eur de Lanty," continued the abbe, "is a bad sleeper; and one
night last summer he was awakened by the sound of cautious steps.
He opened his door, and called out to know who was there. He was not
mistaken; some one was there, but did not answer, and disappeared before
Monsieur de Lanty could obtain a light. At first it was thought to be
an attempt at robbery; but on further inquiry it appeared that a
_gentleman_ had taken a room in the neighborhood, and had frequently
been seen in company with Mademoiselle Marianina,--in short, the matter
concerned a love affair and not a robbery. Monsieur de Lanty has long
watched his daughter, whose ardent inclinations have given him much
anxiety; you yourself, monsieur, caused him some uneasiness in Rome--"

"Very needless, Monsieur l'abbe," I said, interrupting him.

"Yes. I know that your relations to Mademoiselle de Lanty have always
been perfectly proper and becoming. But since their return to Paris
another individual has occupied her mind,--a bold and enterprising man,
capable of risking everything to compromise and thus win an heiress.
Being taxed with having encouraged this man and allowed these nocturnal
interviews, Mademoiselle de Lanty at first denied everything. Then,
evidently fearing that her father, a violent man, would take some
steps against her lover, she threw herself at his feet and admitted the
visits, but denied that the visitor was the man her father named to her.
At first she refused obstinately to substitute another name for the
one she disavowed. After some days passed in this struggle, she finally
confessed to her mother, under a pledge of secrecy, that her father was
right in his suspicions, but she dreaded the results to the family
if she acknowledged the truth to him. The man in question was a noted
duellist, and her father and brother would surely bring him to account
for his conduct. It was then, monsieur, that the idea occurred to this
imprudent girl to substitute another name for that of her real lover."

"Ah! I understand," I said; "the name of a nobody, an artist, a
sculptor, or some insignificant individual of that kind."

"You do Mademoiselle de Lanty injustice by that remark," replied the
abbe. "What decided her to make your name a refuge against the dangers
she foresaw was the fact that Monsieur de Lanty had formerly had
suspicions about you, and she thought that circumstance gave color to
her statement."

"But, Monsieur l'abbe," I said, "h