"Oh, that is true, but his way of life isn't pleasant, and he could
not see you here with indifference. He might be suspicious even of our
friendship."

"Oh! he is so already."

"Confess that he has cause. Therefore you must not prolong this visit;
he might take it amiss. As soon as any one arrives--" and she added
with a smile, "some one is going to arrive--you must go. You have to
keep up appearance, you know. Remember his manner when he left us
to-night."

I was tempted to interpret this adventure as a trap, but as she
noticed the impression made by her words, she added:

"Oh, he was very much gayer when he was superintending the arrangement
of the cabinet I told you about. That was before my marriage. This
passage leads to my apartment. Alas! it testifies to the cunning
artifices to which Monsieur de T----- has resorted in protecting his
love for me."

"How pleasant it would be," I said to her, keenly excited by the
curiosity she had roused in me, "to take vengeance in this spot for
the insults which your charms have suffered, and to seek to make
restitution for the pleasures of which you have been robbed."

She doubtless thought this remark in good taste, but she said: "You
promised to be good!"