"Well, Domnule," said he at last, "truth is truth, after all. I'm
getting an old man now, and what's the good of my scraping together and
piling up all these ducats if nothing comes of it all? I have indeed an
only daughter, a pretty girl and a good girl, too, but what's the use of
that? You are not her husband. If I only knew of some corner of the
world quite out of your reach, I would gather together all my
belongings, seek it out and settle down there; but it would be of no
avail, you would always find me out and befool my girl again, so I have
to stay where I am."

"Don't grumble, old chap, there is a time for all things. This black
mask shall not always cover my face; when I come to see you, my name
shall not always be Fatia Negra. The day will come when a carriage and
four shall drive into your courtyard, a sabre-tashed heyduke will then
leap from the box and open the silver-plated coach and a cavalier in
cloth of gold will step out who comes to you as a suitor. If you see
this ring on his finger you will know that it is I, and there will no
longer be a Fatia Negra in the wide world. We will go together to
Bucharest, a true Roumanian city, where folks will respect us and then
our happy days will begin."

"If only that could be soon! But you have been telling me this for a
long, long time."

"That is because we cannot put an end to our work yet. There are very
many people who still expect much from us. If I do not satisfy them they
will remain a perpetual danger to us. That is why I am compelled to wear
this mask a little longer. When once I have taken it off, he who used to
wear it is dead and has nothing more in common with me."

"Then you really mean to break away from everything one day?"

"Yes, it is high time. My little finger whispers that someone wants to
betray me. But say that to nobody. We must not frighten our own people.
The Government is getting suspicious at the disappearance of so much
gold. It is sniffing about, but at present it is on a wrong track. The
Jews of Hungary are suspected and they happen to know nothing at all
about it. But it is quite enough that suspicion _has_ been aroused. So
far they fancy that only about fifty to sixty pounds of gold a year are
unlawfully made away with. They don't know yet that it amounts to five
or six hundredweight, which is coined into ready money underneath the
ground. This business must be put a stop to. This year the mines yielded
a rich profit. Nex