same _denoument_? Let him make his own _denoument_.

5_th_.--Hang it, however, I don't want the poor boy to be miserable.

6_th_.--Ah, but did my _denoument_ then prove such a happy one?

7_th_.--He came to my room late last night; he was much excited.

"What was it she did to you?" he asked.

I answered him first with another question. "Have you quarrelled with
the Countess?"

But he only repeated his own. "What was it she did to you?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you." And he sat there beside the candle,
staring at me. "There was a man always there--Count Camerino."

"The man she married?"

"The man she married. I was very much in love with her, and yet I didn't
trust her. I was sure that she lied; I believed that she could be cruel.
Nevertheless, at moments, she had a charm which made it pure pedantry to
be conscious of her faults; and while these moments lasted I would have
done anything for her. Unfortunately they didn't last long. But you
know what I mean; am I not describing the Scarabelli?"

"The Countess Scarabelli never lied!" cried Stanmer.

"That's just what I would have said to any one who should have made the