. And how is Natalie?"

"Natalie is well, I believe," said the other, gravely.

"You are a strange man. You have not a soft heart for the pretty
creatures of the world; you are implacable. The little Natalushka, then;
how is she?"

"The little Natalushka is grown big now; she is quite a woman."

"A woman! She will marry an Englishman, and become very rich: is not
that so?"

"Natalie--I mean, Natalushka will not marry," said the other coldly.
"She knows she is very useful to me. She knows I have no other."

"_Maintenant_: the business--how goes that?"

"Elsewhere, well; in England, not