to find Manasseh."

"I know," said the princess to herself. She had learned his address by a
curious accident. When she and the young painter went to see the Sistine
Chapel together they were called upon, as are all visitors, to give
their names and addresses. Thus she could not avoid hearing the street
and number of Manasseh's temporary abode, and this street and number she
had afterward written down in her sketch-book--foreign names are so hard
to remember.

When her lawyer had withdrawn she sought her book and turned its leaves
in search of the address. But though she hunted through all the pages
again and again, she could not find the memorandum which she felt sure
she had made. Suddenly she remembered having torn out and thrown away
two or three leaves,--those containing her futile attempts to sketch the
Colosseum.

At this point a letter was delivered to the princess. It was from Prince
Cagliari, and asked Blanka to assign an hour at which to receive him.
She answered the note at once, naming ten o'clock of the following
morning.

Promptly on the hour appointed the prince's equipage appeared at the
hotel door, and he himself came up the stairs, leaning on his
gold-headed cane. He enjoyed the full use of only one foot, although his
gouty condition was not very apparent except when he climbed a flight of
stairs. Ordinarily he showed admirable skill in disguising his defect.
He was still a fine-looking man, and only the whiteness of his hair
betrayed his age. Clean-shaven and of florid complexion, he wore a
constant smile on his finely chiselled lips, and bore himself with a
graceful air of self-assertion that seldom failed of its effect on the
women whom he chose to honour with his attentions.

The head waiter hurried on before him to announce his coming. Blanka met
the prince in her antechamber. He took her offered hand and at the same
time barred the waiter's exit with his cane.

"Is the princess still lodged in these rooms?" he demanded.

The servant could not find a word to say in apology, but the princess
came to his aid.

"I wished to remain here," said she, calmly.

The domestic was then dismissed and the visitor ushered into the next
room.

"I greatly regret," he began, "that you chose to put aside my friendly
intercession on your behalf. These quarters do not befit your rank.
Furthermore, by retaining a Protestant lawyer you appear to challenge me
to the bitterest of conflicts."

"Do you so