d. In my haste, I
came out without a shawl. But how gloomy this house appears," she added,
pointing to the entrance.

"It is what you call the minister's private house, the sanctum
sanctorum, whither our statesman retires far from the sound of the
profane," said Dr. Baleinier, with a smile. "Pray come in!" and he
pushed open the door of a large hall, completely empty.

"They are right in saying," resumed Dr. Baleinier, who covered his
secret agitation with an appearance of gayety, "that a minister's house
is like nobody else's. Not a footman--not a page, I should say--to be
found in the antechamber. Luckily," added he, opening the door of a room
which communicated with the vestibule,

"'In this seraglio reared, I know the secret ways.'"

Mdlle. de Cardoville was now introduced into an apartment hung with
green embossed paper, and very simply furnished with mahogany chairs,
covered with yellow velvet; the floor was carefully polished, and
a globe lamp, which gave at most a third of its proper light, was
suspended (at a much greater height than usual) from the ceiling.
Finding the appearance of this habitation singularly plain for the
dwelling of a minister, Adrienne, though she had no suspicion, could not
suppress a movement of surprise and paused a moment on the threshold of
the door. M. Baleinier, by whose arm she held, guessed the cause of her
astonishment, and said to her with a smile:

"This place appears to you very paltry for 'his excellency,' does it
not? If you knew what a thing constitutional economy is!--Moreover,
you will see a 'my lord,' who has almost as little pretension as his
furniture. But please to wait for me an instant. I will go and inform
the minister you are here, and return immediately."

Gently disengaging himself from the grasp of Adrienne, who had
involuntarily pressed close to him, the physician opened a small side
door, by which he instantly disappeared. Adrienne de Cardoville was left
alone.

Though she could not have explained the cause of her impression, there
was something awe-inspiring to the young lady in this large, cold,
naked, curtainless room; and as, by degrees, she noticed certain
peculiarities in the furniture, which she had not at first perceived,
she was seized with an indefinable feeling of uneasiness.

Approaching the cheerless hearth, she perceived with surprise that an
iron grating completely enclosed the opening of the chimney, and that
the tongs and shovel were