"But Desrioux did not turn up, and, whilst I was waiting for him I was cleaned out at roulette and trente-et-quarante. I was, therefore, obliged to set out speedily on my return to Paris, where I found the small-pox on the decline, and Doctor Desrioux in the zenith of his fame, for from chevalier he had just been promoted to be an officer of the Legion of Honour. "And that, my dear fellows, is all that I have to say to you. You see that I have been very close to you. Scarcely four hundred leagues divided us. I do not despair of joining you one day. What I have already done is stupendous! As far as Monte-Carlo! I cannot get over it! Let me come to it by degrees—every year I will manage a few extra kilometres, and, in twenty years' time, I shall be up to a journey worth talking about." MM. de Morin and Périères, like men of honour, or, at all events, adversaries who no longer feared a rival, read to Madame de Guéran the passages in this letter which referred to Dr. Desrioux. CHAPTER XLIV. The intimacy which, since their departure from Paris, had always existed between Madame de Guéran, Miss Poles, and their three fellow-travellers, at Khartoum appeared scarcely so close. The Baroness had expressed a wish to live alone with her companion, and for that purpose had taken a species of little villa on the bank of the Blue River, surrounded by a magnificent garden, and almost hidden by a mass of date and palm trees. Madame de Guéran, however, did not seem to have isolated herself for the sake of peace and quietness. If she did not frequent Khartoum to any great extent, and very rarely left her own domicile, she received, every day, a great number of visitors. Putting aside the English and French Consuls and the various Consular agents, who thought themselves bound to offer her their services, she opened her doors eagerly to every European traveller who expressed a wish to be introduced to her. Nor did she in many cases wait for the expression of such a wish, but sent out her invitations spontaneously. It was in this way that she became acquainted with an English officer, who, after having left Baker south of Gondokoro, was on his way to Cairo to take up an appointment in the service of the Khedive, and, afterwards, with one of the members of the expedition under Lieutenant Cameron, Dr. Dillon, and Mr. Murphy. This traveller had entered Africa by Zanzibar, and had seen the great lakes, but fever had compelled him to return northwards, and he had left his companions.