"
"Oh! certainly not."
"After such a debut! To steal the Queen's Necklace at six years of
age; the celebrated necklace that was coveted by Marie-Antoinette!"
"And to steal it," remarked Floriani, falling in with the count's
mood, "without costing him the slightest trouble, without anyone
thinking to examine the condition of the window, or to observe that
the window-sill was too clean--that window-sill which he had wiped
in order to efface the marks he had made in the thick dust. We
must admit that it was sufficient to turn the head of a boy at that
age. It was all so easy. He had simply to desire the thing, and
reach out his hand to get it."
"And he reached out his hand."
"Both hands," replied the chevalier, laughing.
His companions received a shock. What mystery surrounded the life
of the so-called Floriani? How wonderful must have been the life
of that adventurer, a thief at six years of age, and who, to-day,
in search of excitement or, at most, to gratify a feeling of
resentment, had come to brave his victim in her own house,
audaciously, foolishly, and yet with all the grace and delicacy of
a courteous guest!
He arose and approached the countess to bid her adieu.
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