“Yes,” replied I, carelessly; “the Marchesa has been kind enough to give them to me.”
“And you have read them?” asked he again.
“Not yet,” said I; “I make it a rule never to risk the pleasure of a happy day by opening a letter at hazard.”
“What if its contents were but to increase the enjoyment; what if the tidings were to fill up the very measure of your wishes, Señhor?”
“In that case,” rejoined I, as coldly as before, “they will be very acceptable to-morrow morning; and thus I shall have gained two days of happiness, vice one.”
“Admirable philosophy, indeed,” said he. “Still, I must be pardoned for interfering with its exercise. I shall therefore take upon me to inform the honorable company that her Majesty, my royal mistress, has named the Count de Cregano a Grand Cordon of the Fleece, in consideration of his distinguished services in arranging the Mexican debt; that all his property, taken from him under a false and traitorous imputation, shall be at once restored; that any additional recompense he may demand for his imprisonment and other inconveniences incurred shall be immediately accorded; and that all Envoys and Ministers of the Court of Spain are instructed to receive the Count de Cregano with every honor and distinction, affording him every protection, and facilitating him in the prosecution of any project in which he may be interested.”
This speech, delivered in a very imposing manner, was followed by a round of felicitation from the assembled company the Marchesa offering me her hand in congratulation, and whispering the words, “How soon?”
“To-morrow, if I must,” replied I, sorrowfully.
“To-morrow be it,” said she, and turned away hastily.
The information conveyed to me by the Ambassador was what formed the substance of two of the letters; the third I contrived to peep into unobserved, was a formal notification from the Havannah that my bills for the amount in the bankers' hands would be accepted and negotiated at a well-known house in Paris. Thus, then, and in one moment, was I once more rich,—the possessor of immense wealth, and not alone of mere fortune, but of all the honors and dignities which can grace and adorn it. Of course I became the hero of the day. To me was intrusted the arm of the Marchesa as we descended to the pier; to me was accorded the seat of honor beside her in the boat. All the pleasant flatteries that are reserved for rich men were heaped upon me, and I felt that life had but one prize more with which to fill up the most ambitious of my cravings. That, alas! could never be,—Donna Maria was the wife of another; and thus should I learn that complete happiness is never to be the lot of any mere mortal!