ur mistress still,' she added;
'I am glad.'

"'And then' (La Palferine told us) 'she went out with a little
coquettish gesture like a woman that has had her way. As she stood in my
garrett doorway, tall and proud, she seemed to reach the stature of an
antique sibyl.'

"All this should sufficiently explain the manners and customs of the
Bohemia in which the young _condottiere_ is one of the most brilliant
figures," Nathan continued after a pause. "Now it so happened that I
discovered Claudine's identity, and could understand the appalling truth
of one line which you perhaps overlooked in that letter of hers. It was
on this wise."

The Marquise, too thoughtful now for laughter, bade Nathan "Go on," in
a tone that told him plainly how deeply she had been impressed by these
strange things, and even more plainly how much she was interested in La
Palferine.

"In 1829, one of the most influential, steady, and clever of dramatic
writers was du Bruel. His real name is unknown to the public, on the
play-bills he is de Cursy. Under the Restoration he had a place in the
Civil Service; and being really attached to the elder branch, he sent
in his resignation bravely in 1830, and ever since has written twice as
many plays to fill the deficit in his budget made by his noble conduct.
At that time du Bruel was forty years old; you know the story of his
life. Like many of his brethren, he bore a stage dancer an affection
hard to explain, but well known in the whole world of letters. The
woman, as you know, was Tullia, one of the _premiers sujets_ of the
Academie Royale de Musique. Tullia is merely a pseudonym like du Bruel's
name of de Cursy.

"For the ten years between 1817 and 1827 Tullia was in her glory on the
heights of the stage of the Opera. With more beauty than education, a
mediocre dancer with rather more sense than most of her class, she took
no part in the virtuous reforms which ruined the corps de ballet; she
continued the Guimard dynasty. She owed her ascendency, moreover,
to various well-known protectors, to the Duc de Rhetore (the Due de
Chaulieu's eldest son), to the influence of a famous Superintendent
of Fine Arts, and sundry diplomatists and rich foreigners. During her
apogee she had a neat little house in the Rue Chauchat, and lived as
Opera nymphs used to live in the old days. Du Bruel was smitten with
her about the time when the Duke's fancy came to an end in 1823. Being
a mere subordinate in the Civil Servi