"I have no idea. The man was probably a political spy, sent here by his government to observe, to discover the cardinal's projects; perhaps to organize a conspiracy against him!"
"Oh! mon Dieu! why, if that's so, his stay in my house might have compromised me!"
"Sandis! I should say so! They would have ended by razing your house. It is great good fortune for you, Dame Cadichard, that that fine spark has bade you adieu!"
"You make me shudder, monsieur le chevalier!"
"As he has decamped, you are no longer in any danger. But, by Roland, I do not bid him adieu! If he is still in Paris, I will find him, and then it will be war to the death between us!—But, with your permission, I will at once install myself, or rather reinstall myself, in the first floor lodging. I will take my repast there.—By the way, Dame Cadichard, I expect a very agreeable young man—very small, but very agreeable for his size. He is a clerk in my solicitor's office; and as I happened to mention before him my desire to replenish my wardrobe entirely, and as quickly as possible, he told me that he had a friend who knew a second-hand dealer amply supplied with clothes of the latest cut. He is to bring him to me here."
"Never fear, monsieur le chevalier, I will send him up to you."
"To the first floor, Dame Cadichard. Don't forget that I have come down. I shall go up again some day, perhaps; it is not safe to swear to anything."
"Oh! Monsieur de Passedix!"
"But that worries me very little.—Six thousand livres a year! Sandis! I used to make conquests galore, but now I shall be overwhelmed with them!"
The chevalier resumed possession of the apartment on the first floor; he stretched himself out luxuriously in an enormous easy-chair that was almost suitable for a bed, and glanced about the room, saying to himself: