"She took it up, glanced at it, and gave a little shriek.
"'Where did you get this?'
"'Why, from the head waiter.'
"'Oh, the fool!' she cried. 'It's mine.'
"'Yours? nonsense! He gave me that and another last night.'
"'Oh, the stupidity! They were for—they were not for you. They were for—someone who is to arrive.'
"I pointed at the signature and gasped, 'M.! Do you sign M.?'
"'Yes; my name's—my name begins with M. Oh, if I'd only seen that waiter this morning! Oh, the idiot!'
"Then I believe I swore.
"'Madame,' said I, 'I'm ruined! No harm is done to you—I'm a man of honor—but I'm ruined. On the strength of your wretched notes, madame, I've cut the girl I love best in the world—cut her dead—dead—dead!'