that this reasoning did not touch me in the least;
whatever it cost me I will bear it, and resign myself to lose M.
Larinski forever; but the abbe is obstinate.

"'I fear,' he said, 'that the Austrians pay their archivists badly; the
English manage matters better, and Lord C--- gave me _carte blanche_.'

"'Oh! but that,' rejoined I, 'is a delicate point to touch. As soon
as you approach the bread-and-butter question, our man assumes a rigid,
formal manner, as if an attack had been made on his dignity.'

"'I truly believe,' he replied, 'that there is a fundamental basis of
incomparable nobility of sentiment in his character; he is not proud, he
is pride itself.'

"The abbe is passionately fond of Horace; he assets that it is to this
great poet that he owes that profound knowledge of men for which he
is distinguished. He quoted a Latin verse that he was kind enough
to translate for me, and that signified something equivalent to the
statement that certain horses rear and kick when you touch the sensitive
spot. 'That is like the Poles,' he said.

"Meanwhile, M. Larinski entered, and I retained the two gentlemen to
dinner. In the evening they again gave me a concert. Why was Antoinette
not there? I fancied I was at the Conservatoire. Then we conversed, and
the abbe, who never can let go his idea, said, without any reserve, to
the count:

"'My dear count, have you reflected? If you go to London, we could hope
to see you often; and, besides, the salary--well, as this terrible
word has been spoken, listen to me; I will do all in my power to obtain
conditions for you in every way worthy of your merit, your learning,
your character, your position.'

"He was not permitted to finish the list; the count reared like the
horse in Horace, exclaiming, 'O Mozart! what a horrid subject of
conversation!' Then he added, gravely: 'M. l'Abbe, you are a thousand
times too good, but the place offered to me in Vienna seems to me
better adapted to my kind of ability; I would make, I fear, a detestable
professor, and the salary, were it double, would in my opinion have but
little weight.'

"The abbe still insisted. 'In our century,' said he, 'less than any
other, can one live on air.'

"'I have lived on it sometimes,' replied the count, gaily, 'and I did
not find it bad. My health is proof against accidents. Ah! where money
is concerned, you have no idea how far my indifference goes. It is not
a virtue with me, it is an infirmity; it is