ter. I felt a little bewildered--and slightly
annoyed. My Estelle should not receive visits from young men at this
hour. I pushed past the intruder in the passage and walked boldly into
the room beyond.

Estelle was sitting upon the sofa, her eyes bright, her mouth smiling,
a dimple in each cheek. I approached her with outstretched arms, but
she paid no heed to me, and turned to the young man, who had followed
me into the room.

"Adrien," she said, "this is kind M. Ratichon, who at risk of his life
obtained for us all my papers of identification and also the valuable
name and address of the English lawyers."

"Monsieur," added the young man as he extended his hand to me,
"Estelle and I will remain eternally your debtors."

I struck at the hand which he had so impudently held out to me and
turned to Estelle with my usual dignified calm, but with wrath
expressed in every line of my face.

"Estelle," I said, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Oh," she retorted with one of her provoking smiles, "you must not
call me Estelle, you know, or Adrien will smack your face. We are
indeed grateful to you, my good M. Ratichon," she continued more
seriously, "and though I only promised you another hundred francs when
your work for me was completed, my husband and I have decided to give
you a thousand francs in view of the risks which you ran on our
behalf."

"Your husband!" I stammered.

"I was married to M. Adrien Cazales a month ago," she said, "but we
had perforce to keep our marriage a secret, because Mr. Farewell once
vowed to me that unless I became his wife he would destroy all my
papers of identification, and then--even if I ever succeeded in
discovering who were the English lawyers who had charge of my father's
money--I could never prove it to them that I and no one else was
entitled to it. But for you, dear M. Ratichon," added the cruel and
shameless one, "I should indeed never have succeeded."

In the midst of this overwhelming cataclysm I am proud to say that I
retained mastery over my rage and contrived to say with perfect calm:

"But why have deceived me, Mademoiselle? Why have kept your marriage a
secret from me? Was I not toiling and working and risking my life for
you?"

"And would you have worked quite so enthusiastically for me," queried
the false one archly, "if I had told you everything?"

I groaned. Perhaps she was right. I don't know.

I took the thousand francs and never saw M. and Mme. Cazales a