ishop, on my honor you will be robbed of half. Adieu, Monsieur
Raoul," continued he, addressing the chevalier as familiarly as if he
had known him for years. "I repeat, take care of Mademoiselle Bathilde
if you wish to keep your heart, and give some sweetmeats to Mirza if you
care for your legs;" and holding by the banister, he cleared the first
flight of twelve steps at one bound, and reached the street door without
having touched a stair.

Brigaud descended more quietly behind him, after having given the
chevalier a rendezvous for eight o'clock in the evening.

As to D'Harmental, he went back thoughtfully to his attic.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE CRIMSON RIBBON.

What occupied the mind of the chevalier was neither the denouement of
the drama where he had chosen so important a part, nor the admirable
prudence of the Abbe Brigaud in placing him in a house which he
habitually visited almost daily, so that his visits, however frequent,
could not be remarkable. It was not the dignified speeches of Madame
Denis, nor the soprano of Mademoiselle Emilie. It was neither the
contralto of Mademoiselle Athenais, nor the tricks of M. Boniface. It
was simply poor Bathilde, whom he had heard so lightly spoken of; but
our reader would be mistaken if he supposed that M. Boniface's brutal
accusation had in the least degree altered the sentiments of the
chevalier for the young girl, for an instant's reflection showed him
that such an alliance was impossible.

Chance might give a charming daughter to an undistinguished father.
Necessity may unite a young and elegant woman to an old and vulgar
husband, but a liaison, such as that attributed to the young girl and
the bourgeois of the terrace, can only result from love or interest. Now
between these two there could be no love; and as to interest, the thing
was still less probable; for, if they were not in absolute poverty,
their situation was certainly not above mediocrity--not even that gilded
mediocrity of which Horace speaks, with a country house at Tibur and
Montmorency, and which results from a pension of thirty thousand
sestercia from the Augustan treasury, or a government annuity of six
thousand francs--but that poor and miserable mediocrity which only
provides from day to day, and which is only prevented from becoming real
poverty by incessant labor.

D'Harmental gathered from all this the certainty that Bathilde was
neither the daughter, wife, nor mistress of this terrible n