My Library

the least. He admitted that there was such a room, and such a dark chamber, au troisième. Yet how the man knew it, was very strange, considering that he had been in the house but a short time, and had not left us for a moment, nor spoken a single word to any of the servants, save on entering, to inquire if this was the Baron’s residence. “Scarcely had we recovered from the surprise natural on such an occasion, than we were again made sensible that we were dealing with an extraordinary man, for, turning to me, he begged the loan of a small metallic coin which I had received as a present from Mr. Carr less than ten minutes before Vatterale entered the house, and which coin was remarkably curious and valuable on account of its high antiquity, and it was one of the only two known to be in existence, and had been begged for me by Mr. Carr, from his friend Blaise de Jongé, the celebrated Eastern traveller, and had only been sent in a note to Mr. Carr, by that eminent savant, the night previous. Having received the coin, Vatterale placed it in his pocket, and then taking out a set of ivory tablets, wrote a request thereon, and handed it to Madame la Marquise de la Fronde, an elderly lady, foster sister to the Baron. The request was altogether so singular and so novel, that the old lady immediately read it aloud: ‘Will Madame la Marquise have the goodness to retire to the alcove and remove from