"I am waiting for your answer, Mr. Wondergood."
So he was really expecting me to reply? Very well.
"It's very simple, Magnus...you warned me, I admit. To-morrow Toppi will pack my trunks and I shall go back to America to resume my...business."
"What Cardinal? Ah, yes!... Cardinal X. and my billions. I remember. But--don't gaze at me in such astonishment, Magnus. I am sick of it."
"_It._ Six secretaries. Brainless old women, snuff, and my Dante Inferno, where they take me for my walks. Don't look at me so sternly, Magnus. Probably one could have made better wine out of my billions, but I managed to produce only sour beer. Why did you refuse to help me? Of course, you hate human beings, I forgot."
"What shall I say, Magnus? No, I am rather indifferent to them. Don't look at me so...pityingly. By God, it isn't worth it! Yes, I am indifferent to them. There are, there were and there will be so many of them that it isn't really worth while...."
"Look not at me but at my packed trunks. No, I did not lie, not entirely. You know, I wanted to do something interesting for the sake of amusement and so I let loose this...this emotion...."
I blinked again and shrugged my shoulders. I like this method of reply to complex questions. And _this_ face of Signor Thomas Magnus appealed to me, too; his long, oval face recompensed me slightly for my theatrical failures and...Maria. I must add that by this time there was a fresh cigar in my mouth.
"You said that in your past there are some dark pages.... What's the trouble, Mr. Wondergood?"
"Oh! it was a slight exaggeration. Nothing in particular, Magnus. I beg your pardon for disturbing you needlessly, but at that time I thought I should have spoken thus for the sake of style...."
"Yes, and the laws of contrast. The present is always brighter with a dark past as a background...you understand? But I have already told you, Magnus, that my prank had little result. In the place I come from they have quite a mistaken conception of the pleasures of the game here. I shall have to disabuse them when I get back. For a moment I was taken in by the old monkey, but its method of fleecing people is rather ancient and too certain...like a counting house. I prefer an element of risk."