It was not the Baron Giraud that we buried from the Rue des Palmiers.

It was not the Vicomte de Clericy that we found in the Seine near Passy and laid to earth in the churchyard at Senneville." And I saw that the Vicomtesse thought me mad.
"My poor friend," she said, with the deepest pity in her voice, "why do you talk like that, and what do you mean ?" [Illustration: THE VICOMTESSE TURNED A LITTLE IN HER CHAIR, AND, LEANING HER ELBOW ON THE TABLE, SHOWED ME ONLY HER PROFILE AS SHE SAT, WITH HER CHIN IN THE PALM OF HER HAND, LOOKING DOWN INTO THE VALLEY.] "I only mean, Madame, that no man is safe in temptation, and that money is the greatest of all.

I would not trust myself with ten million francs.

I would not now trust any man on earth." "Why ?" And I thought that in Madame's eyes there was already the light of understanding.

For a moment I paused, and she said quickly: "Is my husband alive ?" "No, Madame." The Vicomtesse turned a little in her chair, and, leaning her elbow on the table, showed me only her profile as she sat, with her chin in the palm of her hand, looking down into the valley.
"Tell me all you know," she said.