"I'll  join  you  in  an  instant,"  said  Du-
chesne, as  he  left  the  room  hastily  after
the  waiter.  In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  was
back  again.  "  Come  along,  it's  all  right,"
said  he.  "I  wish  to  show  you  a  corner  of
the  old  house  that  only  the  privileged  ever
see,  and  we  are  fortunate  in  finding  it  un-
occupied. "

We  recrossed  the  court,  and  mounted  a
large  oak  stair  to  a  corridor,  winch  con-
ducted us,  by  three  sides  of  a  quadrangle,
to  a  smaller  stair,  nearly  perpendicular.
At  the  top  of  this,  a  strong  door,  barred
and  padlocked,  stood,  which,  being  opened,
led  into  a  large  and  lofty  salon,  opening
by  three  spacious  windows  on  a  terrace
that  formed  the  roof  of  the  building:
Some  citron  and  orange-trees  were  disposed
tastefully  along  this,  and  filled  the  room
with  their  fragrance.
