"Not a word," said the art connoisseur as he shook me by the hand.
"Although you have, I confess, half my fortune, I am richer than I was
when I met you. The VON BÖOTZ--_my_ VON BÖOTZ--is simply of priceless
value."
And so the picture that had been sent to the box-room and narrowly
escaped the uncultured clutch of the Italian image-man, had raised
me from comparative poverty to superlative affluence. I paid in the
cheques at my bankers, and a murmur went up from the clerks, and the
manager waylaid me at the door to press my hand. Then I drove to my
favourite stores and purchased a trifle in diamonds to present to
my wife. Fortunately, I had my chequebook with me, or otherwise my
deposit account would have been overdrawn by a thousand.
"To-morrow," I said to my better (from a spiritual, not a financial
point of view) seven-eights, "we will acquire the nine-hundred-ton
yacht, the best part of Norway, and the Palace at Venice. The latter
will cost a few more thousands than I care to spend. But I suppose the
foreign dukedom that comes with it in itself is almost worth the five
figures. To-morrow I must see if I cannot secure that Colonelcy of
Yeomanry. Then, if you like dear, we will take the six centre boxes in
the grand tier at Covent Garden for the season, and----"
"Oh, I am so happy!" almost wept the partner of my joys and sorrows;
"and to think that we should have sent the mine of all this prosperity
into the box-room!"
"Yes dear," I replied. "It was you, dear, who always wanted to be free
of it."
"I told you, sweet one," was the triumphant response, "to get rid of
it, and are you not now pleased that you took my advice?"
And I admitted I was.
* * * * *
[Illustration: PAST AND PRESENT.
_Serious and much-Married Man._ "MY DEAR FRIEND, I _WAS_ ASTONISHED TO
HEAR OF _YOUR_ DINING AT MADAME TROISÉTOILES!--A 'WOMAN WITH A PAST,'
YOU KNOW!"
_The Friend_ (_Bachelor "unattached"_). "WELL, YOU SEE, OLD MAN, SHE'S
GOT A FIRST-RATE _CHEF_, SO IT ISN'T HER 'PAST,' BUT HER 'RE-PAST'
THAT _I_ CARE ABOUT."]
* * * * *