the world, and especially
with Raoul, who had told me of this fair haven, and also how to cast
anchor therein, which, in such a crowded harbour, was of the utmost
importance.

The bread was sweet and wholesome, the fowl tender, though of a small
breed, the cheese precisely to my palate; while I had the appetite of a
gray wolf in winter. Thus I made short work of the provisions, and,
after the empty dishes were removed, tried hard to think out an
explanation of the evening's events.

The chatter of the young gallant, the odd behaviour of the man
downstairs, the cringing attitude of the innkeeper, the remark
concerning my own room, showed that I was mistaken for another person,
and one of considerable importance; so perhaps it was well for me that
the worthy Francois was no longer alive.

The evident likeness between the unknown and myself pointed to the fact
that I was usurping the place of my cousin, and in that case I had
stepped into a hornet's nest. However, I was in poor condition for
reasoning clearly; the supper and fatigue had made me so sleepy that my
head nodded, my eyes closed, and I had much ado to keep from falling
asleep in the chair.

At last I rose, and having seen to the fastenings of the door and
windows and examined the walls--Raoul had told me several strange
stories of Parisian life--I undressed, placed sword and pistols ready
at hand, blew out the light, repeated the simple prayer my mother had
taught me, and stepped into bed.

I must have fallen into a sound sleep towards daylight, as I did not
waken till a servant knocked loudly at the door; but during the first
part of the night my rest was feverish and broken by the oddest dreams,
in which Baron Maubranne, Raoul, and my cousin, played the principal
parts.

After breakfast, at which the innkeeper was still more humble than on
the preceding evening, I held counsel with myself as to what was best
to be done. Raoul was probably at the Luxembourg, but, remembering my
reception at the gate of the Palais Royal, I had no mind to hazard
another rebuff.

"I will write him a note," I concluded. "He will come at once and give
me the key to all these strange doings. Meanwhile if these people
choose to treat me as a grand personage, so much the better."

Calling for paper, I wrote a note and sent it by one of the servants to
the Luxembourg.

Unfortunately, I was to meet with a second disappointment. The man
returned with the information tha