ith her black, sparkling eyes asked Dominic familiarly what had
happened to his Signorino. It was her name for me. I was Dominic's
Signorino. She knew me by no other; and our connection has always been
somewhat of a riddle to her. She said that I was somehow changed since
she saw me last. In her rich voice she urged Dominic only to look at my
eyes. I must have had some piece of luck come to me either in love or at
cards, she bantered. But Dominic answered half in scorn that I was not
of the sort that runs after that kind of luck. He stated generally that
there were some young gentlemen very clever in inventing new ways of
getting rid of their time and their money. However, if they needed a
sensible man to help them he had no objection himself to lend a hand.
Dominic's general scorn for the beliefs, and activities, and abilities of
upper-class people covered the Principle of Legitimacy amply; but he
could not resist the opportunity to exercise his special faculties in a
field he knew of old. He had been a desperate smuggler in his younger
days. We settled the purchase of a fast sailing craft. Agreed that it
must be a balancelle and something altogether out of the common. He knew
of one suitable but she was in Corsica. Offered to start for Bastia by
mail-boat in the morning. All the time the handsome and mature Madame
Leonore sat by, smiling faintly, amused at her great man joining like
this in a frolic of boys. She said the last words of that evening: "You
men never grow up," touching lightly the grey hair above his temple.

A fortnight later.

. . . In the afternoon to the Prado. Beautiful day. At the moment of
ringing at the door a strong emotion of an anxious kind. Why? Down the
length of the dining-room in the rotunda part full of afternoon light
Dona R., sitting cross-legged on the divan in the attitude of a very old
idol or a very young child and surrounded by many cushions, waves her
hand from afar pleasantly surprised, exclaiming: "What! Back already!"
I give her all the details and we talk for two hours across a large brass
bowl containing a little water placed between us, lighting cigarettes and
dropping them, innumerable, puffed at, yet untasted in the overwhelming
interest of the conversation. Found her very quick in taking the points
and very intelligent in her suggestions. All formality soon vanished
between us and before very long I discovered myself sitting cross-legged,
too, while