ted him.

But the youth who came into the room with Madame de Lera, if a typical
Parisian in the matter of his careful, rather foppish, dress, and in his
bored expression, yet showed that he was possessed of the old-fashioned
good breeding which is still to be found in France, if only in that
peculiar section of French society known collectively as "the faubourg."
Jacques de Lera, alone among the many men whom Vanderlyn had come across
since the disappearance of Mrs. Pargeter had become the talk of the
town, made no allusion to the mystery, and asked no puerile question of
the man who was known to be her friend.

"Mr. Vanderlyn has been asking me what I knew of the fortune-teller,
Madame d'Elphis. But, beyond the story concerning your poor cousin
Jeanne, I know nothing. You, Jacques, will doubtless be able to tell us
something of her. Is it true, for instance, that she is sometimes
employed by the police? I seem to have heard so--not lately, but long
ago?"

"They say so," said Jacques de Lera, casting a quick glance at
Vanderlyn. "They say she helped to catch Pranzini. Extraordinary stories
are told of her gifts. But none of us have ever been at all anxious to
consult her--after poor Jeanne's affair. You may have seen her,"--he
turned to Vanderlyn,--"for she's sometimes at first nights and at
private views. She's by way of being artistic and cultivated; and though
she's strikingly handsome, she dresses oddly--poses as a Muse."

"She must make a great deal of money," said Madame de Lera,
thoughtfully; with a half smile she asked her nephew the question: "Is
there a Monsieur d'Elphis? Are there infant oracles?"

Jacques burst out laughing, and both Vanderlyn and Madame de Lera
started. It was the first time for many days that they had heard the
sound of simple human laughter.

"My dear aunt," said the young man, chuckling, "the husband--_qua_
husband--is, I assure you, an unknown animal in that strange underworld
of which our beautiful city is the chosen Mecca. No, no, Madame d'Elphis
does not waste her time in producing little oracles! If you wish to hear
the truth, I mean the whole truth, I will tell it you."

And then, as Madame de Lera nodded her head, he added, more seriously,
"La d'Elphis is one of two sisters, the daughters of a very respectable
notary at Orange. Both threw their caps over the windmill, the one to
become an unsuccessful actress, the other a successful soothsayer. La
d'Elphis has one virtue-