I burst out laughing harshly. "Of course! Every sensible man prefers good eating even to good women! Who are my guests you ask? I believe you know them all. First, there is the Duca Filippo Marina."
"By Heaven!" interrupted Guido. "An absolute gentleman, who by his manner seems to challenge the universe to disprove his dignity! Can he unbend so far as to partake of food in public? My dear conte, you should have asked him that question!"
"Then," I went on, not heeding this interruption, "Signor Fraschetti and the Marchese Giulano."
"Giulano drinks deep'." laughed Ferrari, "and should he mix his wines, you will find him ready to stab all the waiters before the dinner is half over."
"In mixing wines," I returned, coolly, "he will but imitate your example, caro mio."
"Ah, but I can stand it!" he said. "He cannot! Few Neapolitans are like me!"
I watched him narrowly, and went on with the list of my invited guests.
"After these, comes the Capitano Luigi Freccia."
"What! the raging fire-eater?" exclaimed Guido. "He who at every second word raps out a pagan or Christian oath, and cannot for his life tell any difference between the two!"
"And the illustrious gentleman Crispiano Dulci and Antonio Biscardi, artists like yourself," I continued.
He frowned slightly--then smiled.
"I wish them good appetites! Time was when I envied their skill--now I can afford to be generous. They are welcome to the whole field of art as far as I am concerned. I have said farewell to the brush and palette--I shall never paint again."
True enough! I thought, eying the shapely white hand with which he just then stroked his dark mustache; the same hand on which my family diamond ring glittered like a star. He looked up suddenly.
"Go on, conte I am all impatience. Who comes next?"
"More fire-eaters, I suppose you will call them," I answered, "and French fire-eaters, too. Monsieur le Marquis D'Avencourt, and le beau Capitaine Eugene de Hamal."
Ferrari looked astonished. "Per Bacco!" he exclaimed. "Two noted Paris duelists! Why--what need have you of such valorous associates? I confess your choice surprises me."
"I understood them to be YOUR friends," I said, composedly. "If you remember, YOU introduced me to them. I know nothing of the gentlemen beyond that they appear to be pleasant fellows and good talkers. As for their reputed skill I am inclined to set that down to a mere rumor, at any rate, my dinner-table will scarcely provide a field for the display of swordsmanship."