"The old complaint again."
"No; but having come to the end of my store, I began to grow serious."
"Ah, Morven!' said the countess, reproachfully.
"Well, never mind; when my purse is low my spirits sink, as the mercury does with the cold. You used to say my spirits were mercurial—I think they were."
"Well, what did you do?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Was that what you were about to tell me?" inquired the countess.
"Oh, dear, no. You recollect the Italian quack of whom I bought the drug you gave to the count, and which put an end to his days—he wanted more money. Well, as I had no more to spare, I could spare no more to him, and he turned vicious, and threatened. I threatened, too, and he knew I was fully able and willing to perform any promise I might make to him on that score. I endeavoured to catch him, as he had already began to set people off on the suspicious and marvellous concerning me, and if I could have come across him, I would have laid him very low indeed."
"And you could not find him?"
"No, I could not."