ettle myself in my house
there on purpose to be of assistance to you. You will make a hit
there, I know, and we shall be always good friends."

In spite of her previous experience of this man's character, Eveline
was weak enough to be touched by his words and to blame herself for
having done him injustice, for it was a great sacrifice on his part to
leave Vienna for her sake. She could never have supposed that this
sacrifice was part of his well-considered plan for ridding himself of
her. She had played _her_ part in making his fortune, and now she
could go where she chose--to her native coal-pit if she liked. Once in
Paris, he would be able to say, "Madam, you are here under the French
law, and as no _civil ceremony_ has passed between us, you are not my
wife; you are at liberty to call yourself unmarried."

Felix had another reason for settling himself in Paris. It was here he
counted on carrying out the second part of his programme. Now that the
Bondavara Railway was nearly finished, the castles in the air of the
Abbe Samuel were beginning to take shape; the next step should be a
gigantic loan in the interest of the Church. This loan would be
another means of aggrandizing the house of Kaulmann; its reputation
would be world-wide. Already Kaulmann's name was of European
celebrity; he belonged to the stars of the first order in the
financial world. From being a _baron_ of the stock-exchange he had
become a prince. If he succeeded in effecting this loan he would be a
_king_ of the money-market, before whose name even that of Rothschild
would pale.

A halo was also beginning to surround the name of the Abbe Samuel. The
government had begun to see that this popular orator held the people
in his hand, and could lead them as he chose. The people looked upon
him as their benefactor, a man whose influence could get them
benefits. Was not the Bondavara Railway a proof of this? The twelve
Halinacoats were firmly persuaded that the abbe had carried back in
his pocket the government grant. The clerical party acknowledged him
as a new light. In Rome he was lauded for his zeal in the papal cause.
If he was made bishop, which was almost a certainty, he would be the
first Hungarian prelate who had taken his seat in the Austrian House
of Lords. The minister would stare when he found his scheme for the
secularization of Hungarian Church property met by another scheme from
the new bishop, which, while proposing a gigantic loan upon t