pardon for the friends of that vile
creature. She has unbounded influence over him, and so long as she lives
there is no hope for me. But, patience."

She was patient, realizing that he who wishes to surely attain his
revenge must wait, dissimulate, _prepare_ an opportunity, but not force
it.

What her revenge should be she had not yet decided; but she already had
her eye upon a man whom she believed would be a willing instrument in
her hands, and capable of doing anything for money.

But how had such a man chanced to cross the path of Mme. Blanche? How
did it happen that she was cognizant of the existence of such a person?

It was the result of one of those simple combinations of circumstances
which go by the name of chance.

Burdened with remorse, despised and jeered at, and stoned whenever he
showed himself upon the street, and horror-stricken whenever he thought
of the terrible threats of Balstain, the Piedmontese innkeeper, Chupin
left Montaignac and came to beg an asylum at the Chateau de Sairmeuse.

In his ignorance, he thought that the _grand seigneur_ who had employed
him, and who had profited by his treason, owed him, over and above the
promised reward, aid and protection.

But the servants shunned him. They would not allow him a seat at the
kitchen-table, nor would the grooms allow him to sleep in the stables.
They threw him a bone, as they would have thrown it to a dog; and he
slept where he could.

He bore all this uncomplainingly, deeming himself fortunate in being
able to purchase comparative safety at such a price.

But when the duke returned from Paris with a policy of forgetfulness and
conciliation in his pocket, he would no longer tolerate the presence of
this man, who was the object of universal execration.

He ordered the dismissal of Chupin.

The latter resisted, swearing that he would not leave Sairmeuse unless
he was forcibly expelled, or unless he received the order from the lips
of the duke himself.

This obstinate resistance was reported to the duke. It made him
hesitate; but the necessity of the moment, and a word from Martial,
decided him.

He sent for Chupin and told him that he must not visit Sairmeuse again
under any pretext whatever, softening the harshness of expulsion,
however, by the offer of a small sum of money.

But Chupin sullenly refused the money, gathered his belongings together,
and departed, shaking his clinched fist at the chateau, and vowing
vengeance on