ht
them at auction, or as bargains from the dealers. Oh! he's keener than
they are themselves. If you see him rubbing his hands in the courtyard,
you may be sure he has traded away one good horse for a better. He lives
for me; his happiness is to see me elegant, in a perfectly appointed
equipage. The duties he takes upon himself are all accomplished without
fuss or emphasis. One evening I lost twenty thousand francs at whist.
'What will Paz say?' thought I as I walked home. Paz paid them to me,
not without a sigh; but he never reproached me, even by a look. But
that sigh of his restrained me more than the remonstrances of uncles,
mothers, or wives could have done. 'Do you regret the money?' I said
to him. 'Not for you or me, no,' he replied; 'but I was thinking
that twenty poor Poles could have lived a year on that sum.' You must
understand that the Pazzi are fully the equal of the Laginski, so I
couldn't regard my dear Paz as an inferior. I never went out or came in
without going first to Paz, as I would to my father. My fortune is his;
and Thaddeus knows that if danger threatened him I would fling myself
into it and drag him out, as I have done before."

"And that is saying a good deal, my dear friend," said the countess.
"Devotion is like a flash of lightning. Men devote themselves in battle,
but they no longer have the heart for it in Paris."

"Well," replied Adam, "I am always ready, as in battle, to devote
myself to Paz. Our two characters have kept their natural asperities
and defects, but the mutual comprehension of our souls has tightened the
bond already close between us. It is quite possible to save a man's life
and kill him afterwards if we find him a bad fellow; but Paz and I know
THAT of each other which makes our friendship indissoluble. There's
a constant exchange of happy thoughts and impressions between us; and
really, perhaps, such a friendship as ours is richer than love."

A pretty hand closed the count's mouth so promptly that the action was
somewhat like a blow.

"Yes," he said, "friendship, my dear angel, knows nothing of bankrupt
sentiments and collapsed joys. Love, after giving more than it has, ends
by giving less than it receives."

"One side as well as the other," remarked Clementine laughing.

"Yes," continued Adam, "whereas friendship only increases. You need not
pucker up your lips at that, for we are, you and I, as much friends as
lovers; we have, at least I hope so, combined the t