"Yes, madame. The first and the third floor, and two separate rooms."
"The first floor would be too dear for me, I fear. The third would probably suit me better. What do you ask for it?"
"Six hundred francs, madame. That is the lowest, for it has just been freshly done up."
"How many rooms are there?"
"A kitchen, a small dining-room, a parlour, a large bedchamber with a big dressing-room, and another small room that would do for a servant. If madame will go up-stairs, she can see for herself."
"I would first like to know who lives in the house. I am a widow and live alone, so you can understand why I ask this question."
"Certainly, madame. The house is very respectable and extremely quiet. The first floor is not occupied, as I told you. A professor in the law school, a highly respectable man, lives on the second floor. He has a wife but no children. The third floor is the one I offered to madame. On the fourth floor there are two small rooms which are occupied by a young man. When I say a young man I don't exactly mean that, however, for M. Michel Renaud must be about thirty."
On hearing the name of Michel Renaud, the young woman, in spite of her self-control, turned first red and then pale, a sad smile flitted across her lips, and her large black eyes gleamed more brightly under their long lashes; but, conquering her emotion, she replied calmly and with a well-feigned air of indifference:
"And the rooms on the third floor are directly under those occupied by this gentleman, I suppose?"
"Yes, madame."