e, and the Sorbonne. An old man
could remember having heard it called, in the last century, the hotel
Duperron, so it seemed probable that the illustrious Cardinal of that
name had built, or perhaps merely lived in it.

There still exists, indeed, in the corner of the courtyard, a perron or
flight of several outer steps by which the house is entered; and the way
into the garden on the garden front is down a similar flight of steps.
In spite of dilapidations, the luxury lavished by the architect on the
balustrade and entrance porch crowning these two perrons suggests the
simple-minded purpose of commemorating the owner's name, a sort of
sculptured pun which our ancestors often allowed themselves. Finally,
in support of this evidence, archaeologists can still discern in the
medallions which show on the principal front some traces of the cords of
the Roman hat.

M. le Marquis d'Espard lived on the ground floor, in order, no doubt, to
enjoy the garden, which might be called spacious for that neighborhood,
and which lay open for his children's health. The situation of the
house, in a street on a steep hill, as its name indicates, secured these
ground-floor rooms against ever being damp. M. d'Espard had taken them,
no doubt, for a very moderate price, rents being low at the time when
he settled in that quarter, in order to be among the schools and to
superintend his boys' education. Moreover, the state in which he found
the place, with everything to repair, had no doubt induced the owner to
be accommodating. Thus M. d'Espard had been able to go to some expense
to settle himself suitably without being accused of extravagance. The
loftiness of the rooms, the paneling, of which nothing survived but the
frames, the decoration of the ceilings, all displayed the dignity which
the prelacy stamped on whatever it attempted or created, and which
artists discern to this day in the smallest relic that remains, though
it be but a book, a dress, the panel of a bookcase, or an armchair.

The Marquis had the rooms painted in the rich brown tones loved of
the Dutch and of the citizens of Old Paris, hues which lend such good
effects to the painter of genre. The panels were hung with plain paper
in harmony with the paint. The window curtains were of inexpensive
materials, but chosen so as to produce a generally happy result; the
furniture was not too crowded and judiciously placed. Any one on going
into this home could not resist a sense of s