"'With us?' With you?" asked the Count in the greatest astonishment.
"I must again say 'we' and 'us,'" answered Giraldi, smiling; "for if I am myself only the manager, still the savings of an income of ten thousand thalers could not have increased to so large a sum without--what shall I say--some speculation by a lucky hand. For the last few years the money has been really lying idle, and I herewith offer it to the Count in the name of the Baroness." The Count stared at Giraldi; but the man's dark eyes shone as calmly as before. It could not be a joke.
"In the name of the Baroness?"
"If it so pleases you."
"The entire half million?"
"As it appears to us--this time I mean the trustees--that the payment of half the purchase-money at once is necessary for the better regulation of the property."
"And the conditions?" asked the Count, after a short pause, with a somewhat hesitating voice. Giraldi stroked his dark beard.
"We make really none, with the exception of one special condition, for the registration of the debt as a first mortgage on the property--which, as the Count knows, is quite free from debt--and the low interest of four per cent, can hardly be called conditions, but rather natural securities, which the Count----"
"Certainly, certainly," said the Count; "quite natural. And the special condition?"
"That the Count pledges his word of honour not to tell any one, be they who they may, or even to hint from whom he has obtained the money." Giraldi held out his hand with a pleasant smile. "It is the hand of a friend, not of a usurer, that we hold out to you." The Count was ashamed of his momentary hesitation. "There you have my hand and my word!" he exclaimed, laying his hand in that of the Italian. "I will speak of it to no one."