n suddenly she
remembered the little garden gate. "The deceitful creature must have
used that gate," she thought.

It was easy for her to verify her suspicion. The little gate had not
been exactly condemned, but many months had elapsed since it had been
used; so it would be a very simple matter to ascertain whether it had
been recently opened or not. "And I will know for certain before an hour
has passed," said Mademoiselle Marguerite to herself.

Having come to this conclusion, she feigned sleep, keeping a sharp watch
over Madame Leon from between her half-closed eyelids. The housekeeper,
after twisting uneasily in her arm-chair, at last became quiet again;
and it was soon evident that she was sleeping soundly. Thereupon
Mademoiselle Marguerite rose to her feet and stole noiselessly from the
room downstairs into the garden. She had provided herself with a candle
and some matches, and as soon as she struck a light, she saw that her
surmises were correct. The little gate had just been opened and closed
again. The cobwebs round about the bolts were torn and broken; the rust
which had filled the keyhole had been removed, and on the dust covering
the lock the impress of a hand could be detected. "And I have confided
my most precious secrets to this wicked woman!" thought Mademoiselle
Marguerite. "Fool that I was!"

Already thoroughly convinced, she extinguished her candle. Still, having
discovered so much, she wished to pursue her investigation to the end,
and so she opened the little gate. The ground outside had been soaked
by the recent rains, and had not yet dried, and by the light of
the neighboring street-lamp, she plainly distinguished a number of
well-defined footprints on the muddy soil. An experienced observer would
have realized by the disposition of these footprints that something like
a struggle had taken place here; but Mademoiselle Marguerite was not
sufficiently expert for that. She only understood what a child would
have understood--that two people had been standing here for some time.
Poor girl! She had not seen Pascal when he was sitting in front of the
mansion some hours before! And now no presentiment warned her that these
footprints were his. In her opinion, the man who had been talking with
Madame Leon was either M. de Fondege, or the Marquis de Valorsay--that
is to say, Madame Leon was hired to watch her and to render an account
of all she said and did.

Her first impulse was to denounce and dismi