ct that I really must go, as complications had arisen,
and M. Zola particularly desired to see me.

On the following day, Saturday, I therefore betook myself to Norwood with
a parcel of M. Zola's books, which I had received from Messrs. Macmillan
& Co. on behalf of the Countess of Bective, who (prompted by the same
spirit as Miss Loie Fuller) wished to sell these volumes at the
'Bookland' stall on the occasion of the Charing Cross Hospital Bazaar.
And when I arrived I found indeed that it was most desirable that the
programme of M. Zola's departure should be modified.

He had already seen M. and Mme. Fasquelle, the former of whom was much
annoyed at the reports of his presence in London, and thought it most
advisable to precipitate the departure. Delay might, indeed, be harmful
if it was desired to avoid demonstrations. Besides, why should he wait
until the ensuing Tuesday? Why not return the very next night--that of
Sunday, June 4--by the Dover and Calais route? Mme. Fasquelle had
declared that she in no way objected to travelling at night time; and so
far as the departure from London was concerned, there would be few people
about on a Sunday evening, which was another point to be considered. I
cordially assented, for now that the imminence of M. Zola's return to
Paris had been reported in the newspapers it was certain that delay meant
a possibility of demonstrations both for and against him. In spite of his
prohibition, many of his friends still wished to greet him like a
conquering hero on his arrival at the Northern Railway Station in Paris.
And the other side would unfailingly send out its recruiting agents to
assemble a contingent of loafers at two francs per demonstration, who
would be duly instructed to yell 'Conspuez,' and 'A bas les juifs.' Then
a brawl would inevitably follow.

Now M. Zola (as I have already mentioned) did not wish for a homecoming
of that kind. There was no question of refusing to 'face the music,' of
shunning a hostile crowd, and so forth. It was purely and simply a matter
of dignity and of doing nothing that might lead to a disturbance of the
public peace. The triumph of justice was undoubtedly imminent, and it
must not be followed by disorder.

When I had expressed my concurrence in the views held by M. Zola and M.
Fasquelle, M. Zola and I attended to business. First came the question of
Lady Bective's books, in each of which a suitable inscription was
inserted. Afterwards, in a friend