ention of substituting
one child for another; that proves that my father was imprudently
deceived when he was made to believe that the second Cesarine was
his daughter, the daughter in whose favor he had formerly disposed
of over five hundred thousand francs; that proves that there is
somewhere in the world a poor girl who has been basely forsaken by
her mother, the Marquise de Javelle, now become the Baroness de
Thaller."

Beside herself with terror and anger,

"That is an infamous lie!" exclaimed the baroness. M. de Tregars
bowed.

"The evidence of the truth of my statements," he said, "I shall
find at Louveciennes, and at the Hotel des Folies, Boulevard du
Temple, Paris."

Night had come. A footman came in carrying lamps, which he placed
upon the mantelpiece. He was not all together one minute in the
little parlor; but that one minute was enough to enable the Marquise
de Thaller to recover her coolness, and to collect her ideas. When
the footman retired, she had made up her mind, with the resolute
promptness of a person accustomed to perilous situations. She gave
up the discussion, and, drawing near to M. de Tregars,

"Enough allusions," she said: "let us speak frankly, and face to
face now. What do you want?"

But the change was too sudden not to arouse Marius's suspicions.

"I want a great many things," he replied.

"Still you must specify."

"Well, I claim first the five hundred thousand francs which my
father had settled upon his daughter,--the daughter whom you cast
off."

"And what next?"

"I want besides, my own and my father's fortune, of which we have
been robbed by M. de Thaller, with your assistance, madame."

"Is that all, at least?"

M. de Tregars shook his head.

"That's nothing yet," he replied.

"Oh!"

"We have now to say something of Vincent Favoral's affairs."

An attorney who is defending the interests of a client is neither
calmer nor cooler than Mme. de Thaller at this moment.

"Do the affairs of my husband's cashier concern me, then?" she said
with a shade of irony.

"Yes, madame, very much."

"I am glad to hear it."

"I know it from excellent sources, because, on my return from
Louveciennes, I called in the Rue du Cirque, where I saw one Zelie
Cadelle."

He thought that the baroness would at least start on hearing that
name. Not at all. With a look of profound astonishment,

"Rue du Cirque," she repeated, like a person who is making a
prodigious effort