laire arrived at the Maison Alix, was fraternally received,
and made acquainted with the sphere of his operations. The young man had
a good deal of both ability and taste in the line he had assumed, and
the part was not difficult to play. Some days were judiciously allowed
to pass before the real object of the masquerade was pursued, and during
that time cordial relations established themselves between the _avocat_
and his guest. The young man was handsome, elegant, engaging, with all
the external advantages, and devoid of the vices, errors, and hopeless
infatuated unscrupulousness, of his class; he had naturally quick
intelligence, and some real knowledge and comprehension of life had been
knocked into him by the hard-hitting blows of Fate. His face was like
his mother's, Prosper Alix thought, and his mind and tastes were of the
very pattern which, in theory, Berthe approved. Berthe, a very
unconventional French girl--who thought the new era of purity, love,
virtue, and disinterestedness ought to do away with marriage by barter
as one of its most notable reforms, and had been disenchanted by
discovering that the abolition of marriage altogether suited the taste
of the incorruptible Republic better--might like, might even love, this
young man. She saw so few men, and had no fancy for patriots; she would
certainly be obstinate about it if she did chance to love him. This
would be a nice state of affairs. This would be a pleasant consequence
of the confiding request of the _ci-devant_. Prosper wished with all his
heart for the arrival of the concerted signal, which should tell Henri
Glaire that he might fulfil the purpose of his sojourn at the Maison
Alix, and set forth for Marseilles.

But the signal did not come, and the days--long, beautiful, sunny,
soothing summer-days--went on. The painting of the panels of the
_citoyenne's_ apartment, which she vacated for that purpose, progressed
slowly; and M. Paul de Senanges, guided by the ground-plan, and aided by
Berthe, had discovered the spot in which the jewels of price, almost the
last remnants of the princely wealth of the Senanges, had been hidden by
the _femme-de-chambre_ who had perished with her mistress, having
confided a general statement of the fact to a priest, for transmission
to the Marquis. This spot had been ingeniously chosen. The
sleeping-apartment of the late Marquis was extensive, lofty, and
provided with an alcove of sufficiently large dimensions to have f