w"; she rose abruptly. For a moment she felt
a sharp, stinging pain, as if needles had been stuck into her head, but
she was glad to have suffered for him.

"Adieu," said she.

He took her in his arms and kissed her eyes coldly; then she offered
him her lips which he brushed lightly as he said: "Come, come, let us
hurry; it is after three o'clock."

She passed out before him saying: "To-morrow at seven"; he repeated her
words and they separated.

Du Roy returned at four o'clock to await his mistress. She was somewhat
late because her husband had come home for a week. She asked:

"Can you come to dinner to-morrow? He will be delighted to see you."

"No; I dine at the Walters. We have a great many political and
financial matters to talk over."

She took off her hat. He pointed to a bag on the mantelpiece: "I bought
you some sweetmeats."

She clapped her hands. "What a darling you are!" She took them, tasted
one, and said: "They are delicious. I shall not leave one. Come, sit
down in the armchair, I will sit at your feet and eat my bonbons."

He smiled as he saw her take the seat a short while since occupied by
Mme. Walter. She too, called him "darling, little one, dearest," and
the words seemed to him sweet and caressing from her lips, while from
Mme. Walter's they irritated and nauseated him.

Suddenly he remembered the seventy thousand francs he was going to
make, and bluntly interrupting Mme. de Marelle's chatter, he said:

"Listen, my darling; I am going to intrust you with a message to your
husband. Tell him from me to buy to-morrow ten thousand francs' worth
of Moroccan stock which is at seventy-two, and I predict that before
three months are passed he will have made eighty thousand francs. Tell
him to maintain absolute silence. Tell him that the expedition to
Tangiers, is decided upon, and that the French government will
guarantee the Moroccan debt. It is a state secret I am confiding to
you, remember!"

She listened to him gravely and murmured:

"Thank you. I will tell my husband this evening. You may rely upon him;
he will not speak of it; he can be depended upon; there is no danger."

She had eaten all of her bonbons and began to toy with the buttons on
his vest. Suddenly she drew a long hair out of the buttonhole and began
to laugh.

"See! Here is one of Madeleine's hairs; you are a faithful husband!"
Then growing serious, she examined the scarcely perceptible thread more
closely and said: "I