-keeper and the 'sbirri'
had acted only under the orders of the Holy Office.

"That is the reason," he said, "for which no bolts are allowed in the
rooms of the hotels, so that strangers may not shut themselves up in
their chambers. The Holy Inquisition does not allow a man to sleep with
any woman but his wife."

Twenty years later I found all the doors in Spain with a bolt outside, so
that travellers were, as if they had been in prison, exposed to the
outrageous molestation of nocturnal visits from the police. That disease
is so chronic in Spain that it threatens to overthrow the monarchy some
day, and I should not be astonished if one fine morning the Grand
Inquisitor was to have the king shaved, and to take his place.

CHAPTER XXIII

I Purchase a Handsome Carriage, and Proceed to Parma With the Old Captain
and the Young Frenchwoman--I Pay a Visit to Javotte, and Present Her With
a Beautiful Pair of Gold Bracelets--My Perplexities Respecting My Lovely
Travelling Companion--A Monologue--Conversation with the
Captain--Tete-a-Tete with Henriette

The conversation was animated, and the young female officer was
entertaining everybody, even Madame Querini, although she hardly took the
trouble of concealing her spleen.

"It seems strange," she remarked, "that you and the captain should live
together without ever speaking to each other."

"Why, madam? We understand one another perfectly, for speech is of very
little consequence in the kind of business we do together."

That answer, given with graceful liveliness, made everybody laugh, except
Madame Querini-Juliette, who, foolishly assuming the air of a prude,
thought that its meaning was too clearly expressed.

"I do not know any kind of business," she said, "that can be transacted
without the assistance of the voice or the pen."

"Excuse me, madam, there are some: playing at cards, for instance, is a
business of that sort."

"Are you always playing?"

"We do nothing else. We play the game of the Pharaoh (faro), and I hold
the bank."

Everybody, understanding the shrewdness of this evasive answer, laughed
again, and Juliette herself could not help joining in the general
merriment.

"But tell me," said Count Spada, "does the bank receive much?"

"As for the deposits, they are of so little importance, that they are
hardly worth mentioning."

No one ventured upon translating that sentence for the benefit of the
worthy captain. The conversation continue