"Your ladyship, then, has no aversion to this coarse food?" said he, awkwardly.
"I will not deny, that for the sake of my health in future, I wish for something more substantial: if, however, I must be satisfied with this, I will not be greatly put out."
"Yet you are used to live well? You have a good table at home, I suppose?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Then," said Swartz, "why do you not have a comfortable one prepared for you here?"
"Is that permitted?"
"Certainly," said Swartz, whose eyes glittered at the idea of this business, for he had feared to find a person too poor or too sober to ask it. "If your ladyship has been shrewd enough to conceal any money on your person, I am not prohibited from furnishing food to you. My wife is a very good cook, and we have a very comfortable table service."
"That is very kind," said Consuelo, who discovered Swartz' cupidity with more disgust than satisfaction. "The question, however, is to know if I really have money. They searched me when I came hither, and I know they left me a crucifix, to which I attached much interest, but I cannot say whether they have left me my purse."
"Has not your ladyship observed it?"
"No; does that surprise you?"