"

"I humbly beg to remind your honour that you were pleased to commission
me to lay hands upon certain Latin exercises of your grandson Koloman. I
humbly beg to inform you that they are now in my possession."

"Oh!" said old Lapussa, with a forced assumption of _sang froid_, "you
may give them to me to-morrow, I will look them through."

"Crying your honour's pardon, they are in Latin."

"Well, I can get someone to look them through for me."

"I beg humbly to represent that it would not be well to put them into
anybody's hands, for strange things are contained therein."

"What!" cried the old man angrily, "you don't mean to say _you_ have
looked into them?"

"Yes, I have read them all through."

"I did not tell you to do that."

"No, but you were graciously pleased _not_ to forbid me to do so. Now,
I know everything. I know the cause of the young lady's illness. I know
why she does not wish to become the wife of Count Hatszegi. Nay, I even
know what will happen in case she does. I know all that I say--and here
it is in my pocket."

"And what presumption on your part to read other people's letters!"

"I beg your honour's pardon, but it is not presumption; I only wanted to
know the value of the wares I have obtained for your honour. I wanted to
know whether they were worth one florin, two florins, a hundred florins,
a thousand florins, lest you should do me the favour to say to me:
'look, ye, Margari, my son, here are some coppers, go and drink my
health!'--and so get the better of me."

"You are becoming impertinent! Do you want me to ring for the footman?"

"Pray do not give yourself the trouble! If you are determined to take
the documents away from me by force I will fling them into the fire that
is burning there on the hearth before the footman can come in and there
will be an end to them."

"Then it is money you want, eh? How much?"

This question made Margari still more bumptious.

"How much do I want? A good deal, a very good deal, I can tell you. In
fact I cannot tell at present how much."

But then he suddenly reassumed his obsequious cringing mien and added:
"I tell you what, your honour, procure me some petty office at Count
Hatszegi's. I don't care what it is, so long as I get a life-long
sinecure--suppose we say his bailiff, or his librarian, or his
secretary? A single word from your honour would do it."

An idea suddenly occurred to Mr. Demetrius.

"Very good, Margari, very good. So i