"You did not expect to see me so early, did you?" he said. "How has it
all gone off?"

"Did you know that I was here?" I asked in utter amazement.

"Oh, yes, I received word just as you left Paris. Have you played your
part well? Did not the husband think your visit ridiculous? Was he put
out? When are you going to take leave? You had better go, I have made
every provision for you. I have brought you a good carriage. It is at
your service. This is the way I requite you, my dear friend. You may
rely on me in the future, for a man is grateful for such services as
yours."

These last words gave me the key to the whole mystery, and I saw how I
stood.

"But why should you have come so soon?" I asked him; "it would have
been more prudent to have waited a few days."

"I foresaw that; and it is only chance that has brought me here. I am
supposed to be on my way back from a neighboring country house. But
has not Madame de T----- taken you into her secret? I am surprised at
her want of confidence, after all you have done for us."

"My dear friend," I replied, "she doubtless had her reasons. Perhaps I
did not play my part very well."

"Has everything been very pleasant? Tell me the particulars; come,
tell me."