th? Certainly
not. Was it for me, then? Undoubtedly it was. But why? It had not taken
me long to discover that he was concealing me, or, at least, that he
endeavored by all means in his power to prevent my presence in his house
from being known beyond a very limited circle of friends. Our hurried
departure from Cannes confirmed me in my impression.

"It might have been truly called a flight. We left that same evening at
eleven o'clock, in a pouring rain, with the first horses that could be
procured. Our only attendant was the count's valet--not Casimir, the man
who insulted me a little while ago--but another man, an old and valued
servant, who has since died, unfortunately, and who possessed his
master's entire confidence. The other servants were dismissed with a
princely gratuity, and told to disperse two days after our departure. We
did not return to Paris, but journeyed toward the Italian frontier, and
on arriving at Nice in the dead of night, we drove directly to the quay.
The postilions unharnessed the horses, and we remained in the carriage.
The valet, however, hastened off, and more than two hours elapsed before
he returned. He declared that he had found it very difficult to procure
what he wished for, but that at last, by a prodigal outlay of money, he
had succeeded in overcoming all obstacles. What M. de Chalusse desired
was a vessel ready for sea, and the bark which the valet had chartered
now came up to the quay. Our carriage was put on board, we went below,
and before daybreak we were under way.

"Three days later we were in Genoa, registered under a false name in a
second class hotel. While we were on the open sea, the count had seemed
to be less agitated, but now he was far from calm, and the precautions
he took proved that he still feared pursuit. A malefactor flying from
justice could not have taken greater pains to mislead the detectives on
his track. And facts proved conclusively that I was the sole cause of
the count's apprehension. On one occasion I even heard him discussing
with his valet the feasibility of clothing me in masculine attire.
And it was only the difficulty of obtaining a suitable costume that
prevented him from carrying this project into execution. I ought to
mention, however, that the servant did not share his master's anxiety,
for three or four times I overheard him saying: 'The count is too
good to worry himself so much about such bad stock. Besides, she won't
overtake us. It isn't