gave fifty to the good procurer."

"You have, I suppose, visited her in the parlour, after having her here?"

"No, never, as she was afraid her titular lover might hear of it. You
know that was the French ambassador."

"But she only saw him in the parlour."

"She used to go to his house in secular dress whenever he wanted her. I
was told that by the man who brought her here."

"Have you had her several times?"

"Only once and that was enough, but I can have her whenever I like for a
hundred sequins."

"All that may be the truth, but I would wager five hundred sequins that
you have been deceived."

"You shall have your answer in three days."

I was perfectly certain, I repeat, that the whole affair was a piece of
knavery; but it was necessary to have it proved, and I shuddered when the
thought came into my head that after all it might be a true story. In
this case I should have been freed from a good many obligations, but I
was strongly persuaded of her innocence. At all events, if I were to find
her guilty (which was amongst possible occurrences), I resigned myself to
lose five hundred sequins as the price of this horrible discovery and
addition to my experience of life. I was full of restless anguish--the