"And you are content?"
The Professor shrugged his shoulders and looked round. The gesture was significant.
"Scarcely so," he answered. "But what would you have? May I now ask you a question, sir?" he continued.
"Yes."
"Your name?"
His visitor looked around him mournfully.
"The day for secrecy is past, I suppose," he said sadly. "I am the Count Leonardo di Marioni."
"What!" shrieked the Professor.
"Count Leonardo di Marioni—that is my name. I am better known as Signor di Cortegi, perhaps, in the history of our society."
"My God!"