"'My dear fellow,' he said, I am sent by our ambassador to invite you
to come to the embassy this evening. He gives a magnificent concert,
and when I tell you that La Zambinella will be there--'

"'Zambinella!' cried Sarrasine, thrown into delirium by that name; 'I
am mad with love of her.'

"'You are like everybody else,' replied his comrade.

"'But if you are friends of mine, you and Vien and Lauterbourg and
Allegrain, you will lend me your assistance for a _coup de main_,
after the entertainment, will you not?' asked Sarrasine.

"'There's no cardinal to be killed? no--?'

"'No, no!' said Sarrasine, 'I ask nothing of you that men of honor
may not do.'

"In a few moments the sculptor laid all his plans to assure the
success of his enterprise. He was one of the last to arrive at the
ambassador's, but he went thither in a traveling carriage drawn by
four stout horses and driven by one of the most skilful _vetturini_
in Rome. The ambassador's palace was full of people; not without
difficulty did the sculptor, whom nobody knew, make his way to the
salon where La Zambinella was singing at that moment.

"'It must be in deference to all the cardinals, bishops, and _abbes_
who are here,' said Sarrasine, 'that _she_ is dressed as a man, that
_she_ has curly hair which _she_ wears in a bag, and that _she_ has a