But that is just what one may expect when one is kind-
hearted."
Wilhelm thought no more of this episode, and had almost forgotten
that it had ever occurred, when one day soon afterward a friend of
Pilar's, the Countess Cuerbo, came to call. She was the wife of a
fabulously rich Spanish banker, whose house, racing-stables, picture
gallery, carriages, and dinners were among the marvels of Paris.
This lady's most striking characteristic was a vulgar boastfulness,
such as is seldom met with even among the worst upstarts of the
Bourse. It was said that she had originally been a washerwoman or a
cigarette maker in Seville, but this was perhaps an exaggeration. So
much, however, was certain, that her husband had begun in a very
small way, and had received his title at the accession of King
Alfonso, in return for financial services which had materially
helped toward the re-establishment of the throne. The Countess
Cuerbo could now give points as to pride of station to the bluest-
blooded grandee. She associated exclusively with persons of title,
and strove, in every possible way, to play the "grande dame." She
was always bedizened with the most costly diamonds, and so
shamelessly rouged that she must have been mobbed had she gone
through the Boulevards on foot.
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