"Rue Verte, No. 12," I said to my cabman.—Oh! Rosette, what a dance you were leading me! But, no matter! As I had begun, I would persevere to the end.
"Madame Dumarteau?" I said to the concierge.
"Sixth floor, door at the left."
Sixth floor! I would have bet on it! And this was only the fourth aunt! What fate was in store for me?
I knocked at Madame Dumarteau's door, as she had no bell. A woman of some fifty years, with a morose face, half opened the door, and asked in a hoarse voice:
"What do you want?"
"Madame Dumarteau."
"I have come to see Mademoiselle Rosette, from——"
"Mamzelle Rosette ain't here."