mbin, in his grand manner, 'you have our word for that.
In fact, we only meant to borrow it for a day or two, and for your great
kindness in allowing us to do so we have the honour to tender you our
sincerest thanks.'

'It is impossible to be more polite, sir,' answered the lady.

So they parted, for she slipped away into the dusk and soon left the
church by a side door. But Trombin and his companion went forward, and
finding the Senator on his knees, they knelt down, one on each side of
him. He glanced to the right and left, and was surprised at the
improvement in their appearance since he had seen them at supper. They
had been distinctly shabby then, and he would not have liked to be seen
in their company by his friends; but to-day they were dressed with
excellent taste and neatness, in perfectly new clothes. Gambardella wore
a suit of dark purple cloth slashed with velvet of the same colour; but
Trombin wore black velvet and silk, which he considered most becoming to
his infantile complexion and yellow hair. Both had new hats, too, and
their feathers, purple and black respectively, were nothing short of
magnificent. Only their rapiers were unchanged, the same serviceable,
business-like weapons that Pignaver had seen before.

The three men knelt side by side, putting on an air of devotion; and no
one else was very near them.

'_Tantum ergo_ ...' began the choir, somewhere out of sight.

'I presume you mean business, my lord,' said Gambardella so that the
Senator could just hear him.

'They passed through Padua, and took post to Rovigo and Ferrara,'
answered Pignaver. 'You cannot miss them if you go that way.'

'A very convenient place, Ferrara, if they would wait for us there,'
observed Trombin.

'... _veneremur cernui_,' the choir sang, and many of the people were
joining in the ancient hymn.

'When can you start?' inquired Pignaver.

'As soon as we have funds for the journey,' answered Gambardella
promptly.

'You said one hundred ducats, did you not? Your expenses are to be
counted at two ducats per day, and as much of the first hundred as is
left when you have finished is to be deducted from the final payment of
five hundred. Is that it?'

'Precisely,' said Gambardella.

'It is impossible to be more accurate,' observed Trombin, without
turning his head, and preserving the expression of a devout, fat-cheeked
seraph, which he always put on when at his prayers.

'I have the money with me, gentlemen,'