and anxious instinct
that scents the presence of an enemy, Collin examined this figure;
he saw at a glance that the eyes were not so old as the costume would
suggest, and he detected a disguise. In one second Jacques Collin was
revenged on Corentin for the rapid insight with which Corentin had
unmasked him at Peyrade's.

"We are not alone!" said Jacques Collin to Monsieur de Granville.

"No," said the magistrate drily.

"And this gentleman is one of my oldest acquaintances, I believe,"
replied the convict.

He went forward, recognizing Corentin, the real and confessed originator
of Lucien's overthrow.

Jacques Collin, whose face was of a brick-red hue, for a scarcely
perceptible moment turned white, almost ashy; all his blood rushed to
his heart, so furious and maddening was his longing to spring on this
dangerous reptile and crush it; but he controlled the brutal impulse,
suppressing it with the force that made him so formidable. He put on a
polite manner and the tone of obsequious civility which he had practised
since assuming the garb of a priest of a superior Order, and he bowed to
the little old man.

"Monsieur Corentin," said he, "do I owe the pleasure of this meeting to
chance, or am I so happy as to be the cause of your visit here?"

Monsieur de Granville's astonishment was at its height, and he could
not help staring at the two men who had thus come face to face. Jacques
Collin's behavior and the tone in which he spoke denoted a crisis, and
he was curious to know the meaning of it. On being thus suddenly and
miraculously recognized, Corentin drew himself up like a snake when you
tread on its tail.

"Yes, it is I, my dear Abbe Carlos Herrera."

"And are you here," said _Trompe-la-Mort_, "to interfere between
monsieur the public prosecutor and me? Am I so happy as to be the
object of one of those negotiations in which your talents shine so
brightly?--Here, Monsieur le Comte," the convict went on, "not to waste
time so precious as yours is, read these--they are samples of my wares."

And he held out to Monsieur de Granville three letters, which he took
out of his breast-pocket.

"And while you are studying them, I will, with your permission, have a
little talk with this gentleman."

"You do me great honor," said Corentin, who could not help giving a
little shiver.

"You achieved a perfect success in our business," said Jacques Collin.
"I was beaten," he added lightly, in the tone of a gambler who