"It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time,
and it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that
I should not penetrate into her secrets.

"'You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way
indiscreet. It is strongly to his interest--' I bit my lips, feeling
that I had gone the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took
advantage of my slip.

"'My interests are in no way separate from my husband's, sir,' said
she. 'There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me----'

"'The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,'
I said firmly.

"'I will let him know of your wish to see him.'

"The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose
upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I
chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to
study her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for
themselves, she could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in
your sex, means the last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I
looked for anything from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling
in me, because it was so evident from her manner and in all that she
did or said, down to the very inflections of her voice, that she had
an eye to the future. I went.

"Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing