he diplomatic service, and deeply engrossed in the
foreign interests of the country, remained in an incredible state of
ignorance as to what went on in his own house. But Madame de Ligny was
determined that the decencies of life should be observed in her home,
and her son was careful to satisfy her requirements in the matter of
outward appearances, since they never probed to the bottom of things.
She left him perfectly free to love where he would, and only rarely, in
serious and expansive moments, did she hint that it was to the advantage
of young men to cultivate the acquaintance of women of their own class.
Hence it was that Robert had always dissuaded Felicie from coming to him
in the Rue Vernet. He had rented, in the Boulevard de Villiers, a small
house, where they could meet in absolute freedom. But on the present
occasion, after two days without seeing her, he was greatly pleased by
her unexpected visit, and he came down immediately.

Leaning back in the cab, they drove through the darkness and the snow,
at the quiet pace of their aged hack, through the streets and
boulevards, while the darkness of the night cloaked their love-making.

At her door, having seen her home, he said:

"Good-bye till to-morrow."

"Yes, to-morrow, Boulevard de Villiers. Come early."

She was leaning on him preparatory to stepping down from the cab.
Suddenly she started back.

"There! There! Among the trees. He has seen us. He was watching us."

"Who, then?"

"A man--some one I don't know."

She had just recognized Chevalier. She stepped out, rang the bell, and,
nestling in Robert's fur coat, waited, trembling, for the door to open.
When it was opened, she detained him.

"Robert, see me upstairs, I am frightened."

Not without some impatience, he followed her up the stairs.

Chevalier had waited for Felicie, in the little dining-room, before the
armour which she had worn as Jeanne d'Arc, together with Madame
Nanteuil, until one o'clock in the morning. He had left at that hour,
and had watched for her on the pavement, and on seeing the cab stop in
front of the door he had concealed himself behind a tree. He knew very
well that she would return with Ligny; but when he saw them together it
was as if the earth had yawned beneath him, and, so that he should not
fall to the ground, he had clutched the trunk of the tree. He remained
until Ligny had emerged from the house; he watched him as, wrapped in
his fur coat, he got into the