r sex and
perpetually stimulated by neurotic excitement. Possessed of a certain
degree of intellectual capacity, brought up in all the luxury of a
princely Roman house--that papal luxury which is made up of art and
history--she had received a thin coating of aesthetic varnish, had
acquired a graceful taste, and, having thoroughly grasped the character
of her beauty, sought by skilful simulation and a sapient use of her
marked histrionic talents to enhance its spirituality by surrounding it
with a delusive halo of ideality.

Into the comedy of human life she thus brought some highly perilous
elements, and was thereby the occasion of more ruin and disaster than if
she had been a _demi-mondaine_ by profession.

Under the glamour of her imagination, every caprice assumed an
appearance of pathos. She was the woman of fulminating passions, of
suddenly blazing desire. She covered the lusts of the flesh with a
mantle of ethereal flame, and could transform into a noble sentiment
what was merely a base appetite.

Such was the scathing judgment brought by Andrea against the woman he
had once adored. At the root of every action, every expression of
Elena's love he now discovered studied artifice, an admirable natural
gift for carrying out a pre-arranged scheme, for playing a dramatic part
or organising a striking scene. He did not spare their most memorable
episodes--neither the first meeting at the Ateletas' dinner, nor the
Cardinal Immenraet's sale, nor the ball at the French Embassy, nor the
sudden offer of her love in the red room at the Barberini palace, nor
their farewells out in the country in the biting March blast. The magic
draught which had intoxicated him then now seemed but an insidious
poison.

Yet, in spite of it all, certain points perplexed him, as if in
penetrating Elena's soul he had penetrated his own, and in the woman's
perfidy had seen a reflection of his own. There was much affinity
between their two natures. Therefore he _understood_, and little by
little, his contempt changed to ironical indulgence. He was so
thoroughly conversant with his own mode of procedure.

Then with cold lucidity, he mapped out his plan of campaign. He reviewed
every detail of the interview that had taken place on New Year's
Eve--more than a week ago--and it pleased him to re-construct the scene,
but without the slightest indignation or excitement, only smiling
cynically both at Elena and himself. Why had she come?--Simply beca