any evening visits to the theatre or the houses of friends.

It was only within the last few weeks that such visits had been made.

The younger lady was in delicate health, and under the care of an English
physician famous for skill in the treatment of pulmonary complaints. It
was by his advice that she took daily walking exercise in the Bois. The
establishment consisted of three servants, all Italians, and speaking but
imperfect French. The _garcon_ did not know whether either of the ladies
was married, but their mode of life was free from all scandal or
suspicion; they probably belonged to the literary or musical world, as
the _garcon_ had observed as their visitors the eminent author M. Savarin
and his wife; and, still more frequently, an old man not less eminent as
a musical composer.

"It is clear to me now," said Lemercier, as the two friends reseated
themselves in the carriage, "that our pearly _ange_ is some Italian
singer of repute enough in her own country to have gained already a
competence; and that, perhaps on account of her own health or her
friend's, she is living quietly here in the expectation of some
professional engagement, or the absence of some foreign lover."

"Lover! do you think that?" exclaimed Alain, in a tone of voice that
betrayed pain.

"It is possible enough; and in that case the Englishman may profit little
by the information I have promised to give him."

"You have promised the Englishman?"