“My dear Casanova, you will dine with us, I hope.  After dinner I shall beg you to enquire of your inscrutable intelligence whether we ought to declare ourselves in possession of the splendid diamond, or to observe secrecy till it is reclaimed.”

After this discourse papa embraced us once more and left us.

“Sweetheart,” said Esther, throwing her arms round my neck, “you have an opportunity for giving me a strong proof of your friendship.  It will cost you nothing, but it will cover me with honour and happiness.”

“Command me, and it shall be done.  You cannot think that I would refuse you a favour which is to cost me nothing, when I should deem myself happy to shed my blood for your sake.”

“My father wishes you to tell him after dinner whether it will be better to declare that they have the diamond or to keep silence till it is claimed.  When he asks you a second time, tell him to seek the answer of me, and offer to consult the oracle also, in case my answer may be too obscure.  Then perform the operation, and I will make my father love me all the better, when he sees that my knowledge is equal to yours.”

“Dearest one, would I not do for thee a task a thousand times more difficult than this to prove my love and my devotion?  Let us set to work.  Do you write the question, set up the pyramids, and inscribe with your own hand the all-powerful initials.  Good.  Now begin to extract the answer by means of the divine key.  Never was a cleverer pupil!”

When all this had been done, I suggested the additions and subtractions I wanted made, and she was quite astonished to read the following reply:  “Silence necessary.  Without silence, general derision.  Diamond valueless; mere paste.”

I thought she would have gone wild with delight.  She laughed and laughed again.

“What an amazing reply!” said she.  “The diamond is false, and it is I who am about to reveal their folly to them.  I shall inform my father of this important secret.  It is too much, it overwhelms me; I can scarcely contain myself for joy!  How much I owe you, you wonderful and delightful man!  They will verify the truth of the oracle immediately, and when it is found that the famous diamond is but glittering paste the company will adore my father, for it will feel that but for him it would have been covered with shame, by avowing itself the dupe of a sharper.  Will you leave the pyramid with me?”

“Certainly; but it will not teach you anything you do not know.”  The father came in again and we had dinner, and after the dessert, when the worthy d ’O——­ learnt from his daughter’s oracle that the stone was false, the scene became a truly comical one.  He burst into exclamations of astonishment, declared the thing impossible, incredible, and at last begged me to ask the same question, as he was quite sure that his daughter was mistaken, or rather that the oracle was deluding her.