Mrs.Meyer had _not_ fallen out with her daughters; they had _not_ turned her adrift; there was no need for her to leap into the Danube.

The matter stood simply thus: Abellino, since his late rebuffs, had, full of passionate frenzy, plunged deeper and deeper into his unsuccessful enterprise.

He had just demanded from Monsieur Griffard the last hundred thousand florins of the second million promised to him.

Abellino was constantly attended by a spy in the service of the genial banker, who had immediately hastened to acquaint his principals in Paris with the latest tidings from Karpatfalva, notably of what had happened on the night of Squire John's birthday.

Monsieur Griffard, learning that Squire John was at the last gasp, had sent Abellino not one, but two hundred thousand florins, for which, of course, he was naturally expected to pay back as much again at the proper time.