"'Madame,' he said, addressing the fair stranger, 'do not forget that
your husband is waiting for us, and only allowed us a quarter of an
hour.'

"Taken aback by such boldness (which, as you know, is never
displeasing to you women), led captive by the conqueror's glance, by
the astute yet candid air which Charles Edward can assume when he
chooses, the lady rose, took the arm of her self-constituted escort,
and went downstairs, but on the threshold she stopped to speak to him.

"'Monsieur, I like a joke----'

"'And so do I.'

"She laughed.

"'But this may turn to earnest,' he added; 'it only rests with you. I
am the Comte de la Palferine, and I am delighted that it is in my
power to lay my heart and my fortune at your feet.'

"La Palferine was at that time twenty-two years old. (This happened in
1834.) Luckily for him, he was fashionably dressed. I can paint his
portrait for you in a few words. He was the living image of Louis
XIII., with the same white forehead and gracious outline of the
temples, the same olive skin (that Italian olive tint which turns
white where the light falls on it), the brown hair worn rather long,
the black 'royale,' the grave and melancholy expression, for La
Palferine's character and exterior were amazingly at variance.

"At the sound of the name, and the sight of its owner, something like