r story, which was even less worthy of
credit, was one told by the office messenger, who stated that one day he
had brought a letter from Bratvold, and that as he came in with the
portfolio he had found the young Consul standing by the key-drawer, with
a letter in one hand and two bills of exchange in the other, quite red
in the face, and apparently bent double, as if he was on the point of
choking. The messenger thought at first that it was a fit, but it was
plain to the meanest understanding that there was not a word of truth in
the story, for the messenger had the audacity to aver that he had heard
the young Consul give vent to a short but unmistakable laugh. There was
plainly a misapprehension somewhere; every one knew that the young
Consul was unable to laugh.

CHAPTER IV.

When Gabriel had shut the door after announcing his uncle's arrival, the
Consul got up and went off to the key-drawer, from whence he took a
gigantic key, to which was attached a wooden label black with age. He
then brushed his coat, and, after adjusting his chin in his neckcloth
and arranging his scanty locks, left the office.

The house was large and old fashioned, with long passages and broad
staircases. In the western wing were the offices, having a separate
entrance on the side towards the sea. On the southern side, and
overlooking the garden, were the bedrooms of the family, and the
apartments which were generally used as sitting-rooms.

The second floor consisted entirely of reception-rooms, which were so
arranged as to have the large ballroom in the middle, with _salons_ at
the side. In one of these rooms the family generally dined on Sunday, or
when they had guests, and it was the small _salon_ at the north-west
corner, looking over the building-yard and the sea, in which the dinner
was usually served.

On the third floor, or, more correctly, in the garrets, was an endless
number of spare rooms, whose windows looked out of the quaint dormers
which embellished the roof.

The furniture was mostly of mahogany, now dark with age, while chairs
and sofas were covered with horsehair. Against the walls stood tall dark
presses, and mirrors with the glass in two pieces, and having their
gilded frames adorned with urns and garlands. The rooms were lit by
old-fashioned chandeliers and girandoles.

The Consul met one of the servants in the passage. "Has Mr. Garman
arrived?"

"Yes, sir; and he has gone upstairs, to my mistress," ans