WhenIgottoBrussels，whereIspenttwodays，Iwenttothe\"Hoteldel’Imperatrice，\"andchancesentMdlle。X。C。V。andFarsettiinmyway，butIpretendednottoseethem。FromBrusselsIwentstraighttotheHague，andgotoutatthe\"PrinceofOrange。\"Onmyaskingthehostwhosatdownathistable，hetoldmehiscompanyconsistedofgeneralofficersoftheHanoverianarmy，sameEnglishladies，andaPrincePiccolominiandhiswife；andthismadememakeupmymindtojointhisillustriousassemblage。
Iwasunknowntoall，andkeepingmyeyesaboutmeIgavemychiefattentiontotheobservationofthesupposedItalianprincess，whowasprettyenough，andmoreespeciallyofherhusbandwhomIseemedtorecognize。InthecourseofconversationIheardsometalkofthecelebratedSt。Germain，anditseemedthathewasstoppinginthesamehotel。
Ihadreturnedtomyroom，andwasthinkingofgoingtobed，whenPrincePiccolominientered，andembracedmeasanoldfriend。
\"Alookinyourface，\"saidhe，\"tellsmethattherecognitionhasbeenmutual。IknewyoudirectlyinspiteofthesixteenyearsthathavepassedsincewesaweachotheratVicenza。To—morrowyoucantelleverybodythatwearefriends，andthatthoughIamnotaprinceIamreallyacount；hereismypassportfromtheKingofNaples，prayreadit。\"
DuringthisrapidmonologueIcouldnotgetinasingleword，andonattentivelyscanninghisfeaturesIcouldonlyrecollectthatIhadseenhimbefore，butwhenorwhereorhowIknewnot。IopenedthepassportandreadthenameofRuggerodiRocco，CountPiccolomini。