M. Isidore Fortunat resided at No. 27 Place de la Bourse, on the
third floor. He had a handsome suite of apartments: a drawing-
room, a dining-room, a bed-room, a large outer office where his
clerks worked, and a private one, which was the sanctuary of his
thoughts and meditations. The whole cost him only six thousand
francs a year, a mere trifle as rents go nowadays. His lease
entitled him, moreover, to the use of a room ten feet square, up
under the eaves, where he lodged his servant, Madame Dodelin, a
woman of forty-six or thereabouts, who had met with reverses of
fortune, and who now took such good charge of his establishment,
that his table--for he ate at home--was truly fit for a sybarite.

Having been established here for five years or more, M. Fortunat
was very well known in the neighborhood, and, as he paid his rent
promptly, and met all his obligations without demur, he was
generally respected. Besides, people knew very well from what
source M. Fortunat derived his income. He gave his attention to
contested claims, liquidations, the recovery of legacies, and so
on, as was shown by the inscription in large letters which figured
on the elegant brass plate adorning his door. He must have had a
prosperous business, for he employed six collectors in addition to
the clerks who wrote all day long in his office; and his clients
were so numerous that the concierge was often heard to complain of
the way they ran up and down the stairs, declaring that it was
worse than a procession.

To be just, we must add that M. Fortunat's appearance, manners and
conduct were of a nature to quiet all suspicions. He was some
thirty-eight years of age, extremely methodical in his habits,