Page:The fortunes of Fifi (IA fortunesoffifi00seawiala).pdf/260

 person and the greatest bore in the universe. Unlike Cartouche, he thought himself much too good for me, but was willing to take me on account of my hundred thousand francs. At first I tried to frighten him off."

"How, Mademoiselle?" asked the Emperor, now laughing outright.

"Sire, by—by—buying things. Dreadful clothes, and—and—monkeys, but I was afraid of the monkeys and would not keep them—and a blue satin bed made for the Empress—"

"I know that diabolical bed—so they swindled you into buying it?"

"No, Sire, it was only a way of squandering money and frightening that ridiculous Louis Bourcet. And—I made love to him very outrageously—which was nearly the death of him. Louis Bourcet is not the sort of a man to be first across the bridge of Lodi. The only way to have got him across would have been to carry him. But in spite of all I could do he would have married me if I had not found a way to get rid of my money."

"Tell me how you contrived to get your money in your own hands?"

Then Fifi told about putting the box of old shoes