mother
started after him. After this sudden departure, which stupefied
everybody, la Peyrade approached Madame de Godollo very respectfully,
and said to her:--

"You must admit, madame, that it is difficult to drag a man from the
water when he persists in being drowned."

"I had no idea until this moment of such utter simplicity," replied
the countess; "it is too silly. I pass over to the enemy; and with that
enemy I am ready and desirous to have, whenever he pleases, a frank and
honest explanation."

CHAPTER IV. HUNGARY VERSUS PROVENCE

The next day Theodose felt himself possessed by two curiosities:
How would Celeste behave as to the option she had accepted? and this
Comtesse Torna de Godollo, what did she mean by what she had said; and
what did she want with him?

The first of these questions seemed, undoubtedly, to have the right of
way, and yet, by some secret instinct, la Peyrade felt more keenly drawn
toward the conclusion of the second problem. He decided, therefore, to
take his first step in that direction, fully understanding that he could
not too carefully arm himself for the interview to which the countess
had invited him.

The morning had been rainy, and this great calculator was, of course,
not ignorant how much a spot of mud, tarnishing the brilliancy of
varnished boots, could lower a man in the opinion of some. He therefore
sent his porter for a cabriolet, and about three o'clock in the
afternoon he drove from the rue Saint-Dominique d'Enfer toward the
elegant latitudes of the Madeleine. It may well be believed that certain
cares had been bestowed upon his toilet, which ought to present a
happy medium between the negligent ease of a morning costume and the
ceremonious character of an evening suit. Condemned by his profession to
a white cravat, which he rarely laid aside, and not venturing to present
himself in anything but a dress-coat, he felt himself being drawn,
of necessity, to one of the extremes he desired to avoid. However by
buttoning up his coat and wearing tan instead of straw-colored gloves,
he managed to _unsolemnize_ himself, and to avoid that provincial air
which a man in full dress walking the streets of Paris while the sun is
above the horizon never fails to convey.

The wary diplomatist was careful not to drive to the house where he was
going. He was unwilling to be seen from the countess' entresol issuing
from a hired cab, and from the first floor he feared to be discove