sen livid, and with her cheeks shaken by a nervous quivering,
then she began to cry terribly, hiding her face in her hands. She stood
shaken by sobs and torn by grief. But suddenly she mastered her sorrow,
and wiping her eyes, said: "I--I am going there--don't bother about
me--I don't know when I shall be back--don't wait for me."

He replied: "Very well, dear." They shook hands, and she went off so
hurriedly that she forgot her gloves.

George, having dined alone, began to write his article. He did so
exactly in accordance with the minister's instructions, giving his
readers to understand that the expedition to Morocco would not take
place. Then he took it to the office, chatted for a few minutes with the
governor, and went out smoking, light-hearted, though he knew not why.
His wife had not come home, and he went to bed and fell asleep.

Madeleine came in towards midnight. George, suddenly roused, sat up in
bed. "Well?" he asked.

He had never seen her so pale and so deeply moved. She murmured: "He is
dead."

"Ah!--and he did not say anything?"

"Nothing. He had lost consciousness when I arrived."

George was thinking. Questions rose to his lips that he did not dare to
put. "Come to bed," said he.

She undressed rapidly, and slipped into bed beside him, when he resumed:
"Were there any relations present at his death-bed?"

"Only a nephew."

"Ah! Did he see this nephew often?"

"Never. They had not met for ten years."

"Had he any other relatives?"

"No, I do not think so."

"Then it is his nephew who will inherit?"

"I do not know."

"He was very well off, Vaudrec?"

"Yes, very well off."

"Do you know what his fortune was?"

"No, not exactly. One or two millions, perhaps."

He said no more. She blew out the light, and they remained stretched
out, side by side, in the darkness--silent, wakeful, and reflecting. He
no longer felt inclined for sleep. He now thought the seventy thousand
francs promised by Madame Walter insignificant. Suddenly he fancied that
Madeleine was crying. He inquired, in order to make certain: "Are you
asleep?"

"No."

Her voice was tearful and quavering, and he said: "I forgot to tell you
when I came in that your minister has let us in nicely."

"How so?"

He told her at length, with all details, the plan hatched between
Laroche-Mathieu and Walter. When he had finished, she asked: "How do you
know this?"

He replied: "You will excuse me not telling you. You have