oor--"

"Ah, to be sure. But what--what in Heaven's name has he to do with
you? How does he dare to send you such an impudent message as
this? Surely, Sabine, you will tell me? You will admit that I have
a right to ask?"

"Yes, of course. I will tell you, Charles, everything; but not
here--not now. It must be on the way. I have been very wrong, very
foolish--but oh, come, come, do let us be going. I am so afraid he
might--"

"Then I may go with you? You do not object to that?"

"I much prefer it--much. Do let us make haste!"

She snatched up her sealskin jacket, and held it to him prettily,
that he might help her into it, which he did neatly and cleverly,
smoothing her great puffed-out sleeves under each shoulder of the
coat, still talking eagerly and taking no toll for his trouble as
she stood patiently, passively before him.

"And this Hortense? It is your maid, is it not--the woman who had
taken herself off? How comes it that she is with that Italian
fellow? Upon my soul, I don't understand--not a little bit."

"I cannot explain that, either. It is most strange, most
incomprehensible, but we shall soon know. Please, Charles, please
do not get impatient."

They passed together down into the hotel courtyard and across it,
under the archway which led past the clerk's desk into the street.

On seeing them, he came out hastily and placed himself in front,
quite plainly barring their egress.

"Oh, madame, one moment," he said in a tone that was by no means
conciliatory. "The manager wants to speak to you; he told me to
tell you, and stop you if you went out."

"The manager can speak to madame when she returns," interposed the
General angrily, answering for the Countess.

"I have had my orders, and I cannot allow her--"

"Stand aside, you scoundrel!" cried the General, blazing up; "or
upon my soul I shall give you such a lesson you will be sorry you
were ever born."

At this moment the manager himself appeared in reinforcement, and
the clerk turned to him for protection and support.

"I was merely giving madame your message, M. Auguste, when this
gentleman interposed, threatened me, maltreated me--"

"Oh, surely not; it is some mistake;" the manager spoke most
suavely. "But certainly I did wish to speak to madame. I wished to
ask her whether she was satisfied with her apartment. I find that
the rooms she has generally occupied have fallen vacant, in the
nick of time. Perhaps madame would like to look a