Part 20 (1/2)

She bobbed me a dainty curtsy, and I could only try and hide the pain which this last cruel stab had inflicted on my heart So she was not ”Made to indulge in dreams of her

But the ten thousand francs crackled pleasantly in my breast pocket, and when I finally took leave of Monsieur Aristide Fournier and his charly happy ave me Of what he suspected me I do not know, or if he suspected me at all He certainly must have known about fat Maiven us coffee at Mijoux

But he never mentioned the subject to ht To one of his colleagues he once said that no words in his vocabulary could possibly be adequate to express his feelings

CHAPTER VI

HONOUR AMONG ------

1

Ah, h to despise our profession, but believe me that all the finer qualities--those of loyalty and of truth--are essential, not only to us, but to our subordinates, if we are to succeed in ive you an instance Here was I, Hector Ratichon, settled in Paris in that eventful year 1816 which saw the new order of things finally swept aside and the old order resu our God-given King Louis XVIII, as poor as the proverbial church ry dog is for a bone; the year which saw the army disbanded and hordes of une disconsolate and half starved through the country seeking in vain for some means of livelihood, while the Allied troops, well fed and well clothed, stalked about as if the sacred soil of France was sowhich ues were hatched and more plots concocted than in any previous century in the whole history of France We were all trying to make money, since there was so precious little of it about Those of us who had brains succeeded, and then not always

Now, I had brains--I do not boast of theood looks, too, and a general air of strength, coupled with refine help and advice, and willing to pay for both, and yet--but you shall judge

You know my office in the Rue Daunou, you have been in it--plainly furnished; but, as I said, these were not days of luxury There was an antechamber, too, where that traitor, blackmailer and thief, Theodore, ed at my expense and kept importunate clients at bay for as undoubtedly a liberal salary--ten per cent, on all the profits of the business--and yet he was always corateful, avaricious brute!

Well, Sir, on that day in September--it was the tenth, I rely dejected Not one client for the last three weeks, half a franc inpatty in the larder Theodore had eaten most of it, and I had just sent him out to buy two sous' worth of stale bread ith to finish the remainder

But after that? You will admit, Sir, that a less buoyant spirit would not have re that lout Theodore inwardly, for he had been gone half an hour, and I strongly suspected hilass of absinthe, when there was a ring at the door, and I, Hector Ratichon, the confidant of kings and intidoo and open the door just like a coreeted my eyes fully compensated me for the teentleman who had wealth written plainly upon his fine clothes, upon the dainty linen at his throat and wrists, upon the quality of his rich satin necktie and the perfect set of his fine cloth pantaloons, which were of an exquisite shade of dove-grey When, then, the apparition spoke, inquiring with just a sufficiency of aristocratic hauteur whether M

Hector Ratichon were in, you cannot be surprised, my dear Sir, that my dejection fell from me like a cast-off mantle and that all my usual urbanity of entleged hih into my office

This he did, and I placed a chair in position for hiraceful sweep of his lace-edged handkerchief Then he raised a gold-riant gesture, and surveyed me critically for a ood M Ratichon, that you are a trustworthy fellow, and one who is willing to undertake a delicate piece of business for a moderate honorarium”

Except for the fact that I did not like the word ”moderate,” I was enchanted with him

”Rumour for once has not lied, Monsieur,” I replied in my most attractive manner

”Well,” he rejoined--I won't say curtly, but with businesslike brevity, ”for all purposes connected with the affair which I desire to treat with you my name, as far as you are concerned, shall be Jean Duval Understand?”

”Perfectly, Monsieur le Marquis,” I replied with a bland suess, but I don't think that I underestimated my new client's rank, for he did not wince

”You know Mlle Mars?” he queried

”The actress?” I replied ”Perfectly”

”She is playing in _Le Reve_ at the Theatre Royal just now”