immediately. I asked for her certificates; she gave me one in English,
for she came, as she said, from Lady Rymwell's, where she had been for
ten years.

"The certificate showed that the young girl had left of her own free
will, in order to return to France, and the only thing which they had had
to find fault in her during her long period of service was a little
French coquettishness.

"This prudish English phrase even made me smile, and I immediately
engaged this maid.

"She came to me the same day. Her name was Rose.

"At the end of a month I would have been helpless without her. She was a
treasure, a pearl, a phenomenon.

"She could dress my hair with infinite taste; she could trim a hat better
than most milliners, and she could even make my dresses.

"I was astonished at her accomplishments. I had never before been waited
on in such a manner.

"She dressed me rapidly and with a surprisingly light touch. I never felt
her fingers on my skin, and nothing is so disagreeable to me as contact
with a servant's hand. I soon became excessively lazy; it was so pleasant
to be dressed from head to foot, and from lingerie to gloves, by this
tall, timid girl, always blushing a little, and never saying a word.
After my bath she would rub and massage me while I dozed a little on my
couch; I almost considered her more of a friend than a servant.

"One morning the janitor asked, mysteriously, to speak to me. I was
surprised, and told him to come in. He was a good, faithful man, an old
soldier, one of my husband's former orderlies.

"He seemed to be embarrassed by what he had to say to me. At last he
managed to mumble:

"'Madame, the superintendent of police is downstairs.'

"I asked quickly:

"'What does he wish?'

"'He wishes to search the house.'

"Of course the police are useful, but I hate them. I do not think that it
is a noble profession. I answered, angered and hurt:

"'Why this search? For what reason? He shall not come in.'

"The janitor continued:

"'He says that there is a criminal hidden in the house.'

"This time I was frightened and I told him to bring the inspector to me,
so that I might get some explanation. He was a man with good manners and
decorated with the Legion of Honor. He begged my pardon for disturbing
me, and then informed me that I had, among my domestics, a convict.

"I was shocked; and I answered that I could guarantee every servant in
the house, and I began to enumerate them.