The fair beggars talked of returning me the alms I had given them, but I replied in such a way that they said no more about it.

“I am taken for you, sir,” said the marquis, “and it may cause some annoyance to our fair friends here.”

“I have foreseen that,” I replied, “and I shall unmask before the end of the ball.  This will falsify all suppositions, and nobody will succeed in identifying you.”

“Our pockets are full of sweetmeats,” said Mdlle.  Q——.  “Everybody wanted to fill our plates.”

“Yes,” said the cousin, “everybody admired us; the ladies came down from their boxes to have a closer view of us, and everyone said that no richer disguise could be imagined.”

“You have enjoyed yourselves, then?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“And I too.  I feel quite boastful at having invented a costume which has drawn all eyes upon you, and yet has concealed your identity.”

“You have made us all happy,” said the lieutenant’s little mistress.  “I never thought I should have such a pleasant evening.”

“Finis coronat opus,” I replied, “and I hope the end will be even better than the beginning.”

So saying I gave my sweetheart’s hand a gentle pressure, and whether she understood me or not I felt her hand tremble in mine.

“We will go down now,” said she.

“So will I, for I want to dance, and I am sure I shall make you laugh as Pierrot.”

“Do you know how much money you gave each of us?”

“I cannot say precisely, but I believe I gave each an equal share.”

“That is so.  I think it is wonderful how you could do it.”

“I have done it a thousand times.  When I lose a paroli of ten sequins I put three fingers into my purse, and am certain to bring up thirty sequins.  I would bet I gave you each from thirty-eight to forty sequins.”

“Forty exactly.  It’s wonderful.  We shall remember this masqued ball.”

“I don’t think anybody will imitate us,” said the marquis.

“No,” said the cousin, “and we would not dare to wear the same dresses again.”

We put on our masks, and I was the first to go out.  After numerous little jocularities with the harlequins, especially the female ones, I recognized Therese in a domino, and walking up to her as awkwardly as I could I asked her to dance with me.

“You are the Pierrot who broke the bank?” she said.

I answered the question in the affirmative by a nod.

I danced like a madman, always on the point of falling to the ground and never actually doing so.

When the dance was over, I offered her my arm and took her back to her box, where Greppi was sitting by himself.  She let me come in, and their surprise was great when I took off my mask.  They had thought I was one of the beggars.  I gave M. Greppi Canano’s cheque, and as soon as he had handed me an acknowledgment I went down to the ball-room again with my mask off, much to the astonishment of the inquisitive, who had made sure that the marquis was I.