“Go and bring the concierge to me; if he is not downstairs, you will find him in the garden.”
The concierge speedily obeyed his new mistress’s summons.
“First of all, what is your name? I have forgotten it.”
“Thomasseau, madame, at your service.”
“Tell me, Thomasseau, do you know this country well?”
“Like my pocket, madame.”
“There was a house, belonging to one Monsieur Courtivaux, which was purchased by a lady a few months ago?”
“Yes, yes—by Madame Dalmont; she took Poucette, Guillot’s niece, into her service.”
“That’s the very one; and she has a young woman with her——”
“Mamzelle Agathe—a fine slip of a girl!”