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On the evening of the dance the Princess Malio, stiff, thin, and sour, and the old Duchess Scorpa, stolid, ugly, and squat, sat together in a corner of the ballroom that is to say, the picture gallery of the Palazzo Sansevero. "So that is the new American heiress!" said the duchess. "Very presentable, I call her.

"That is the whole story! But I have made up my mind to one thing" she spread her fat fingers out "not even her millions would induce me to countenance Todo's marriage with such a self-willed girl as that!" The old Princess Malio looked like a bird of prey whose prize morsel had been stolen from it. "There is more in this than appears," she whispered to a timid little countess sitting next to her.

Nina turned helplessly toward the Princess Malio, but found in her a new inquisitor: "American fathers are proverbially generous" her ingratiating smile so ill suited her features that it seemed almost not to belong to her "of course your dot will be colossal?" Again Nina gasped, but before she was obliged to answer the Marchesa Valdeste laid her hand upon her arm.

To Nina's surprise, the young Russian came forward with both hands outstretched. "Ah, you are back? What was the news in Monte Carlo?" "Nothing much. They still talk of the coup that Tornik " But before Nina could hear the end of the sentence, the old Princess Malio handed her a five-lire note for tea, and Nina had to get change.

The marchesa was also much interested in the new heiress, and although a certain finish of demeanor now modified their remarks, none of them attempted to conceal her ambition to secure Nina's money for her own family. The Princess Malio was more eager than skeptical as she asked the marchesa, "Have you heard the story of her half a million dollar income? Do you believe it possible!"

"Surely you can tell us something of what is said," insinuated the old Princess Malio, adjusting her false teeth securely in the roof of her mouth as if the better to enjoy the delectable morsel of scandal that she felt was about to be served.

Like the ceaseless beating of the waves upon a beach, she had heard the long rolling titles, "Sua Excellenza la principessa di Malio," "Il Conte e la Contessa Casabella," "Donna Francesca Dobini," "Sua Excellenza il Duca e la Duchessa Astarte," and then "Messa Smeet!" Nina felt a swift pity for the beautiful woman who was forced to suffer the ignominy of being thus announced.

"I cannot deny that I should like my Cesare to be so fortunate as to win her, but I must confess she and Giovanni Sansevero make a charming couple!" "Dancing, yes," snapped the duchess, "but for my taste they dance too fast!" "She is doubtless thinking of her tub of a son, who moves with about the grace of an elephant," whispered the Princess Malio behind her fan.

The old Princess Malio made a swallowing motion, still waiting. "Yes?" she encouraged eagerly. "Any one could see what happened," said the duchess reluctantly, as though she were loath to speak scandal. "The American girl, through lack of training it is, after all, not her fault, poor thing knows no better than to try to arrange matters for herself!

He talked to her companion, the Princess Malio, who bobbed her head and prattled at a great rate; but as he left the box Nina saw him lean toward the Contessa Potensi as though saying something in an undertone. She answered rapidly, behind her fan. Giovanni inclined his head and left. This small incident made a greater impression on Nina than its importance warranted.