He did not say so, and if that was your idea I trust you will change
it. Do not deprive me of the pleasure of offering you the hospitality
which for so long I have accepted from you. Your room is quite ready,
also one for this dear boy," and so saying he took Edouard's hand; "and
I am sure if you ask his opinion, he will say you had better be content
to stay with me."

"Undoubtedly," said the boy; "and I do not see why there need be any
hesitation between friends."

Whether by accident, or secret presentiment, or because she foresaw
a possibility of business discussions between them, Madame de Lamotte
objected to this arrangement. Derues having a business appointment which
he was bound to keep, desired his wife to accompany the Lamottes to
the Hotel de France, and in case of their not being able to find rooms
there, mentioned three others as the only ones in the quarter where they
could be comfortably accommodated. Two hours later Madame de Lamotte and
her son returned to his house in the rue Beaubourg.

The house which Derues occupied stood opposite the rue des Menoriers,
and was pulled down quite lately to make way for the rue Rambuteau.
In 1776 it was one of the finest houses of the rue Beaubourg, and it
required a certain income to be able to live there, the rents being
tolerably high. A large arched doorway gave admittance to a passage,
lighted at the other end by a small court, on the far side of which was
the shop into which Madame de Lamotte had been taken on the occasion of
the accident. The house staircase was to the right of the passage;
and the Derues' dwelling on the entresol. The first room, lighted by a
window looking into the court, was used as a dining room, and led into
a simply furnished sitting-room, such as was generally found among
the bourgeois and tradespeople of this period. To the right of the
sitting-room was a large closet, which could serve as a small study
or could hold a bed; to the left was a door opening into the Derues'
bedroom, which had been prepared for Madame de Lamotte. Madame Derues
would occupy one of the two beds which stood in the alcove. Derues had
a bed made up in the sitting-room, and Edouard was accommodated in the
little study.

Nothing particular happened during the first few days which followed
the Lamottes' arrival. They had not come to Paris only on account of
the Buisson-Souef affairs. Edouard was nearly sixteen, and after much
hesitation his parents had decided o