"A lady who lodged here many years ago,—how many?"
"Well, I guess somewhere about twenty."
"Ah, indeed! Was it a Madame Marigny?"
"Bon Dieu! That was indeed her name. Did you know her? I should be so glad to hear she is well and—I hope—happy."
"I do not know where she is now, and am making inquiries to ascertain.
Pray help me. How long did Madame Marigny lodge with you?"
"I think pretty well two months; yes, two months. She left a month after her confinement."
"She was confined here?"
"Yes. When she first came, I had no idea that she was enceinte. She had a pretty figure, and no one would have guessed it, in the way she wore her shawl. Indeed I only began to suspect it a few days before it happened; and that was so suddenly, that all was happily over before we could send for the accoucheur."
"And the child lived?—a girl or a boy?"
"A girl,—the prettiest baby."