e--oh, fie!
baron, fie!"

"It is all very well, my lord," said the baron, sturdily; "but I must be
allowed to say (with all due apology for my boldness) that there is no
small portion of pride in your royal highness's aversion to receive even
a just compliment."

"Well said, baron! Come, I like you better now you speak plain truths.
But tell me how you prove your assertion?"

"Why, just so, my lord; because you repudiate it upon the same principle
that might induce a beautiful woman, well aware of her charms, to say to
one of her most enthusiastic admirers, 'I know perfectly well how
handsome I am, and therefore your approval is perfectly uncalled for and
unnecessary. What is the use of reiterating what everybody knows? Is it
usual to proclaim in the open streets that the sun shines, when all may
see and feel certain of his midday brightness?'"

"Now, baron, you are shifting your ground, and becoming more dangerous
as you become more adroit; and, by way of varying your punishment, I
will only say that the infernal Polidori himself could not have more
ingeniously disguised the poisonous draught of flattery, when seeking to
persuade some poor victim to swallow it."

"My lord, I am now effectually silenced."

"Then," said Murphy (and this time with an air of real seriousness),
"your royal highness has now no doubt as to its being really Polidori
you encountered in the Rue du Temple?"

"I have ceased to have the least doubt on the subject, since I learned
through you that he had been in Paris for some time past."

"I had forgotten, or, rather, purposely omitted to mention to your
lordship," said Murphy in a sorrowing tone, "a name that never failed to
awaken painful feelings; and knowing as I do how justly odious the
remembrance of this man was to your royal highness, I studiously
abstained from all reference to it."

The features of Rodolph were again overshadowed with gloom, and, plunged
in deep reverie, he continued to preserve unbroken the silence which
prevailed until the carriage stopped in the courtyard of the embassy.
The windows of the hotel were blazing with a thousand lights, which
shone brightly through the thick darkness of the night, while a crowd of
lacqueys, in full-dress liveries, lined the entrance-hall, extending
even to the salons of reception, where the grooms of the chamber waited
to announce the different arrivals.

M. le Comte ----, the ambassador, with his lady, had purposely remained
i