the same prejudices against her and the Imperialists
as I brought from Bretagne. Shall I order my carriage?"

"No; mine is at the door. Yours can meet you where you will, later.
Allons."

CHAPTER III.

The Duchesse de Tarascon occupied a vast apartment in the Rue Royale,
close to the Tuileries. She held a high post among the ladies who graced
the brilliant court of the Empress. She had survived her second husband
the duke, who left no issue, and the title died with him.

Alain and Enguerrand were ushered up the grand staircase, lined with
tiers of costly exotics as if for a fete; but in that and in all kinds
of female luxury, the Duchesse lived in a state of fete perpetuelle.
The doors on the landing-place were screened by heavy portieres of Genoa
velvet, richly embroidered in gold with the ducal crown and cipher. The
two salons through which the visitors passed to the private cabinet or
boudoir were decorated with Gobelin tapestries, fresh, with a mixture
of roseate hues, and depicting incidents in the career of the first
emperor; while the effigies of the late duke's father--the gallant
founder of a short-lived race figured modestly in the background. On a
table of Russian malachite within the recess of the central window lay,
preserved in glass cases, the baton and the sword, the epaulettes
and the decorations of the brave Marshal. On the consoles and the
mantelpieces stood clocks and vases of Sevres that could scarcely be
eclipsed by those in the Imperial palaces. Entering the cabinet, they
found the Duchesse seated at her writing-table, with a small Skye
terrier, hideous in the beauty of the purest breed, nestled at her
feet. This room was an exquisite combination of costliness and
comfort,--Luxury at home. The hangings were of geranium-coloured
silk, with double curtains of white satin; near to the writing-table a
conservatory, with a white marble fountain at play in the centre, and
a trellised aviary at the back. The walls were covered with small
pictures,--chiefly portraits and miniatures of the members of the
imperial family, of the late Duc, of his father the Marshal and Madame
la Marechale, of the present Duchesse herself, and of some of the
principal ladies of the court.

The Duchesse was still in the prime of life. She had passed her fortieth
year, but was so well "conserved" that you might have guessed her to
be ten years younger. She was tall; not large, but with rounded figure
inclined to en