"Let the small van be placed at M.Faucheux's disposal," she said.

The jeweler bowed and left the house, directing that the van should follow him closely, saying aloud, that the marquise was about to have her plate melted down in order to have other plate manufactured of a more modern style.

Three hours afterwards she went to M.Faucheux's house and received from him eight hundred francs in gold inclosed in a chest, which one of the clerks could hardly carry towards Madame Faucheux's carriage--for Madame Faucheux kept her carriage.

As the daughter of a president of accounts, she had brought a marriage portion of thirty thousand crowns to her husband, who was syndic of the goldsmiths.

These thirty thousand crowns had become very fruitful during twenty years.