and change of scene will be favorable to him.  I shall take him first to Nice; we set out tomorrow.  If he wishes to prolong this excursion.  I shall do so too, for my affairs do not imperiously demand my presence in Paris before the end of March.  As for the service I have to ask of you, it is conditional.  These are the facts.  According to some family papers that belonged to my mother, it seems I have a certain interest to present myself at No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, in Paris, on the 13th of February.  I had inquired about it, and could learn nothing, except that this house of very antique appearance, has been shut up for the last hundred and fifty years, through a whim of one of my maternal ancestors, and that it is to be opened on the 13th of this month, in presence of the co-heirs who, if I have any, are quite unknown to me.  Not being able to attend myself, I have written to my foreman, the father of General Simon, in whom I have the greatest confidence, and whom I had left behind in the department of the Creuse, to set out for Paris, and to be present at the opening of this house, not as an agent (which would be useless), but as a spectator, and inform me at Nice what has been the result of this romantic notion of my ancestor’s.  As it is possible that my foreman may arrive too late to accomplish this mission, I should be much obliged if you would inquire at my house at Plessy, if he has yet come, and, in case of his still being absent, if you would take his place at the opening of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois.  I believe that I have made a very small sacrifice for my friend Bressac, in not being in Paris on that day.  But had the sacrifice been immense, I should have made it with pleasure, for my care and friendship are at present most necessary to the man whom I look upon as a brother.  I count upon your compliance with my request, and, begging you to be kind enough to write me, ‘to be called for,’ at Nice, the result of your visit of inquiry, I remain, etc., etc.

“Francis Hardy.”

“Though his presence cannot be of any great importance, it would be preferable that Marshal Simon’s father should not attend at the opening of this house to-morrow,” said Father d’Aigrigny.  “But no matter.  M. Hardy himself is out of the way.  There only remains the young Indian.”

“As for him,” continued the abbe, with a thoughtful air, “we acted wisely in letting M. Norval set out with the presents of Mdlle. de Cardoville.  The doctor who accompanies M. Norval, and who was chosen by M. Baleinier, will inspire no suspicion?”

“None,” answered Rodin.  “His letter of yesterday is completely satisfactory.”

“There is nothing, then, to fear from the Indian prince,” said D’Aigrigny.  “All goes well.”

“As for Gabriel,” resumed Rodin, “he has again written this morning, to obtain from your reverence the interview that he has vainly solicited for the last three days.  He is affected by the rigor exercised towards him, in forbidding him to leave the house for these five days past.”