obert
and the sempstress; "it is--"

Rodin looked round him, beckoned all the actors in this scene to draw
nearer, and said in a whisper, laying great stress upon the words: "It
is--the Society of Jesus!" and he again shuddered.

"The Jesuits!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, unable to restrain a burst
of laughter, which was the more buoyant, as, from the mysterious
precautions of Rodin, she had expected some very different revelation.
"The Jesuits!" she resumed, still laughing. "They have no existence,
except in books; they are frightful historical personages, certainly;
but why should you put forward Madame de Saint-Dizier and M. d'Aigrigny
in that character? Such as they are, they have done quite enough to
justify my aversion and disdain."

After listening in silence to Mdlle. de Cardoville Rodin continued, with
a grave and agitated air: "Your blindness frightens me, my dear, young
lady; the past should have given you some anxiety for the future, since,
more than any one, you have already suffered from the fatal influence of
this Company, whose existence you regard as a dream!"

"I, sir?" said Adrienne, with a smile, although a little surprised.

"You."

"Under what circumstances?"

"You ask me this question! my dear young lady! you ask me this
question!--and yet you have been confined here as a mad person! Is it
not enough to tell you that the master of this house is one of the most
devoted lay members of the Company, and therefore the blind instrument
of the Abbe d'Aigrigny?"

"So," said Adrienne, this time without smiling, "Dr. Baleinier"

"Obeyed the Abbe d'Aigrigny, the most formidable chief of that
formidable society. He employs his genius for evil; but I must confess
he is a man of genius. Therefore, it is upon him that you and yours must
fix all your doubts and suspicions; it is against him that you must be
upon your guard. For, believe me, I know him, and he does not look upon
the game as lost. You must be prepared for new attacks, doubtless of
another kind, but only the more dangerous on that account--"

"Luckily, you give us notice," said Dagobert, "and you will be on our
side."

"I can do very little, my good friends; but that little is at the
service of honest people," said Rodin.

"Now," said Adrienne, with a thoughtful air, completely persuaded by
Rodin's air of conviction, "I can explain the inconceivable influence
that my aunt exercised in the world. I ascribed it chiefly to her
relations