"Monsieur then wishes a
lodging?"
"I should like to look at yours."
"You understand, monsieur," he explained, "that this is a good
quarter, and our rooms are not at all the ordinar' rooms--oh, no, they
are quite superior to that. They are in great demand--we have only one
vacant at this moment--in fact, I am not certain that it is yet at
liberty. I will call my wife."
She was summoned from behind the counter, where she presided at the
money-drawer, and presented to me as Madame Jourdain. I filled a glass
for her.
"Monsieur, here, is seeking a lodging," he began. "Is the one on the
second floor, back, at our disposal yet, Celie?"
His wife pondered the question a moment, looking at me with sharp
little eyes.
"I do not know," she said at last. "We shall have to ask Monsieur
Bethune. He said he might again have need of it. He has paid for it
until the fifteenth."
My heart leaped at the name. I saw that I must take the bull by the
horns--assume a bold front; for if they waited to consult my pursuer,
I should never gain the information I was seeking.
"It was through Monsieur Bethune that I secured your address," I said
boldly. "He was taken ill this morning; his heart, you know," and I
tapped my chest.
They nodded, looking at me, nevertheless, with eyes narrow with
suspicion.
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