ition I will subscribe to, and
add still further: 'We are not husband and wife, we are father and
daughter.' And you shall learn that this is no empty phrase. I do not
seek to sever the bond between us; I exchange it for another."

All this was uttered in so friendly a tone, and with such seeming warmth
of feeling, that no one unacquainted with the speaker, and not knowing
him for the most consummate of hypocrites and the cleverest of actors,
could have listened to him without being moved almost to tears. But his
hearer in this instance knew him only too well. She knew that Jerome
Cagliari was most to be feared when he professed the noblest sentiments.

Rising from his chair, he added, as if it were a matter of the most
trifling importance:

"This afternoon I will send my secretary to you."

"Your secretary?" repeated Blanka, with a start. "Pray send me anybody
but him,--a notary, a strange lawyer, an attorney's clerk, a servant. I
will receive your instructions from any of these, but not from your
secretary."

"And why not from him?"

"Because I hate him."

"Then you hate the man who is your best friend in all the world,--yes,
even a better friend than I myself. If I were to ask heaven for a son I
could pray for no more excellent young man than he. He has my full
confidence and esteem."

"But if you knew why I hate him!" interjected Blanka, in a voice that
trembled.

"Before you bring your accusation against him," rejoined the other,
"remember you are speaking, not to your husband, but to your father, who
wishes not only to set you free, but also to make you happy.
Accordingly, I will send Mr. Benjamin Vajdar to call on you to-morrow
afternoon, to open the way for a harmonious settlement of the affair
between us. I beg you to receive him as my confidant and
plenipotentiary, and not to let your attorney know of his coming. For
myself, I shall, with your permission, allow myself the pleasure of
calling on you again."

With this the prince kissed Blanka's hand, and withdrew.

Scarcely had he gone, when Gabriel Zimandy presented himself to learn
the object of Cagliari's visit. But Blanka obeyed orders, and kept back
the chief motive of his coming, saying simply that he had asked
permission to order a larger and finer suite of rooms for her use, and
that in this matter she had thought best to humour him. The advocate
acquiesced, recognising the importance of securing the prince's
good-will under present condi