ham had hired at Paris as a laquais de place announced "Ce Monsieur." Graham hurried the letter into his portfolio, and said," "You mean the person to whom I am always at home?" "The same, Monsieur." "Admit him, of course." There entered a wonderfully thin man, middle-aged, clothed in black, his face cleanly shaven, his hair cut very short, with one of those faces which, to use a French expression, say "nothing." It was absolutely without expression-it had not even, despite its thinness, one salient feature. If you had found yourself anywhere seated next to that man, your eye would have passed him over as too insignificant to notice; if at a café, you would have gone on talking to your friend without lowering your voice. What mattered it whether a bête like that overheard or not? Had you been asked to guess his calling and station, you might have said, minutely observing the freshness of his clothes and the undeniable respectability of his tout ensemble, "He must be well off, and with no care for customers on his mind a ci-devant chandler who has retired on a legacy." Graham rose at the entrance of his visitor, motioned him courteously to a seat beside him, and waiting till the laquais had vanished, then asked, "What news? "None, I fear, that will satisfy Monsieur. I have certainly hunted out, since I had last the honour to see you, no less than four ladies of the name of Duval, but only one of them took that name from her parents, and was also christened Louise." "Ah-Louise!" this very person encountered the said "And this is the whole information given to me. Monsieur on giving it asked me if I thought it desirable that he should commence inquiries at Aix-laChapelle, where Louise Duval was last seen by the person interested to discover her. Í reply, No;-pains thrown away. Aix-la-Chapelle is not a place where any Frenchwoman not settled there by marriage would remain. Nor does it seem probable that the said Duval would venture to select for her residence Munich, a city in which she had contrived to obtain certificates of her death. A Frenchwoman who has once known Paris always wants to get back to it; especially, Monsieur, if she has the beauty which you assign to this lady. I therefore suggested that our inquiries should commence in this capital. Monsieur agreed with me, and I did not grudge the time necessary for investigation." "You were most obliging. Still I am beginning to be impatient if time is to be thrown away." 66 Naturally. Permit me to return to my notes. Monsieur informs me_that twenty-one years ago, in 1848, the Parisian police were instructed to find out this lady and failed, but gave hopes of discovering her through her relations. He asks me to refer to our archives; I tell him that is no use. However, in order to "Yes, the daughter of a perfumer, aged oblige him, I do so. No trace of such twenty-eight. She, therefore, is not the inquiry-it must have been, as Monsieur Louise you seek. Permit me to refer to led me to suppose, a strictly private one, your instructions." Here M. Renard unconnected with crime or with politics; took out a note-book, turned over the and as I have the honour to tell Monleaves, and resumed- "Wanted, Louise sieur, no record of such investigations Duval, daughter of Auguste Duval, a is preserved in the Rue Jerusalem. Great French drawing-master, who lived for scandal would there be, and injury to the many years at Tours, removed to Paris peace of families, if we preserved the rein 1845, lived at No. 12 Rue de S― at sults of private inquiries intrusted to us Paris for some years, but afterwards-by absurdly jealous husbands, for inmoved to a different quartier of the town, and died, 1848, in Rue L, No. 39. Shortly after his death, his daughter Louise left that lodging, and could not be traced. In 1849 official documents reporting her death were forwarded from Munich to a person, (a friend of yours, Monsieur). Death, of course, taken for granted; but nearly five years afterwards, stance. Honour, Monsieur, honour forbids it. Next I suggest to Monsieur that his simplest plan would be an advertisement in the French journals, stating, if I understand him right, that it is for the pecuniary interest of Madame or Mademoiselle Duval, daughter of Auguste Duval, artiste en dessin, to come forward. Monsieur objects to that.” likes, he dipped his pen into the inkstand, and wrote rapidly thus to his kinsman : "I object to it extremely; as I have told you, this is a strictly confidential inquiry, and an advertisement, which in all likelihood would be practically useless (it MY DEAR COUSIN, - I lose not a post proved to be so in a former inquiry), in replying to your kind and considerate would not be resorted to unless all else letter. It is not in my power at present failed, and even then with reluctance." to return to England. I need not say "Quite so. Accordingly, Monsieur how fondly I cherish the hope of repredelegates to me, who have been recom-senting the dear old county some day. If mended to him as the best person he can Vayasour could be induced to defer his employ in that department of our police resignation of the seat for another seswhich is not connected with crime or poli- sion, or at least for six or seven months, tical surveillance, a task the most difficult. why then I might be free to avail myself I have, through strictly private investiga- of the opening; at present I am not. tions, to discover the address and prove Meanwhile I am sorely tempted to buy the identity of a lady bearing a name back the old Lodge - probably the brewamong the most common in France, ander would allow me to leave on mortgage of whom nothing has been heard for fifteen years, and then at so migratory an endroit as Aix-la-Chapelle. You will not or cannot inform me if since that time the lady has changed her name by marriage." "I have given you all the details I can, and, aware of the difficulty of tracing a person with a name so much the reverse of singular, I adopted your advice in our first interview, of asking some Parisian friend of mine, with a large acquaintance in the miscellaneous societies of your capital, to inform me of any ladies of that name whom he might chance to encounter; and he, like you, has lighted upon one or two, who, alas ! resemble the right one in name, and nothing more." "You will do wisely to keep him on the watch as well as myself. If it were but a murderess or a political incendiary, then you might trust exclusively to the enlightenment of our corps, but this seems an affair of sentiment, Monsieur. Sentiment is not in our way. Seek the trace of that in the haunts of pleasure." the sum I myself have on the property and a few additional thousands. I have reasons for not wishing to transfer at present much of the money now invested in the funds. I will consider this point, which probably does not press. I reserve all Paris news till my next; and begging you to forgive so curt and unsatisfactory a reply to a letter so important that it excites me more than I like to own, believe me, your affectionate friend and cousin, CHAPTER II. GRAHAM. AT about the same hour on the same day in which the Englishman held the conference with the Parisian detective just related, the Marquis de Rochebriant found himself by appointment in the cabinet d'affaires of his avoué M. Gandrin: that gentleman had hitherto not found time to give him a definitive opinion as to the case submitted to his judgment. The avoué received Alain with a kind of forced civility, in which the natural intelligence of the Marquis, despite his inexperience of life, discovered embarrassment. "Monsieur le Marquis," said Gandrin, fidgeting among the papers on his bureau, "this is a very complicated business. I have given not only my best attention to it, but to your general interests. To be plain, your estate, though a fine one, is M. Renard, having thus poetically de- fearfully encumbered-fearfully-frightlivered himself of that philosophical dog-fully." ma, rose to depart. "Sir," said the Marquis, haughtily, Graham slipped into his hand a bank-"that is a fact which was never disguised note of sufficient value to justify the pro- from you." found bow he received in return. When M. Renard had gone, Graham heaved another impatient sigh, and said to himself, "No, it is not possible-at least not yet." Then, compressing his lips as a man who forces himself to something he dis "I do not say that it was, Marquis ; but I scarcely realized the amount of the liabilities nor the nature of the property. It will be difficult - nay, I fear, impossible to find any capitalist to advance a sum that will cover the mortgages at an interest less than you now pay. As for a - Company to take the whole trouble off | have none over his, would scarcely be your hands, clear off the mortgages, man- consistent with my self-respect, not as age the forests, develop the fisheries, Rochebriant only, but as Frenchman? guarantee you an adequate income, and at the end of twenty-one years or so render up to you or your heirs the free enjoyment of an estate thus improved, we must dismiss that prospect as a wild dream of my good friend M. Hébert's. People in the provinces do dream; in Paris everybody is wide awake." Monsieur," said the Marquis, with that inborn imperturbable loftiness of sang froid which has always in adverse circumstances characterized the French noblesse,"be kind enough to restore my papers. I see that you are not the man for me. Allow me only to thank you, and inquire the amount of my debt for the trouble I have given." "It does not strike me so in the least; at all events, I could make the proposal on your behalf, without compromising yourself, though I should be far more sanguine of success if you addressed M. Louvier in person." "I should nevertheless prefer leaving it in your hands; but even for that I must take a few days to consider. Of all the mortgagees M. Louvier has been hitherto the severest and most menacing, the one whom Hébert dreads the most; and should he become sole mortgagee, my whole estate would pass to him if, through any succession of bad seasons and failing tenants, the interest was not punctually paid." "It could so pass to him now." "Perhaps you are quite justified in thinking I am not the man for you, Mon"No; for there have been years in sieur le Marquis; and your papers shall, which the other mortgagees, who are Breif you decide on dismissing me, be re- tons, and would be loath to ruin a Rocheturned to you this evening. But as to my briant, have been lenient and patient." accepting remuneration where I have "If Louvier has not been equally so, rendered no service, I request M. le Mar- it is only because he knew nothing of quis to put that out of the question. Con- | you, and your father no doubt had often sidering myself, then, no longer your sorely tasked his endurance. Come, supavoué, do not think I take too great a lib-pose we manage to break the ice easily. erty in volunteering my counsel as a Do me the honour to dine here to meet friend or a friend at least to M. Hébert, him; you will find that he is not an unif you do not vouchsafe my right so to ad-pleasant man." dress yourself." M. Gandrin spoke with a certain dignity of voice and manner which touched and softened his listener. "You make me your debtor far more than I pretend to repay," replied Alain. "Heaven knows I want a friend, and I will heed with gratitude and respect all your counsels in that character." The Marquis hesitated, but the thought of the sharp and seemingly hopeless struggle for the retention of his ancestral home to which he would be doomed if he returned from Paris unsuccessful in his errand overmastered his pride. He felt as if that self-conquest was a duty he owed to the very tombs of his fathers. "I ought not to shrink from the face of a creditor," said he, smiling somewhat sadly, "and I accept the proposal you so graciously make." "You do well, Marquis, and I will write at once to Louvier to ask him to give me his first disengaged day." "Plainly and briefly, my advice is this: Monsieur Louvier is the principal mortgagee. He is among the six richest negotiators of Paris. He does not, therefore, want money, but, like most self-made men, he is very accessible to social vanities. He would be proud to think he had The Marquis had no sooner quitted the rendered a service to a Rochebriant. Ap-house than M. Gandrin opened a door at proach him, either through me, or, far better, at once introduce yourself, and propose to consolidate all your other liabilities in one mortgage to him, at a rate of interest lower than that which is now paid to some of the small mortgagees. This would add considerably to your income, and would carry out M. Hébert's the side of his office, and a large portly man strode into the room-stride it was rather than step — firm, self-assured, arrogant, masterful. "Well, mon ami," said this man, taking his stand at the hearth, as a king might take his stand in the hall of his vassal. "and what says our petit muscadin?” "He is neither petit nor muscadin, Monsieur Louvier," replied Gandrin, peevishly; "and he will task your powers to get him thoroughly into your net. But I have persuaded him to meet you here. ' comelier face, an air of more unmistakable What day can you dine with me? I had distinction. better ask no one else." "To-morrow I dine with my friend 0, to meet the chiefs of the Opposition," said M. Louvier, with a sort of careless rollicking pomposity. "Thursday with Periera-Saturday I entertain at home. Say Friday. Your hour?" "Seven." "Good! Show me those Rochebriant papers again; there is something I had forgotten to note. Never mind me. Go on with your work as if I were not here." Louvier took up the papers, seated himself in an arm-chair by the fireplace, stretched out his legs, and read at his ease, but with a very rapid eye, as a practised lawyer skims through the technical forms of a case to fasten upon the marrow of it. "Ah! as I thought. The farms could not pay even the interest on my present mortgage; the forests come in for that. If a contractor for the yearly sale of the woods was bankrupt and did not pay, how could I get my interest? Answer me that, Gandrin." Certainly you must run the risk of that chance." MEANWHILE the young Marquis pursued his way thoughtfully through the streets, and entered the Champs Elysées. Since we first, nay, since we last saw him, he is strikingly improved in outward appearances. He has unconsciously acquired more of the easy grace of the Parisian in gait and bearing. You would no longer detect the Provincial — perhaps, however, because he is now dressed, though very simply, in habiliments that belong to the style of the day. Rarely among the loungers in the Champs Elysées could be seen a finer form, a For the sake of the general reader, English technical words are here, as elsewhere, substituted as much as possible for French. The eyes of many a passing fair one gazed on him, admiringly or coquettishly. But he was still so little the true Parisian that they got no smile, no look in return. He was wrapped in his own thoughts; was he thinking of M. Louvier ?" He had nearly gained the entrance of the Bois de Boulogne, when he was accosted by a voice behind, and turning round saw his friend Lemercier arm-inarm with Graham Vane. Bon-jour, Alain," said Lemercier, hooking his disengaged arm into Rochebriant's. "I suspect we are going the same way." Alain felt himself change countenance at this conjecture, and replied coldly, "I think not; I have got to the end of my walk, and shall turn back to Paris;" addressing himself to the Englishman, he said with formal politeness, "I regret not to have found you at home when I called some weeks ago, and no less so to have been out when you had the complaisance to return my visit." "At all events," replied the Englishman, "let me not lose the opportunity of improving our acquaintance which now offers. It is true that our friend Lemercier, catching sight of me in the Rue de Rivoli, stopped his coupé and carried me off for a promenade in the Bois. The fineness of the day tempted us to get out of his carriage as the Bois came in sight. But if you are going back to Paris I relinquish the Bois and offer myself as your companion." Frederic (the name is so familiarly English that the reader might think me pedantic did I accentuate it as French) looked from one to the other of his two friends, half amused and half angry. "And am I to be left alone to achieve a conquest, in which, if I succeed, I shall change into hate and envy the affection of my two best friends?—Be it so. 'Un véritable amant ne connait point d'amis.'” said the Marquis, with a compressed lip "I do not comprehend your meaning," and a slight frown. "Bah!" cried Frederic; "come, franc jeu-cards on the table-M. Gram Varn was going into the Bois at my suggestion on the chance of having another look at the pearl-coloured angel; and you, Rochebriant, can't deny that you were going into the Bois for the same object." "One may pardon an enfant terrible," said the Englishman, laughing, "but an I go alone. The Parisian beckoned his coachman, entered his carriage, and with a mocking grimace kissed his hand to the companions thus deserting or deserted. ami terrible should be sent to the galleys., lady we speak of used to select for her Come, Marquis, let us walk back and sub- promenade, and there saw her. Somemit to our fate. Even were the lady once thing in her face impressed me; how more visible, we have no chance of being shall I describe the impression? Did observed by the side of a Lovelace so you ever open a poem, a romance, in some accomplished and so audacious!" style wholly new to you, and before you "Adieu, then, recreants were quite certain whether or not its Victory or death." merits justified the interest which the novelty inspired, you were summoned away, or the book was taken out of your hands? If so, did you not feel an intellectual longing to have another glimpse Rochebriant touched the Englishman's of the book? That illustration describes arm, and said, "Do you think that Lemer-my impression, and I own that I twice cier could be impertinent enough to ac- again went to the same allée. The last cost that lady?" time I only caught sight of the young lady "In the first place," returned the Eng-as she was getting into her carriage. As lishman, "Lemercier himself tells me that she was then borne away, I perceived one the lady has for several weeks relinquished of the custodians of the Bois; and learned, her walks in the Bois, and the probability on questioning him, that the lady was in is, therefore, that he will not have the op- the habit of walking always alone in the portunity to accost her. In the next same allée at the same hour on most fine place, it appears that when she did take days, but that he did not know her name her solitary walk she did not stray far or address. A motive of curiosity— perfrom her carriage, and was in reach of haps an idle one - then made me ask Lethe protection of her laquais and coach-mercier, who boasts of knowing his Paris But to speak honestly, do you so intimately, if he could inform me who who know Lemercier better than I, take the lady was. He undertook to ascerhim to be a man who would commit an tain." impertinence to a woman unless there were viveurs of his own sex to see him do it?" man. Alain smiled. "No. Frederic's real nature is an admirable one, and if he ever do anything that he ought to be ashamed of, 'twill be from the pride of showing how finely he can do it. Such was his character at college, and such it still seems at Paris. But it is true that the lady has forsaken her former walk; at least I have not seen her since the day I first beheld her in company with Frederic. Yet yet, pardon me, you were going to the Bois on the chance of seeing her. Perhaps she has changed the direction of her walk, and -and The Marquis stopped short, stammering and confused. The Englishman scanned his countenance with the rapid glance of a practised observer of men and things, and after a short pause said: "If the lady has selected some other spot for her promenade, I am ignorant of it; nor have I even volunteered the chance of meeting with her, since I learned-first from Lemercier, and afterwards from othersthat her destination is the stage. Let us talk frankly, Marquis. I am accustomed to take much exercise on foot, and the Bois is my favourite resort; one day I there found myself in the allée which the But," interposed the Marquis, "he did not ascertain who she was; he only ascertained where she lived, and that she and an elder companion were Italians, whom he suspected, without sufficient ground, to be professional singers." -- "True; but since then I ascertained more detailed particulars from two acquaintances of mine who happen to know her- M. Savarin, the distinguished writer, and Mrs. Morley, an accomplished and beautiful American lady, who is more than an acquaintance. I may boast the honour of ranking among her friends. As Savarin's villa is at A-, I asked him incidentally if he knew the fair neighbour whose face had so attracted me; and Mrs. Morley being present, and overhearing me, I learned from both what I now repeat to you. "The young lady is a Signorina Cicogna — at Paris exchanging (except among particular friends), as is not unusual, the outlandish designation of Signorina for the more conventional one of Mademoiselle. Her father was a member of the noble Milanese family of the same name, therefore the young lady is well born. Her father has been long dead; his widow married again an English gentleman settled in Italy, a scholar and antiquarian ; his name was Selby. This gentleman, also dead, bequeathed the Signorina a |