Hotel Incident In The Riviera.

there was a secret in his possession . This , of course , confirmed the truth of the report , aud it became an established fact that the lady Avas a Russian princess . After a few days of seclusion , she

vouchsafed to make her appearance at the tabled'hote , and retired with the rest of the ladies to the Salles des Dames aftenvards . Then it Avas that the baron exhibited his inborn as Avell as inherited nobility . He

attended to her little wants , j > laced her an arm-chair by the fragrant Avood-fire , and , on receiving her thanks in his mother tongue , —his parents' pride had no doubt prevented him from learning anv other , —

he entered into a respectful and courtly conversation Avith her . There Avere plenty of other men in the room who could have done it ; but the baron Avas naturally the fittest person to begin ; and I will give

him credit for boundless self-possessionnot to call it impudence . The acquaintance thus begun grew Avith a tropical rapidity . The cold northern temperament softl y but quickly thaAved

beneath the warm rays of Italian SAveetness and light . Fragments of their talk occasionally reached the ears of my Avife and others AVIIO could understand them , from which it appeared that their main topic

Avas the opera . " Ah , madame , "—he was intrepreted to me as saying , — " If I could but be honoured Avith your presence in my box at Florence ! The music would be angelic then . " "The signer does me a great favour in

expressing the Avish . " Yes ; it A ** as clear that he was hard hit , and that she knew it , and had no desire to dismiss him . And yet she Avas in no single point guilty of indiscretion , forwardness , or coquetry , in my opinion .

"lhat Avoman , " said my Avife , "is abominable ! Look how she " hunts that poor man down , I suppose she fancies Sicily is a nicer country than Siberia , or Avherever it is she comes from . " "Well , my dear , " I replied , "it seems

to me that the hunting is mutual . Really , I don't see -vh y he shouldn ' t marry her , if they both like it . " " She may be a mere tuft-hunting adventuress , for all we knoAv , " said she . " I don ' t believe in her . "

" Well , but perhaps he knoAvs more than Ave do . " "I don ' t believe in her a bit . She ' s

Hotel Incident In The Riviera.

hunting him doAvn for his wealth and title , and is as much a princess as I am I " The season was now at its height , and eA'ery room was occupied ; the very last attic in the Hotel du Bon Vivant being

secured by a German count , the Count Sig ismnnd von Borokopek . He put doAvn his name in the visitors' book like a man , and his Avhole demeanour Avas frank , open , and robust . He Avas extraordinarily fluent

in English , as well as in French and Italian ; German , of course , was his mother tongue , a few dialectical peculiarities noticeable in his pronunciation arising , he explained , from the circumstance of his

being partly of Austrian , partly of Hungarian origin ; the Borokopek estates being in the vicinity of Tokay . We noAV numbered about eighty guests , aud began to knoAv one another pretty

Avell ; but somehoAV the count kneAv us all better than Ave knew one another , before he had been a Aveek among us . lie was a big , burly , fair man , so thoroughly British in appearance , and in his general

characteristics , as to render it difficult , but for his proficiency in other languages , to believe that he Avas not a Briton born . He had knocked about the world a good deal , he said . Of the fortv years he had passed in

it , twenty had been spent in travelling , half of Avhich time had been passed in England , and a good deal of the rest in America . Russia , too , he Avas acquainted with ; and on the strength of that he introduced

himself to the princess , and was evidently as much disposed to admire her as the baron himself . Indeed , before very long , the attentions paid by Count Sigismund von Borokopek

to that lady began seriously to disturb the serenity of the Baron Monteggiana-Tavernelle ; and in proportion as their rivalry progressed , so did the interest and amusement of the company progress Avith it .

" My dear Charles , " said my Avife , " isn ' t she abominable noio ? She's a vulgar flirt ; and at her age , too !—forty , if she ' s a day . And after entangling the baron , to go and

egg on the count , and all m public too ! It ' s bad enough to make love in public at all , but to do it to tAvo men , one after the other— I say she ' s simply abominable I "

" Well , but , my dear , I expostulated , " they are both making love to her at the same time . You see the count ' s castles