to it. I shall have to get used to a devil of
a lot of things, my son. As soon as the period of her widowhood has
elapsed I hope to marry Madame de Verneuil."

"Marry Madame de Verneuil?" I cried, the possibility of such an
occurrence never having crossed my mind.

"Why not? When two people of equal rank love and are free to marry, why
should they not do so? Have you any objection?"

"No, Master," said I.

"I shall resume my profession," he announced, lighting a cigarette, "and
in the course of a year or two regain the position to which an ancient
_Prix de Rome_ is entitled."

I was destined that day to go from astonishment to astonishment.

"You a _Prix de Rome_, Master?"

"Yes, my son, in Architecture."

He was clothed in a new and sudden radiance. To a Paris art student a
_Prix de Rome_ is what a Field Marshal is to a private soldier, a Lord
Chancellor to the eater of dinners in the Temple. I must confess that
though my passionate affection for him never wavered, yet my childish
reverence had of late waned in intensity. I saw his faults, which is
incompatible with true hero-worship. But now he sprang to cloud summits
of veneration. I looked awe-stricken at him and beheld nothing but an
ancient _Prix de Rome_. Then I remembered our enthusiasm over the Palace
of Dipsomania.

"They said you were an architect that night at the Cafe Delphine," I
exclaimed.

"I was a genius," said Paragot modestly. "I used to think in palaces.
Most men's palaces are little buildings written big. My small buildings
were palaces reduced. I could have roofed in the whole of Paris with a
dome. My first commission was to put a new roof on a Baptist Chapel in
Ireland. It was then that I met Madame de Verneuil after an interval of
five years. We are second cousins. Her father and my mother were first
cousins. I have known her since she was born. When I was at Rugby, I
spent most of my holidays at her house. You must take all this into
account, my little Asticot, before you begin to criticise my plans for
the future."

By this time the nerve or brain cell whereby one experiences the
sensation of amazement was numb. If Paragot had informed me that he had
been a boon companion of King Qa and had built the pyramids of Egypt I
should not have been surprised. I could only record the various facts.

Paragot was at Rugby.

Paragot was Joanna's second cousin.

Paragot was a _Prix de Rome_.

Paragot was a genius who had put a new roof t