"M.

Verminet," cried he, "has a client with him just now.

He begs that you will excuse him for a few minutes, when he will see you;" and evidently anxious to be civil to the gorgeously attired youths before him, he added, "My master is just now engaged with M.de Croisenois." "Aha," cried Gaston; "I will lay you ten to one that the dear Marquis will be delighted to see me." Andre started on hearing this name, and his cheek crimsoned.

The man whom he most hated in this world; the wretch who, by his possession of some compromising secret, was forcing Sabine into a detested marriage; the villain whom he, M.de Breulh, and Madame de Bois Arden had sworn to overreach, was within a few paces of him, and that now he should see him face to face.

Their eyes would meet, and he would hear the tones of the scoundrel's voice.