that of a madman, all the more so from the contrast of the lower part
of the face, which ended squarely in a short chin very near the lower
lip. Small eyes, of turquoise blue, were as keen and bright as those
of the Prince de Talleyrand--which I admired at a later time--and
endowed, like the Prince's, with the faculty of becoming
expressionless to the verge of gloom; and they added to the
singularity of a face that was not pale but yellow. This complexion
seemed to bespeak an irritable temper and violent passions. His hair,
already silvered, and carefully dressed, seemed to furrow his head
with streaks of black and white alternately. The trimness of this head
spoiled the resemblance I had remarked in the Count to the wonderful
monk described by Lewis after Schedoni in the _Confessional of the
Black Penitents (The Italian)_, a superior creation, as it seems to
me, to _The Monk_.

"The Count was already shaved, having to attend early at the law
courts. Two candelabra with four lights, screened by lamp-shades, were
still burning at the opposite ends of the writing-table, and showed
plainly that the magistrate rose long before daylight. His hands,
which I saw when he took hold of the bell-pull to summon his servant,
were extremely fine, and as white as a woman's.

"As I tell you this story," said the Consul-General, interrupting
himself, "I am altering the titles and the social position of this
gentleman, while placing him in circumstances analogous to what his
really were. His profession, rank, luxury, fortune, and style of
living were the same; all these details are true, but I would not be
false to my benefactor, nor to my usual habits of discretion.

"Instead of feeling--as I really was, socially speaking--an insect in