Then we rang up a house-agent, to learn that he had no unfurnished villa "to let" upon his books. He added gratuitously that, except for a ruined château upon the other side of Tarbes, he had nothing "for sale" either. So soon as we had recovered, we returned to the charge... The third agent we addressed was not quite certain. There was, he said, a house in the town--_très solids, très serieuse, dans un quartier chic_. It would, he thought, be to our liking. It had, for instance, _une salle de fête superbe_. He was not sure, however, that it was still available. A French gentleman was much attracted, and had visited it three times. We were greatly disgusted and said so. We did not want a house in the town. We wanted.... Finally we succumbed to his entreaties and promised to view the villa, if it was still in the market. He was to ring us up in ten minutes' time.... So it happened that half an hour later we were standing curiously before the great iron gates of a broad shuttered mansion in the Rue Mazagran, Pau, while the agent was alternately pealing the bell for the caretaker and making encouraging gestures in our direction. Viewed from without, the villa was not unpleasing. It looked extremely well-built, it stood back from the pavement, it had plenty of elbow room. The street itself was as silent as the tomb. Perhaps, if we could find nothing else.... We began to wonder whether you could see the mountains from the second floor. At last a caretaker appeared, I whistled to Nobby, and we passed up a short well-kept drive. A moment later we had left the sunlight behind and had entered a huge dim hall. "Damp," said Berry instantly, sniffing the air. "Damp for a monkey. I can smell the good red earth." Daphne sniffed thoughtfully. "I don't think so," she said. "When a house has been shut up like this, it's bound to----" "It's wonderful," said her husband, "what you can't smell when you don't want to. Never mind. If you want to live over water, I don't care. But don't say I didn't warn you. Besides, it'll save us money. We can grow moss on the floors instead of carpets." "It does smell damp," said Adèle, "but there's central heating. See?" She pointed to a huge radiator. "If that works as it should, it'll make your carpets fade." Berry shrugged his shoulders. "I see what it is," he said. "You two girls have scented cupboards. I never yet knew a woman who could resist cupboards. In a woman's eyes a superfluity of cupboards can transform the most poisonous habitation into a desirable residence. If you asked a woman what was the use of a staircase, she'd say, 'To put cupboards under.'" By now the shutters had been opened, and we were able to see about us. As we were glancing round, the caretaker shuffled to a door beneath the stairs. "Here is a magnificent cupboard," she announced. "There are many others."