conveyed, was a large old building, the vast garden of which was on
the Boulevard de l'Hopital, one of the most retired places in Paris,
particularly at this period. The following scenes took place on the 12th
February, the eve of the fatal day, on which the members of the family
of Rennepont, the last descendants of the sister of the Wandering Jew,
were to meet together in the Rue St. Francois. St. Mary's Convent was a
model of perfect regularity. A superior council, composed of influential
ecclesiastics, with Father d'Aigrigny for president, and of women of
great reputed piety, at the head of whom was the Princess de Saint
Dizier, frequently assembled in deliberation, to consult on the means
of extending and strengthening the secret and powerful influence of this
establishment, which had already made remarkable progress.

Skillful combinations and deep foresight had presided at the foundation
of St. Mary's Convent, which, in consequence of numerous donations,
possessed already real estate to a great extent, and was daily
augmenting its acquisitions. The religious community was only a pretext;
but, thanks to an extensive connection, kept up by means of the most
decided members of the ultramontane (i. e. high-church) party, a great
number of rich orphans were placed in the convent, there to receive a
solid, austere, religious education, very preferable, it was said, to
the frivolous instruction which might be had in the fashionable boarding
schools, infected by the corruption of the age. To widows also, and
lone women who happened moreover to be rich, the convent offered a sure
asylum from the dangers and temptations of the world; in this peaceful
retreat, they enjoyed a delightful calm, and secured their salvation,
whilst surrounded by the most tender and affectionate attentions. Nor
was this all. Mother Sainte-Perpetue, the superior of the convent,
undertook in the name of the institution to procure for the faithful,
who wished to preserve the interior of their houses from the depravity
of the age, companions for aged ladies, domestic servants, or
needlewomen working by the day, all selected persons whose morality
could be warranted. Nothing would seem more worthy of sympathy and
encouragement than such an institution; but we shall presently unveil
the vast and dangerous network of intrigue concealed under
these charitable and holy appearances. The lady Superior, Mother
Sainte-Perpetue, was a tall woman of about forty