from her. When
I left them, they said to me, 'If you see Phrasie, ask her if she
ever knew old Chandour and his wife. I am sure she'll remember us.'"

For the first time Mme. de Thaller shuddered slightly; but it was
almost imperceptible.

"From Grenelle," continued M. de Tregars, "I went to the house
where my father's mistress had lived under the name of Mme. Devil.
I was in luck. I found there the same concierge as in 1853. As
soon as I mentioned Mme. Devil, she answered me that she had not in
the least forgotten her, but, on the contrary, would know her among
a thousand. She was, she said, one of the prettiest little women
she had ever seen, and the most generous tenant. I understood the
hint, handed her a couple of napoleons, and heard from her every
thing she knew on the subject. It seemed that this pretty Mme.
Devil had, not one lover, but two,--the acknowledged one, who was
the master, and footed the bills; and the other an anonymous one,
who went out through the back-stairs, and who did not pay, on the
contrary. The first was called the Marquis de Tregars: of the
second, she had never known but the first name, Frederic. I
tried to ascertain what had become of Mme. Devil; but the worthy
concierge swore to me that she did not know.

"One morning, like a person who is going abroad, or who wishes to
cover up her tracks, Mme. Devil had sent for a furniture-dealer,
and a dealer in second-hand clothes, and had sold them every thing
she had, going away with nothing but a little leather satchel, in
which were her jewels and her money."

The Baroness de Thaller still kept a good countenance. After
examining her for a moment, with a sort of eager curiosity, Marius
de Tregars went on,

"When I communicated this information to my friend, the commissary
of police, he shook his head. 'Two years ago,' he told me, 'I
would have said, that's more than we want to find those people; for
the public records would have given us at once the key of this
enigma. But we have had the war and the Commune; and the books of
record have been burnt up. Still we must not give up. A last
hope remains; and I know the man who is capable of realizing it.'

"Two days after, he brought me an excellent fellow, named Victor
Chupin, in whom I could have entire confidence; for he was
recommended to me by one of the men whom I like and esteem the most,
the Duke de Champdoce. Giving up all idea of applying at the
various mayors' offi