easily
away, making a lame excuse of ordering some wine for his coachman;
and while Manette, with an air of martyrdom, brought a glass and
a half-empty bottle, Claudet continued his surprised and inquiring
examination of the legal heir of Claude de Buxieres.

The pale, slight youth, buttoned up in a close-fitting, long frock-coat,
which gave him the look of a priest, looked so unlike any of the
Buxieres of the elder branch that it seemed quite excusable to hesitate
about the relationship. Claudet maliciously took advantage of the fact,
and began to interrogate his would-be deposer by pretending to doubt his
identity.

"Are you certainly Monsieur Julien de Buxieres?" asked he, surveying him
suspiciously from head to foot.

"Do you take me for an impostor?" exclaimed the young man.

"I do not say that," returned Claudet, crossly, "but after all, you do
not carry your name written on your face, and, by Jove! as guardian of
the seals, I have some responsibility--I want information, that is all!"

Angry at having to submit to these inquiries in the presence of the
coachman who had brought him from Langres, Julien completely lost
control of his temper.

"Do you require me to show my papers?" he inquired, in a haughty,
ironical tone of voice.

Manette, foreseeing a disturbance, hastened to interpose, in her
hypocritical, honeyed voice:

"Leave off, Claudet, let Monsieur alone. He would not be here, would he,
if he hadn't a right? As to asking him to prove his right, that is not
our business--it belongs to the justice and the notary. You had better,
my son, go over to Auberive, and ask the gentlemen to come to-morrow to
raise the seals."

At this moment, the cowboy, who had been sent to open the gate, entered
the kitchen.

"The carriage is in the courtyard," said he, "and Monsieur's boxes are
in the hall. Where shall I put them, Madame Sejoumant?"

Julien's eyes wandered from Manette to the young boy, with an expression
of intense annoyance and fatigue.

"Why, truly," said Manette, "as a matter of fact, there is only the
room of our deceased master, where the seals have been released. Would
Monsieur object to taking up his quarters there?"

"I am willing," muttered Julien; "have my luggage carried up there, and
give orders for it to be made ready immediately."

The housekeeper gave a sign, and the boy and the servant disappeared.

"Madame," resumed Julien, turning toward Manette, "if I understand you
right,