THE COUNT'S MILLIONS

Translated from the French of
EMILE GABORIAU

A novel in two parts. Part Two of this novel is found in the volume:
Baron Trigault's Vengeance



PASCAL AND MARGUERITE.

1.


It was a Thursday evening, the fifteenth of October; and although
only half-past six o'clock, it had been dark for some time
already. The weather was cold, and the sky was as black as ink,
while the wind blew tempestuously, and the rain fell in torrents.

The servants at the Hotel de Chalusse, one of the most magnificent
mansions in the Rue de Courcelles in Paris, were assembled in the
porter's lodge, a little building comprising a couple of rooms
standing on the right hand side of the great gateway. Here, as in
all large mansions, the "concierge" or porter, M. Bourigeau, was a
person of immense importance, always able and disposed to make any
one who was inclined to doubt his authority, feel it in cruel
fashion. As could be easily seen, he held all the other servants
in his power. He could let them absent themselves without leave,
if he chose, and conceal all returns late at night after the