d he, "to detain you here longer.
We shall meet again shortly, and settle matters. Meanwhile Catenac
will draw up the prospectus and Articles of Association of the proposed
Company, and post you up in the financial slang of which you must
occasionally make use."

The Marquis and the lawyer at once rose and took their leave. As soon as
the door had closed behind them, Mascarin seemed to recover his energy.

"Well, Paul," said he, "what do you think of all this?"

Like all men with weak and ductile natures, Paul, after being almost
prostrated by the first discovery of his master's villainy, had now
succeeded in smothering the dictates of his conscience, and adopted a
cynical tone quite worthy of his companions.

"I see," said he, "that you have need of me. Well, I am not a Marquis,
but you will find me quite as trustworthy and obedient."

Paul's reply did not seem to surprise Mascarin, but it is doubtful
whether he was pleased by it, for his countenance showed traces of a
struggle between extreme satisfaction and intense annoyance, while the
doctor was surprised at the cool audacity of the young man whose mind he
had undertaken to form.

Paul was a little disturbed by the long and continued silence of his
patron, and at last he ventured to say timidly,--

"Well, sir, I am anxious to know under what conditions I am to be shown
the way to make my fortune and marry Mademoiselle Flavia Rigal, whom I
love."

Mascarin gave a diabolical smile.

"Whose dowry you love," he observed. "Let us speak plainly."

"Pardon me, sir, I said just what I meant."

The doctor, who had not Mascarin's reasons for gravity, now burst into a
jovial laugh.

"And that pretty Rose," said he, "what of her?"

"Rose is a creature of the past," answered Paul. "I can now see what an
idiot I was, and I have entirely effaced her from my memory, and I am
half inclined to deplore that Mademoiselle Rigal is an heiress, the more
so if it is to form a barrier between us."

This declaration seemed to make Mascarin more easy.

"Reassure yourself, my boy," said he, "we will remove that barrier; but
I will not conceal from you that the part you have to play is much more
difficult than that assigned to the Marquis de Croisenois; but if it is
harder and more perilous, the reward will be proportionately greater."

"With your aid and advice I feel capable of doing everything necessary,"
returned Paul.

"You will need great self-confidence, the utmost