"Yes, isn't she? Just the thing for you, my boy," he observed, as he
stirred his cup, with the tranquillity of a pure conscience. "Go and
talk with her," he continued; "you will find she is not stupid."

I went to sit down by Anna.

"Come, play the bass!" she said, moving aside to make room for me, as if
we had often played in duet together before.

When the piece was finished, we talked about her convent, her friends,
and the Mother Superior, Sainte Lucie, whom she was much attached to;
and she spoke about everything in a confident tone of familiarity, which
showed me that she had often talked of me, and had been used to think of
me as an absent brother. The understanding is that, on account of her
youth, our betrothal is to remain a family secret, which will only be
made public when the right time arrives.

The evening concluded without any other special incident. At ten o'clock
Anna went home to her convent. As she was putting her things on, she
held out her hand to me, and said:

"Good-bye, Andre!"

"Good-bye, Anna!" I replied; and then my uncle took me away with him to
the club, where he sat down to his party at whist.

While I am on the subject of my uncle, I must tell you about an
adventure which he has just had. He is _dead_, as you are aware, for I
have inherited his property. This privilege he will not give up,
_because the registration fees have been paid_. The result of this
peculiar situation is that he is under certain legal incapacities,
which, without troubling him more seriously, do nevertheless cause him
some annoyance. Three months ago at Ferouzat, he had to renew his
gun-license, which he had taken out seven years before; but as his
decease had been formally entered at the prefecture, they would not
accept this document, bearing the signature of a defunct person. As you
may imagine, he did very well without it, and began to shoot as if
nothing had happened!

The other morning, however, it chanced, as my uncle was passing our
banker's, that he wanted to draw twenty thousand francs for his
pocket-money. The cashier, who had known him years ago, was very much
surprised to see him in the flesh, but represented to him that it was
now quite impossible for him to open an account in his name, as he was
legally dead and buried. My uncle, like a law-abiding man, admitted the
justice of this observation, and I had to intervene in order to arrange
the matter for him. He took no further notice of it; onl