gift of rousing me.'

"We went to the Varietes after dinner; but before we left the house I
slipped into du Bruel's room, and on a shelf among a pile of waste
papers found the copy of the _Petites-Affiches_, in which, agreeably
to the reformed law, notice of the purchase of the house was inserted.
The words stared me in the face--'At the request of Jean Francois du
Bruel and Claudine Chaffaroux, his wife----' _Here_ was the
explanation of the whole matter. I offered my arm to Claudine, and
allowed the guests to descend the stairs in front of us. When we were
alone--'If I were La Palferine,' I said, 'I would not break an
appointment.'

"Gravely she laid her finger on her lips. She leant on my arm as we
went downstairs, and looked at me with almost something like happiness
in her eyes because I knew La Palferine. Can you see the first idea
that occurred to her? She thought of making a spy of me, but I turned
her off with the light jesting talk of Bohemia.

"A month later, after a first performance of one of du Bruel's plays,
we met in the vestibule of the theatre. It was raining; I went to call
a cab. We had been delayed for a few minutes, so that there were no
cabs in sight. Claudine scolded du Bruel soundly; and as we rolled
through the streets (for she set me down at Florine's), she continued
the quarrel with a series of most mortifying remarks.

"'What is this about?' I inquired.

"'Oh, my dear fellow, she blames me for allowing you to run out for a
cab, and thereupon proceeds to wish for a carriage.'