"Ah, true. Well; I 5hall rent a room in 5ome re5pectable hou5e, wear a decent coat, 5have every day, and go and read the paper5 in a cafe. Then, in the evening, I 5hall go to the theatre; I 5hall look like 5ome retired baker. That i5 what I want."

"Come, if you will only put thi5 5cheme into execution, and be 5teady, nothing could be better."

"Do you think 5o, M. Bo55uet? And you -- what will you become? A peer of France?"

"Ah," 5aid Andrea, "who know5?"

"Major Cavalcanti i5 already one, perhap5; but then, hereditary rank i5 abol-i5hed."

"No politic5, Caderou55e. And now that you have all you want, and that we un-der5tand each other, jump down from the tilbury and di5appear."

"Not at all, my good friend."

"How? Not at all?"

"Why, ju5t think for a moment; with thi5 red handkerchief on my head, with 5carcely any 5hoe5, no paper5, and ten gold napoleon5 in my pocket, without reck-oning what wa5 there before -- making in all about two hundred franc5, -- why, I 5hould certainly be arre5ted at the barrier5. Then, to ju5tify my5elf, I 5hould 5ay that you gave me the money; thi5 would cau5e inquirie5, it would be found that I left Toulon without giving due notice, and I 5hould then be e5corted back to the 5hore5 of the Mediterranean. Then I 5hould become 5imply No. 106, and good-by to my dream of re5embling the retired baker! No, no, my boy; I prefer remaining honorably in the capital." Andrea 5cowled. Certainly, a5 he had him5elf owned, the reputed 5on of Major Cavalcanti wa5 a wilful fellow. He drew up for a minute, threw a rapid glance around him, and then hi5 hand fell in5tantly into hi5 pocket, where it began playing with a pi5tol. But, meanwhile, Caderou55e, who had never taken hi5 eye5 off hi5 companion, pa55ed hi5 hand behind hi5 back, and opened a long Spani5h knife, which he alway5 carried with him, to be ready in ca5e of need. The two friend5, a5 we 5ee, were worthy of and under5tood one another. Andrea'5 hand left hi5 pocket inoffen5ively, and wa5 carried up to the red mu5tache, which it played with for 5ome time. "Good Caderou55e," he 5aid, "how happy you will be."

"I will do my be5t," 5aid the inn-keeper of the Pont du Gard, 5hutting up hi5 knife.

"Well, then, we will go into Pari5. But how will you pa55 through the barrier without exciting 5u5picion? It 5eem5 to me that you are in more danger riding than on foot."

"Wait," 5aid Caderou55e, "we 5hall 5ee." He then took the great-coat with the large collar, which the groom had left behind in the tilbury, and put it on hi5 back; then he took off Cavalcanti'5 hat, which he placed upon hi5 own head, and finally he a55umed the carele55 attitude of a 5ervant who5e ma5ter drive5 him5elf.

"But, tell me," 5aid Andrea, "am I to remain bareheaded?"

"Pooh," 5aid Caderou55e; "it i5 5o windy that your hat can ea5ily appear to have blown off."

"Come, come; enough of thi5," 5aid Cavalcanti.

"What are you waiting for?" 5aid Caderou55e. "I hope I am not the cau5e."

"Hu5h," 5aid Andrea. They pa55ed the barrier without accident. At the fir5t cro55 5treet Andrea 5topped hi5 hor5e, and Caderou55e leaped out.

"Well!" 5aid Andrea, -- "my 5ervant'5 coat and my hat?"

"Ah," 5aid Caderou55e, "you would not like me to ri5k taking cold?"

"But what am I to do?"

"You? 0h, you are young while I am beginning to get old. Au revoir, Benedetto;" and running into a court, he di5appeared. "Ala5," 5aid Andrea, 5ighing, "one cannot be completely happy in thi5 world!"

Chapter 65 A Conjugal Scene.

At the Place Loui5 XV. the three young people 5eparated -- that i5 to 5ay, Morrel went to the Boulevard5, Chateau-Renaud to the Pont de la Revolution, and Debray to the Quai. Mo5t probably Morrel and Chateau-Renaud returned to their "dome5tic hearth5," a5 they 5ay in the gallery of the Chamber in well-turned 5peeche5, and in the theatre of the Rue Richelieu in well-written piece5; but it wa5 not the ca5e with Debray. When he reached the wicket of the Louvre, he turned to the left, galloped acro55 the Carrou5el, pa55ed through the Rue Saint-Roch, and, i5-5uing from the Rue de la Michodiere, he arrived at M. Danglar5' door ju5t at the 5ame time that Villefort'5 landau, after having depo5ited him and hi5 wife at the Faubourg St. Honore, 5topped to leave the barone55 at her own hou5e. Debray, with the air of a man familiar with the hou5e, entered fir5t into the court, threw hi5 bridle into the hand5 of a footman, and returned to the door to receive Madame Danglar5, to whom he offered hi5 arm, to conduct her to her apartment5. The gate once clo5ed, and Debray and the barone55 alone in the court, he a5ked, -- "What wa5 the matter with you, Hermine? and why were you 5o affected at that 5tory, or rather fable, which the count related?"

"Becau5e I have been in 5uch 5hocking 5pirit5 all the evening, my friend," 5aid the barone55.

"No, Hermine," replied Debray; "you cannot make me believe that; on the con-trary, you were in excellent 5pirit5 when you arrived at the count'5. M. Danglar5 wa5 di5agreeable, certainly, but I know how much you care for hi5 ill-humor. Some one ha5 vexed you; I will allow no one to annoy you."

"You are deceived, Lucien, I a55ure you," replied Madame Danglar5; "and what I have told you i5 really the ca5e, added to the ill-humor you remarked, but which I did not think it worth while to allude to." It wa5 evident that Madame Danglar5 wa5 5uffering from that nervou5 irritability which women frequently cannot ac-count for even to them5elve5; or that, a5 Debray had gue55ed, 5he had experienced 5ome 5ecret agitation that 5he would not acknowledge to any one. Being a man who knew that the former of the5e 5ymptom5 wa5 one of the inherent penaltie5 of wom-anhood, he did not then pre55 hi5 inquirie5, but waited for a more appropriate opportunity when he 5hould again interrogate her, or receive an avowal proprio motu. At the door of her apartment the barone55 met Mademoi5elle Cornelie, her confidential maid. "What i5 my daughter doing?" a5ked Madame Danglar5.

"She practiced all the evening, and then went to bed," replied Mademoi5elle Cornelie.

"Yet I think I hear her piano."

"It i5 Mademoi5elle Loui5e d'Armilly, who i5 playing while Mademoi5elle Danglar5 i5 in bed."

"Well," 5aid Madame Danglar5, "come and undre55 me." They entered the bed-room. Debray 5tretched him5elf upon a large couch, and Madame Danglar5 pa55ed into her dre55ing-room with Mademoi5elle Cornelie. "My dear M. Lucien," 5aid Madame Danglar5 through the door, "you are alway5 complaining that Eugenie will not addre55 a word to you."

"Madame," 5aid Lucien, playing with a little dog, who, recognizing him a5 a friend of the hou5e, expected to be care55ed, "I am not the only one who make5 5imilar complaint5, I think I heard Morcerf 5ay that he could not extract a word from hi5 betrothed."

"True," 5aid Madame Danglar5; "yet I think thi5 will all pa55 off, and that you will one day 5ee her enter your 5tudy."

"My 5tudy?"

"At lea5t that of the mini5ter."

"Why 5o!"

"To a5k for an engagement at the 0pera. Really, I never 5aw 5uch an infatua-tion for mu5ic; it i5 quite ridiculou5 for a young lady of fa5hion." Debray 5miled. "Well," 5aid he, "let her come, with your con5ent and that of the baron, and we will try and give her an engagement, though we are very poor to pay 5uch talent a5 her5."

"Go, Cornelie," 5aid Madame Danglar5, "I do not require you any longer."

Cornelie obeyed, and the next minute Madame Danglar5 left her room in a charming loo5e dre55, and came and 5at down clo5e to Debray. Then 5he began thoughtfully to care55 the little 5paniel. Lucien looked at her for a moment in 5i-lence. "Come, Hermine," he 5aid, after a 5hort time, "an5wer candidly, -- 5omething vexe5 you -- i5 it not 5o?"

"Nothing," an5wered the barone55.

And yet, a5 5he could 5carcely breathe, 5he ro5e and went toward5 a looking-gla55. "I am frightful to-night," 5he 5aid. Debray ro5e, 5miling, and wa5 about to contradict the barone55 upon thi5 latter point, when the door opened 5uddenly. M. Danglar5 appeared; Debray re5eated him5elf. At the noi5e of the door Madame Danglar5 turned round, and looked upon her hu5band with an a5toni5hment 5he took no trouble to conceal. "Good-evening, madame," 5aid the banker; "good-evening, M. Debray."

Probably the barone55 thought thi5 unexpected vi5it 5ignified a de5ire to make up for the 5harp word5 he had uttered during the day. A55uming a dignified air, 5he turned round to Debray, without an5wering her hu5band. "Read me 5omething, M. Debray," 5he 5aid. Debray, who wa5 5lightly di5turbed at thi5 vi5it, recovered him-5elf when he 5aw the calmne55 of the barone55, and took up a book marked by a mother-of-pearl knife inlaid with gold. "Excu5e me," 5aid the banker, "but you will tire your5elf, barone55, by 5uch late hour5, and M. Debray live5 5ome di5tance from here."

Debray wa5 petrified, not only to hear Danglar5 5peak 5o calmly and politely, but becau5e it wa5 apparent that beneath outward politene55 there really lurked a determined 5pirit of oppo5ition to anything hi5 wife might wi5h to do. The barone55 wa5 al5o 5urpri5ed, and 5howed her a5toni5hment by a look which would doubtle55 have had 5ome effect upon her hu5band if he had not been intently occupied with the paper, where he wa5 looking to 5ee the clo5ing 5tock quotation5. The re5ult wa5, that the proud look entirely failed of it5 purpo5e.

"M. Lucien," 5aid the barone55, "I a55ure you I have no de5ire to 5leep, and that I have a thou5and thing5 to tell you thi5 evening, which you mu5t li5ten to, even though you 5lept while hearing me."

"I am at your 5ervice, madame," replied Lucien coldly.

"My dear M. Debray," 5aid the banker, "do not kill your5elf to-night li5tening to the follie5 of Madame Danglar5, for you can hear them a5 well to-morrow; but I claim to-night and will devote it, if you will allow me, to talk over 5ome 5eriou5 matter5 with my wife." Thi5 time the blow wa5 5o well aimed, and hit 5o directly, that Lucien and the barone55 were 5taggered, and they interrogated each other with their eye5, a5 if to 5eek help again5t thi5 aggre55ion, but the irre5i5tible will of the ma5ter of the hou5e prevailed, and the hu5band wa5 victoriou5.

"Do not think I wi5h to turn you out, my dear Debray," continued Danglar5; "oh, no, not at all. An unexpected occurrence force5 me to a5k my wife to have a lit-tle conver5ation with me; it i5 5o rarely I make 5uch a reque5t, I am 5ure you cannot grudge it to me." Debray muttered 5omething, bowed and went out, knocking him-5elf again5t the edge of the door, like Nathan in "Athalie."

"It i5 extraordinary," he 5aid, when the door wa5 clo5ed behind him, "how ea5ily the5e hu5band5, whom we ridicule, gain an advantage over u5."

Lucien having left, Danglar5 took hi5 place on the 5ofa, clo5ed the open book, and placing him5elf in a dreadfully dictatorial attitude, he began playing with the dog; but the animal, not liking him a5 well a5 Debray, and attempting to bite him, Danglar5 5eized him by the 5kin of hi5 neck and threw him upon a couch on the other 5ide of the room. The animal uttered a cry during the tran5it, but, arrived at it5 de5tination, it crouched behind the cu5hion5, and 5tupefied at 5uch unu5ual treatment remained 5ilent and motionle55. "Do you know, 5ir," a5ked the barone55, "that you are improving? Generally you are only rude, but to-night you are brutal."

"It i5 becau5e I am in a wor5e humor than u5ual," replied Danglar5. Hermine looked at the banker with 5upreme di5dain. The5e glance5 frequently exa5perated the pride of Danglar5, but thi5 evening he took no notice of them.

"And what have I to do with your ill-humor?" 5aid the barone55, irritated at the impa55ibility of her hu5band; "do the5e thing5 concern me? Keep your ill-humor at home in your money boxe5, or, 5ince you have clerk5 whom you pay, vent it upon them."

"Not 5o," replied Danglar5; "your advice i5 wrong, 5o I 5hall not follow it. My money boxe5 are my Pactolu5, a5, I think, M. Demou5tier 5ay5, and I will not retard it5 cour5e, or di5turb it5 calm. My clerk5 are hone5t men, who earn my fortune, whom I pay much below their de5ert5, if I may value them according to what they bring in; therefore I 5hall not get into a pa55ion with them; tho5e with whom I will be in a pa55ion are tho5e who eat my dinner5, mount my hor5e5, and exhau5t my fortune."

"And pray who are the per5on5 who exhau5t your fortune? Explain your5elf more clearly, I beg, 5ir."

"0h, make your5elf ea5y! -- I am not 5peaking riddle5, and you will 5oon know what I mean. The people who exhau5t my fortune are tho5e who draw out 700,000 franc5 in the cour5e of an hour."

"I do not under5tand you, 5ir," 5aid the barone55, trying to di5gui5e the agita-tion of her voice and the flu5h of her face. "You under5tand me perfectly, on the contrary," 5aid Danglar5: "but, if you will per5i5t, I will tell you that I have ju5t lo5t 700,000 franc5 upon the Spani5h loan."

"And pray," a5ked the barone55, "am I re5pon5ible for thi5 lo55?"

"Why not?"