at Madrid.

I thanked M. Grimaldi for the chocolate, which was excellent; Costa was
quite proud of the praise the marquis gave him. Le Duc came in to
announce a woman, whose name I did not know.

"It's the mother of the maid I have engaged," said M. Grimaldi.

She came in, and I saw before me a well-dressed woman, followed by a girl
from twenty to twenty-four years old, who pleased me at the first glance.
The mother thanked the marquis, and presented her daughter to Rosalie,
enumerating her good qualities, and telling her that she would serve her
well, and walk with her when she wished to go out.

"My daughter," she added, "speaks French, and you will find her a good,
faithful, and obliging girl."

She ended by saying that her daughter had been in service lately with a
lady, and that she would be obliged if she could have her meals by
herself.

The girl was named Veronique. Rosalie told her that she was a good girl,
and that the only way to be respected was to be respectable. Veronique
kissed her hand, the mother went away, and Rosalie took the girl into her
room to begin her work.

I did not forget to thank the marquis, for he had evidently chosen a maid
more with a view to my likings than to those of my sweetheart. I told him
that I should not fail to call on him, and he replied that he would be
happy to see me at any hour, and that I should easily find him at his