She is well nigh distracted at best, these days, what with the fickleness of her husband and the yet harder abandonment by her old admirer Pakenham; so Polk will cajole her into disclosures, never fear.

In return, when the time comes, he will send an army of occupation into her country! And all the while, on the one side and the other, he will appear to the public as a moral and lofty-minded man." "On whom neither man nor woman could depend!" "Neither the one nor the other." The exasperation of his tone amused me, as did this chance importance of what seemed to me at the time merely a petticoat situation.
"Silk! Mr.Calhoun," I grinned.

"Still silk and dimity, my faith! And you!" He seemed a trifle nettled at this.

"I must take men and women and circumstances as I find them," he rejoined; "and must use such agencies as are left me." "If we temporarily lack the Baroness von Ritz to add zest to our game," I hazarded, "we still have the Dona Lucrezia and her little jealousies." Calhoun turned quickly upon me with a sharp glance, as though seized by some sudden thought.

"By the Lord Harry! boy, you give me an idea.