ister. Andrea appeared in
despair, but consoled himself when the hostess assured him that No. 7,
prepared for him, was situated precisely the same as No. 3, and while
warming his feet and chatting about the last races at Chantilly, he
waited until they announced his room to be ready.

Andrea had not spoken without cause of the pretty rooms looking out upon
the court of the Bell Tavern, which with its triple galleries like those
of a theatre, with the jessamine and clematis twining round the light
columns, forms one of the prettiest entrances to an inn that you
can imagine. The fowl was tender, the wine old, the fire clear and
sparkling, and Andrea was surprised to find himself eating with as good
an appetite as though nothing had happened. Then he went to bed and
almost immediately fell into that deep sleep which is sure to visit men
of twenty years of age, even when they are torn with remorse. Now, here
we are obliged to own that Andrea ought to have felt remorse, but that
he did not. This was the plan which had appealed to him to afford the
best chance of his security. Before daybreak he would awake, leave the
inn after rigorously paying his bill, and reaching the forest, he would,
under pretence of making studies in painting, test the hospitality of
some peasants, procure himself the dress of a woodcutter and a hatchet,
casting off the lion's skin to assume that of the woodman; then, with
his hands covered with dirt, his hair darkened by means of a leaden
comb, his complexion embrowned with a preparation for which one of his
old comrades had given him the recipe, he intended, by following the
wooded districts, to reach the nearest frontier, walking by night and
sleeping in the day in the forests and quarries, and only entering
inhabited regions to buy a loaf from time to time.

Once past the frontier, Andrea proposed making money of his diamonds;
and by uniting the proceeds to ten bank-notes he always carried about
with him in case of accident, he would then find himself possessor of
about 50,000 livres, which he philosophically considered as no very
deplorable condition after all. Moreover, he reckoned much on
the interest of the Danglars to hush up the rumor of their own
misadventures. These were the reasons which, added to the fatigue,
caused Andrea to sleep so soundly. In order that he might awaken early
he did not close the shutters, but contented himself with bolting the
door and placing on the table an unclas