that he might rely. I am not sure if he had not been gardener in those
very gardens behind the Hotel Crequy where Clement and Urian used to play
together years before. But whatever the old man's dwelling might be,
Clement was only too glad to reach it, you may be sure, he had been kept
in Normandy, in all sorts of disguises, for many days after landing in
Dieppe, through the difficulty of entering Paris unsuspected by the many
ruffians who were always on the look-out for aristocrats.

"The old gardener was, I believe, both faithful and tried, and sheltered
Clement in his garret as well as might be. Before he could stir out, it
was necessary to procure a fresh disguise, and one more in character with
an inhabitant of Paris than that of a Norman carter was procured; and
after waiting in-doors for one or two days, to see if any suspicion was
excited, Clement set off to discover Virginie.

"He found her at the old concierge's dwelling. Madame Babette was the
name of this woman, who must have been a less faithful--or rather,
perhaps, I should say, a more interested--friend to her guest than the
old gardener Jaques was to Clement.

"I have seen a miniature of Virginie, which a French lady of quality
happened to have in her possession at the time of her flight from Paris,
and which she brought with her to England unwittingly; for it belonged to
the Count de Crequy, with whom she was slightly acquainted. I should
fancy from it, that Virginie was taller and of a more powerful figure for
a woman than her cousin Clement was for a man. Her dark-brown hair was
arranged in short curls--the way of dressing the hair announced the
politics of the individual, in those days, just as patches did in my
grandmother's time; and Virginie's hair was not to my taste, or according
to my principles: it was too classical. Her large, black eyes looked out