It was necessary to link you to us and we employed our foremost captivator, the dandy of two countries, the international Lothario, the Viscount-baron Gratian von Linden-hohen-Linden-_cum_ de Terremonde.

Luckily, too, he had been at the same period as myself, smitten with your vernal charms, and he entered upon his amorous mission with gusto.

You believed him very wealthy, but let me tell you that the cash he really had under hand was our petty expense fund.

Judge by that what a capital we control!" exclaimed Von Sendlingen proudly.

"Our poor Gratian the double dealer, seemed not to be loved by the gods any more truly than by his goddess here present, for she let him, unassisted, be thrust down, on falling through a broken bridge, into the mire of a rivulet visible from your window.