“And that is all?”
“Not quite. The minions of the Minister of Fine Arts were extremely cross. And they meant to revenge themselves on me by depriving me of my box at the last moment. However, I got wind of that, and by the simplest possible arrangement with Malva I protected myself. The scheme—my last bachelor fling, Eve—has been a great success, and the official world of Paris has been taught a lesson which may lead to excellent results.”
“And you have cleared a hundred and twenty-five thousand francs?”
“By no means. The profits of these undertakings are the least part of them. The expenses are heavy. I reckon the expenses will be nearly forty thousand francs. Then I must give Malva a necklace, and that necklace must cost twenty-five thousand francs.”
“That leaves sixty thousand clear?” said Eve.
“Say sixty-two thousand.”
“Why?”
“I was forgetting an extra two thousand made this evening.”
“And your other ‘schemes’?” Eve continued her cross-examination. “How much have they yielded?”
“The Devonshire House scheme was a dead loss. My dear, why did you lead me to destroy that fifty thousand pounds? Waste not, want not. There may come a day when we shall need that fifty thousand pounds, and then——”