ife, although
she might be an excellent actress."

Felix looked haughtily at his visitor, then shrugged his shoulders, as
who would say the abbe's opinion on this point was indifferent to him.
For a few minutes the men smoked in silence; then, with a sudden
clearing of his face, Kaulmann said, in his blandest manner:

"I want to ask you a question. You know the ins and outs of the
marriage laws. Is there any means by which a marriage can be set aside
without having recourse to the divorce court? That is always attended
with great expense and a good deal of scandal; and if the other side
should be obstinate and malicious, it can drag for an interminable
time."

"I know of only one other method. We will suppose that you are already
married according to the rules of the Church in this country. You
wish, for some reason, for a dissolution of this marriage. Well, you
have only to go to Paris, and take up your residence in the
banking-house your firm has there. Your father was a French subject,
so are you. According to the French law, no marriage is valid that is
not solemnized before the civil authorities; therefore, the remedy
would be in your hands. A short time ago the process was tried by the
French court. A certain count had married in Spain; the eldest son of
this marriage sought to recover his birthright, which had been
forfeited in consequence of his father's having neglected to be
remarried before the registrar in France. The court, however,
pronounced the Spanish marriage invalid, and yours would be a similar
case."

Felix got up from his seat. "I thank you," he said, "more than I can
say. If the recollection of our youthful friendship didn't remind me
that our compact was always to _love_ one another, I should certainly
feel that I owed you a heavy debt."

"For what?" returned the abbe, lifting his eyes in some surprise. "It
is well for you to remind me of our young days. Was I not then the
debtor of your father? What did he not do for me? He found me a
miserable, overworked, ill-paid student; he made me your tutor, and so
opened for me the road to better things. Oh, I never forget! But let
us not talk any more of the past."

"No, for the future is before us, and we shall work together. Now, I
must ask you, as the countess's representative, to sign the necessary
papers. There is the contract, and here is the check for the first
half-year's rent, and here is another check for the sum of forty
thousand guld