You had come to demand payment for a bill--no bill of hers.'

"'It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received
for it,' said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. 'I had come
by the bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,'
continued Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk,
without a trace of excitement or hurry in his voice, 'you will permit
me to observe that your right to enter my house and expostulate with
me is far from proven to my mind. I came of age in the sixty-first
year of the preceding century.'

"'Sir,' said the Count, 'you have just bought family diamonds, which
do not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.'

"'Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private
affairs, I will tell you this much M. le Comte--if Mme. la Comtesse
has taken your diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all
the jewelers, giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold
them separately.'

"'You know my wife, sir!' roared the Count.

"'True.'

"'She is in her husband's power.'

"'That is possible.'

"'She had no right to dispose of those diamonds----'