recovering his breath,
"it is a curious story. As I was tearing across the Corso, intent on my
errand, I felt some one catch me by the coat-tail and heard a voice
call to me in Hungarian, 'Haste makes waste!' I wheeled about, and there
stood our Arian friend."

"Manasseh Adorjan?"

"Yes. He asked me if we had our affairs all in order, and I told him, by
no means. I complained to him of our ill luck in securing tickets to the
sacred ceremonies, and that it seemed impossible to get even anywhere
near the Vatican. 'Well,' said he, with that confoundedly serious
expression of his that you don't know whether to take as a sign of jest
or earnest, 'let me see if I can't make it possible for you.' 'But,'
said I, 'you don't imagine that you, a fallen statesman and an Arian
heretic, can gain what is denied to Spanish princesses of the strictest
orthodoxy?' 'You shall soon see,' he answered, and proceeded to lead me
through one crooked street after another, until we found ourselves in
front of a palace, at whose door a military watch was posted. He handed
his card to the doorkeeper, and presently we were ushered into an
anteroom, where Adorjan left me while he himself went with a man who
seemed to be a private secretary, or something of the sort, into the
next room. It wasn't long before he came out again and put three cards
into my hand. 'There they are,' said he. 'Why, you are a regular
magician!' I couldn't but exclaim. 'Oh, no,' he replied, 'I am no
Cagliostro; the explanation is simple enough. This is the French
embassy, and Monsieur Rossi is an old friend of mine. I have visited his
family often. So when I asked him for tickets to all the ceremonies of
Holy Week for two Hungarian ladies and their escort, he gave them to me
at once. But now you must look sharp, for cards enough have been given
out to fill the Sistine Chapel six times over, and there will be a
scramble to get in.'"

The princess was as pleased as a child. Her dearest wish was gratified;
but, singularly enough, she owed this gratification to the very man whom
she felt the necessity of avoiding and forgetting. It was, however, to
the mysterious charm of the approaching ceremonies that she looked for
an effective means of diverting her thoughts from forbidden channels.
Yet the fact remained that he himself had opened the way for her to this
earnestly desired distraction, and to Blanka it seemed as if his
influence over her was only increased and strengthened