"She is laughing at me," cried the baroness, shaking a vivacious
forefinger at Mademoiselle Brun. "But I do not mind; we cannot all be
wise--eh?"

"And what a dull world for the rest of us if you were," said Mademoiselle
Brun; and Lory de Vasselot, coming into the room at this moment, was met
by her sour smile.

"Ah!" cried the baroness, "here he is. I present you, my dear Lory, to
Mademoiselle Brun, a terrible friend of mine, and to Mademoiselle Lange,
who, as you know, has just inherited the other half of Corsica."

"My congratulations," answered Lory, shaking hands with Denise in the
English fashion. "An inheritance is so nice when it is quite new."

"And figure to yourself that this dear child has no notion how it has all
come about! She only knows the bare fact that some one is dead, and she
has gained--well, a white elephant, one may suppose."

De Vasselot's quick face suddenly turned grave.

"Ah," he said, "then I can tell you how it has all come about. Though I
confess at once that I have never been to Corsica, and have never found
myself a halfpenny the richer for owning land there."

He paused for a moment, and glanced at Mademoiselle Brun.

"Unless," he interpolated, "such personal matters will bore
mademoiselle."