he steward proved false to his trust and gambled away a large sum
of money committed to his care, and then shot himself, my father adopted
the little orphan, and always treated him exactly as he did his own
children. He grew up to be a bright and promising young man, and never
failed to win a stranger's favour and confidence. But woe to those that
thus confided in him! My poor sister, my dear, good little Anna, trusted
him, and all was ready for their wedding when he disappeared, deserting
her at the very altar."

Even the shades of approaching nightfall could not hide the expression
of pain on the speaker's face.

"When did this occur?" asked Blanka, gently.

"Last year--in February."

"The date of my marriage, and of my first seeing that man," was Blanka's
silent comment. She pondered the possible connection between the two
circumstances. Benjamin Vajdar had left his affianced bride soon after
seeing Princess Cagliari; he had then entered Cagliari's service as
private secretary, and, a little later, divorce proceedings had been
begun by the prince against his young wife.

"Was it Mr. Vajdar's troubled conscience that made him leave us the
moment you appeared?" she asked, after a pause.

"No," said Manasseh; "he has no conscience. When he has an object in
view, all means are legitimate with him. He knows neither consideration
for others nor shame for his own misdeeds."

"And yet he certainly played the coward before you."

"Because he knows that I possess certain information, certain
documentary evidence, by which, if I chose, I could hurl him down in
confusion and disgrace from any height, however lofty, which he might
succeed in attaining."

"And you refrain from using this evidence against him?"

"To use it would be revenge," replied the young man, calmly.

"Is revenge forbidden where you live?"

"Yes."

"Has your sister never found a balm for her wounded affections?"

"Never. My people are of the kind that loves but once."

"Pray tell me where it is that your people have their home," urged the
princess. "Is it on an island in the moon?"

"Indeed, princess, it is not unlike those glimpses of the moon that we
get through a large telescope when we examine, for instance, the rocky
island known to astronomers as 'Plutarch,' or that named 'Copernicus.'
Everything where I live would seem to you to savour of another planet.
On the maps the place is put down as 'Toroczko.' It is in a mountain
gorge, ente