them heartily.

"Madame and monsieur are both most welcome," he said. "I have
received a letter from my cousin Simon. I am glad, indeed, to
receive his friends. Fortunately our rooms upstairs are unlet.
Strangers are rare in Paris, at present."

He called a boy from the shop, and told him to show Leigh the way
to some stables near. He then entered the house, accompanied by
Patsey with her child. Here she was received by Madame Tourrier, a
plump-faced businesslike woman, and was not long in finding out
that she was the real head of the establishment.

"I have got the rooms ready for you," she said. "We were surprised,
indeed, to get a letter from Simon Valles; for he is a poor
correspondent, though he generally comes to stay with us for three
days, once a year. He is a good fellow, but it is a pity that he
did not go into trade. He would have done better for himself than
by becoming adjoint to the maire of Arthenay. It has a high sound,
but in these days, when men are paid their salaries in assignats,
it is but a poor living. However, I suppose that it is an easy
life, for I don't think hard work would suit Simon. The last time
he was up we tried to persuade him that he would do better here,
but he laughed and said that people's heads were safer in Arthenay
than they were in Paris. But that is folly; the Convention does not
trouble itself with small shopkeepers. It knows well enough that we
have work enough to do to earn our living, without troubling
ourselves about politics; yet if the truth were known, a good many
of us are better to do than some of those they call aristocrats.
This is a busy quarter, you see, and we are close to the markets,
and the country people who come in know that we sell good
groceries, and on cheaper terms than they can get them in their
villages. We should do better, still, if my husband would but
bestir himself; but men are poor creatures, and I don't know what
would become of them, if they had not us women to look after their
affairs."

They now reached the rooms, which were small but comfortable, and
the price which Madame Tourrier named seemed to Patsey to be very
moderate.

"You see, your room is furnished as a sitting room also, madame,
and you and your brother can talk over your affairs here. As to
your meals, I could provide your cafe au lait in the morning, but I
can't undertake to cook for you. But there are many good places,
where you can obtain your meals at a cheap rate, i