place, and was accepted.  By his well-earned salary he supported himself and his father; and began, with the sanguine hopes of a young man, to flatter himself that he should soon be rich enough to marry, and that then he might declare his attachment to Victoire.  Notwithstanding all his boasted prudence, he had betrayed sufficient symptoms of his passion to have rendered a declaration unnecessary to any clear-sighted observer:  but Victoire was not thinking of conquests; she was wholly occupied with a scheme of earning a certain sum of money for her benefactress, who was now, as she feared, in want.  All Madame de Fleury’s former pupils contributed their share to the common stock; and the mantua-maker, the confectioner, the servants of different sorts, who had been educated at her school, had laid by, during the years of her banishment, an annual portion of their wages and savings:  with the sum which Victoire now added to the fund, it amounted to ten thousand livres.  The person who undertook to carry this money to Madame de Fleury, was Francois, her former footman, who had procured a pass to go to England as a hairdresser.  The night before he set out was a happy night for Victoire, as all her companions met, by Madame Feuillot’s invitation, at her house; and after tea they had the pleasure of packing up the little box, in which each, besides the money, sent some token their gratitude, and some proof of their ingenuity.  They would with all their hearts have sent twice as many souvenirs as Francois could carry.

“D’abord c’est impossible!” cried he, when he saw the box that was prepared for him to carry to England:  but his good nature was unable to resist the entreaties of each to have her offering carried, “which would take up no room.”

He departed—­arrived safe in England—­found out Madame de Fleury, who was in real distress, in obscure lodgings at Richmond.  He delivered the money, and all the presents of which he had taken charge:  but the person to whom she entrusted a letter, in answer to Victoire, was not so punctual, or was more unlucky:  for the letter never reached her, and she and her companions were long uncertain whether their little treasure had been received.  They still continued, however, with indefatigable gratitude, to lay by a portion of their earnings for their benefactress; and the pleasure they had in this perseverance made them more than amends for the loss of some little amusements, and for privations to which they submitted in consequence of their resolution.

In the meantime, Basile, going on steadily with his employments, advanced every day in the favour of his master, and his salary was increased in proportion to his abilities and industry; so that he thought he could now, without any imprudence, marry.  He consulted his father, who approved of his choice; he consulted Maurice as to the probability of his being accepted by Victoire; and encouraged by both his father and his friend, he was upon the eve of