9." "Very good; at four o'clock; and if, as I doubt not, the result of my inquiry is favorable, I will take your money then.

Otherwise, if there are not good grounds for your application for the prize of virtue there will be no reason why you should make a mystery of your legacy.

You could then invest it in some more normal manner than that I have suggested to you." "Oh! how cautious monsieur is!" she said, with evident disappointment, having thought the affair settled.

"This money, God be thanked! I have not stolen, and monsieur can make what inquiries he likes about me in the quarter." "It is quite indispensable that I should do so," said la Peyrade, dryly, for he did not at all like, under this mask of simplicity, the quick intelligence that penetrated his thoughts.

"Without being a thief, a woman may very well not be a Sister of Charity; there's a wide margin between the two extremes." "As monsieur chooses," she replied; "he is doing me so great a service that I ought to let him take all precautions." Then, with a piously humble bow, she went away, taking her money with her.
"The devil!" thought la Peyrade; "that woman is stronger than I; she swallows insults with gratitude and without the sign of a grimace! I have never yet been able to master myself like that." He began now to fear that he had been too timid, and to think that his would-be creditor might change her mind before he could pay her the visit he had promised.