answered. It had
not gone to his head, but there was colour in his lean cheeks, his eyes
were brighter than usual, and he felt the familiar exhilaration which he
had missed of late.

"I have been drinking milk for ten days," he said with a smile, as he
set down the glass.

"Good in its way, no doubt," Corbario answered genially, "but a little
tiresome. One should often change from simple things to complicated
ones. It is the science of enjoyment. Besides, it is bad for the
digestion to live always on bread and milk."

"I don't live on that altogether," laughed Marcello.

"I mean it metaphorically, my dear boy. There is such a thing as
simplifying one's existence too much. That sometimes ends in getting
stuck. Now you cannot possibly allow yourself to get stuck in your
present position. You know what I mean. Oh, I don't blame you! If I were
your age I should probably do the same thing, especially if I had your
luck. Blame you? No! Not in the least. The cigarettes are there. You've
not given up smoking too? No, that's right. A man without a small vice
is as uninteresting as a woman without a past or a landscape without
shadows. Cigarettes never hurt anybody. Look at me! I used to smoke
fifty a day when I was your age."

Marcello blew a cloud of smoke, stirred his coffee, and leaned back. He
had scarcely heard what Corbario said, but the elder man's careless
chatter had put him at his ease.

"Folco," he said quietly, "I want to ask you a question, and I want you
to answer me seriously. Will you?"

"As well as I can," answered Corbario, instantly changing his tone and
growing earnest.

"Don't be surprised," Marcello said, half apologetically, as if he were
already weakening. "I shall never do anything without your advice. Of
course you know how I feel about all this, that I am leading a
disorderly life, and--well, you understand!"

"Perfectly, my dear boy. I only wish to help you out of it as soon as
possible, if you want to be helped. I'm quite sure that you will pull
through in time. I have always believed in you."

"Thank you. I know you have. Well, I'll ask you my question. You know
well enough that I shall never care for society much, don't you?"

"Society will care for you," answered Folco. "What is the question?"

"I'm coming to it, but I want to explain, or it will not be quite clear.
You see, it is not as if I were a personage in the world."

"What sort of personage? Please explain."

"I mean, if