right, the dining-room and the kitchen; on the left, drawing-room and
a billiard-hall. A stone staircase, built in one of the turrets, led to
the upper floors. Only one of these rooms, the kitchen, which the justice
and his bailiff entered, was occupied by the household. A cold light,
equally diffused in all directions, and falling from a large window,
facing north across the gardens, allowed every detail of the apartment to
be seen clearly; opposite the door of entrance, the tall chimney-place,
with its deep embrasure, gave ample shelter to the notary, who installed
himself upon a stool and lighted his pipe at one of the embers, while his
principal clerk sat at the long table, itemizing the objects contained in
the inventory.

In the opposite angle of the chimney-place, a lad of twenty-four years,
no other than Claudet, called by the friendly nickname of the grand
chasserot, kept company with the notary, while he toyed, in an absent
fashion, with the silky ears of a spaniel, whose fluffy little head lay
in his lap. Behind him, Manette Sejournant stood putting away her shawl
and prayerbook in a closet. A mass had been said in the morning at the
church, for the repose of the soul of the late Claude de Buxieres, and
mother and son had donned their Sunday garments to assist at the
ceremony.

Claudet appeared ill at ease in his black, tightly buttoned suit, and
kept his eyes with their heavy lids steadily bent upon the head of the
animal. To all the notary's questions, he replied only by monosyllables,
passing his fingers every now and then through his bushy brown locks, and
twining them in his forked beard, a sure indication with him of
preoccupation and bad humor.

Manette had acquired with years an amount of embonpoint which detracted
materially from the supple and undulating beauty which had so captivated
Claude de Buxieres. The imprisonment of a tight corset caused undue
development of the bust at the expense of her neck and throat, which
seemed disproportionately short and thick. Her cheeks had lost their
gracious curves and her double chin was more pronounced. All that
remained of her former attractions were the caressing glance of her eye,
tresses still golden and abundant, especially as seen under the close cap
of black net, white teeth, and a voice that had lost nothing of its
insinuating sweetness.

As the justice and his bailiff entered, Maitre Arbillot, and a petulant
little man with squirrel-like eyes and