gowned in black and spare of figure, with a leaden complexion, scanty hair of no precise color, and a big nose of unusual prominence.  With her low, drawling speech, her prudent, cat-like gestures, and her sour smile, he divined her to be a dangerous, unscrupulous woman.  She told him that, as the accommodation at her disposal was so small, she only took boarders for a limited time, and this of course enabled him to curtail his inquiries.  Glad to have done with her, he hurried off, oppressed by nausea and vaguely frightened by what he had seen of the place.

On the other hand, Madame Bourdieu’s establishment, a little three-storied house in the Rue de Miromesnil, between the Rue La Boetie and the Rue de Penthievre, offered an engaging aspect, with its bright facade and muslin-curtained windows.  And Madame Bourdieu, then two-and-thirty, rather short and stout, had a broad, pleasant white face, which had greatly helped her on the road to success.  She expatiated to Mathieu on the preliminary training that was required by one of her profession, the cost of it, the efforts needed to make a position, the responsibilities, the inspections, the worries of all sorts that she had to face; and she plainly told the young man that her charge for a boarder would be two hundred francs a month.  This was far more than he was empowered to give; however, after some further conversation, when Madame Bourdieu learnt that it was a question of four months’ board, she became more accommodating, and agreed to accept a round sum of six hundred francs for the entire period, provided that the person for whom Mathieu was acting would consent to occupy a three-bedded room with two other boarders.

Altogether there were about a dozen boarders’ rooms in the house, some of these having three, and even four, beds; while others, the terms for which were naturally higher, contained but one.  Madame Bourdieu could accommodate as many as thirty boarders, and as a rule, she had some five-and-twenty staying on her premises.  Provided they complied with the regulations, no questions were asked them.  They were not required to say who they were or whence they came, and in most cases they were merely known by some Christian name which they chose to give.

Mathieu ended by agreeing to Madame Bourdieu’s terms, and that same evening Norine was taken to her establishment.  Some little trouble ensued with Beauchene, who protested when he learnt that five hundred francs would not suffice to defray the expenses.  However, Mathieu managed affairs so diplomatically that at last the other not only became reconciled to the terms, but provided the money to purchase a little linen, and even agreed to supply pocket-money to the extent of ten francs a month.  Thus, five days after Norine had entered Madame Bourdieu’s establishment, Mathieu decided to return thither to hand the girl her first ten francs and tell her that he had settled everything.