parated from his wife, who had nearly
lost her reason, although her letters were saved, the baron has nowadays
found affection and a home with Pascal and his wife. He plays cards but
seldom now--only an occasional game of piquet with Madame Ferailleur,
and he amuses himself by making her start when she is too long in
discarding, by ejaculating, in a stentorian voice: "We are wasting
precious time!" Sometimes they go out together, to the great
astonishment of such as chance to meet the puritanical old lady leaning
on the baron's arm. She often goes to visit and console the widow
Gordon, formerly known as Lia d'Argeles, who now keeps an establishment
near Montrouge, where she provides poor, betrayed and forsaken girls
with a home and employment. She has yet to receive any token of
remembrance from her son. As for her husband, she supposes he is dead or
incarcerated in some prison.

It is to Madame Gordon that the Fondeges are often indebted for bread.
Obliged to disgorge their plunder, and left with no resources save the
fifty francs a month allowed them by their son, who has been promoted
to the rank of captain, their poverty is necessarily extreme. Oh! those
Fondeges! M. Fortunat only speaks of them with horror. But he is loud
in his praises of Madame Marguerite, who repaid him the forty thousand
francs he had advanced to M. de Valorsay. He speaks in the highest terms
of Chupin also; but in this, he is scarcely sincere, for Victor, who
has been set up in business by Pascal, told him very plainly that he
was determined not to put his hand to any more dirty work, and that
expression, "dirty work," rankles in M. Fortunat's heart.

Chupin's resolution did not, however, prevent him from attending the
trial of Vantrasson and Madame Leon--the former of whom was sentenced to
hard labor for life, and the latter to ten years' imprisonment. Nothing
is known concerning M. de Coralth; but his wife has disappeared, to
the great disappointment of M. Mouchon. As a dentist, Dr. Jodon is
successful. As for M. Wilkie, you can learn anything you wish to
know concerning him in the newspapers, for his sayings, doings, and
movements, are constantly being chronicled. The reporters exhaust all
the resources of their vocabulary in describing his horses, carriages,
and stables, and the gorgeous liveries of his servants. His changes of
residence are always mentioned; his brilliant sayings are quoted. He
is a social success; he is admired, fondled