interests of my pocket-book. I knew that Pascal had the name of being very
generous with an interview article if it pleased him. And besides, had he
not promised me a reward if I succeeded with Fauchery? In short, I had
decided to try my experiment, when, after a hasty breakfast, I saw, on
stepping into the carriage I had had the night before, a victoria with
coat-of-arms drive rapidly past and was stunned at recognizing Fauchery
himself, apparently lost in a gloomy revery that was in singular contrast
to his high spirits of the night before. A small trunk on the coachman's
seat was a sufficient indication that he was going to the station. The
train for Paris left in twelve minutes, time enough for me to pack my
things pell-mell into my valise and hurriedly to pay my bill. The same
carriage which was to have taken me to the Château de Proby carried me to
the station at full speed, and when the train left I was seated in an
empty compartment opposite the famous writer, who was saying to me, "You,
too, deserting Nemours? Like me, you work best in Paris."

The conversation begun in this way, might easily have led to the
confession I had resolved to make. But in the presence of my unexpected
companion I was seized with an unconquerable shyness, moreover he inspired
me with a curiosity which was quite equal to my shyness. Any number of
circumstances, from a telegram from a sick relative to the most
commonplace matter of business, might have explained his sudden departure
from the château where I had left him so comfortably installed the night
before. But that the expression of his face should have changed as it had,
that in eighteen hours he should have become the careworn, discouraged
being he now seemed, when I had left him so pleased with life, so happy,
so assiduous in his attentions to that pretty girl. Mademoiselle de
Russaie, who loved him and whom he seemed to love, was a mystery which
took complete possession of me, this time without any underlying
professional motive. He was to give me the key before we reached Paris. At