do not presume to hazard a conjecture as to those of Mademoiselle towards
yourself. But when I met her not long since at the house of Duplessis,
with whose daughter she is intimate, I chanced to speak to her of you;
and if I may judge, by looks and manner, I chose no displeasing theme.
You turn away--I offend you?"

"Offend!--no, indeed; but on this subject I am not prepared to converse.
I came to Paris on matters of business much complicated and which ought
to absorb my attention. I cannot longer trespass on your evening. The
day after to-morrow, then, I will be with you at one o'clock."

"Yes, I hope then to have the letters you wish to consult; and,
meanwhile, we meet to-morrow at the Hotel Duplessis."




CHAPTER VI.

Graham had scarcely quitted Alain, and the young Marquis was about to
saunter forth to his club, when Duplessis was announced.

These two men had naturally seen much of each other since Duplessis had
returned from Bretagne and delivered Alain from the gripe of Louvier.
Scarcely a day had passed but what Alain had been summoned to enter into
the financier's plans for the aggrandisement of the Rochebriant estates,
and delicately made to feel that he had become a partner in speculations,
which, thanks to the capital and the abilities Duplessis brought to bear,
seemed likely to result in the ultimate freedom of his property from all
burdens, and the restoration of his inheritance to a splendour