“DEAR MADAME: 

“You will be charmed to learn that I am extremely well.  My cheeks are full, my complexion florid, my legs as nimble as a chamois, my appetite like that of an ogre.  If ever you become anemic, which God forbid, you should set out forthwith for Saint Moritz, and I shall soon have good news from you.  Saint Moritz is a place where you find what you want, but you find, besides, what you do not want.  I do not speak of bears; I have not seen any, and should I meet one, I am strong enough to strangle it.  Besides, bears are taciturn animals, they never relate their histories, and the only animals I fear are those that have the gift of narrating, and that one is not allowed to strangle.  I will say no more.  Have I made myself intelligible?  You are so intelligent.

“Apropos, Antoinette sends you a sketch or a painting, I do not know which, that will be handed to you by Count Abel Larinski.  He is a Pole, of that there can be no doubt; you will perceive it at once.  I wish him well; he was obliging enough to extricate me from a breakneck position into which I had foolishly thrust myself.  That I have a pair of legs to walk on, and a hand to write with, I owe to him.  I recommend him to your kind reception, and I beg you to get him to relate his history.  He is one of those who narrate, not every day, it is true, but when you touch the right spring, he starts, and cannot be stopped.  Seriously, M. Larinski is no ordinary man; you will find pleasure in his acquaintance.  I have discovered that he is in rather embarrassed circumstances.  He is the son of an emigrant, whose property has been confiscated.  His father was a half fool, who made great attempts to cut a channel through the Isthmus of Panama, and never succeeded in cutting his way through anything.  He was himself beginning to earn money in San Francisco, when, in 1863, he gave everything up to go and fight against the Russians.  This enthusiastic patriot has since adopted the calling of an inventor, in which he has been unsuccessful; he is now in search of a livelihood.  Do not think he will ask for anything; he is an hidalgo; he wraps himself proudly in his poverty, as a Castilian does in his cloak.  I am interested in him; I want to assist him, give him a lift; but, first, I wish to feel sure that he is worthy of my sympathy.  Examine him closely, sift him well; I trust your eyes rather than my own; I have the greatest faith in your skill in this kind of valuation.

“Antoinette sends you her most affectionate greetings.  She adores Saint Moritz; you would think that she had found something here which has wrought a charm over her.  For my own part, I am delighted to have recovered my appetite, my sleep, and all the rest, and yet I regret having come; can you reconcile that?  Let me know as soon as possible what you think of my Pole; but, pray do not condemn him unheard.  No hasty decision, I entreat; an expert is bound not to be influenced by his prejudices, but to weigh his judgments as his words.  Adieu, dear madame; pity me in spite of my full cheeks.”