Several of these persons also recollected the curiosity that had been expressed in regard to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, who was then in a foreign land, and whom no one had ever seen, so a majority of Madame Mirecourt's guests would consequently witness to-night the solution of the problem propounded several weeks before. Was the richest heiress in France as beautiful as a star or as hideous as a monster? Was she glowing with health or a hopeless consumptive? It was ten o'clock, and Madame de Mirecourt was becoming very uneasy. Madame de Senneterre and her son had not made their appearance; Mlle. de Beaumesnil might arrive at any moment, and it had been arranged that Ernestine should be chaperoned by Madame de la Rochaigue or Madame de Senneterre the entire evening, and that Gerald should dance the first quadrille with the heiress. Every minute the crowd increased. Among the newcomers, M. de Mornand, accompanied by M. de Ravil, advanced in the most disinterested air imaginable to pay his respects to Madame de Mirecourt, who greeted him very graciously, and innocently remarked, without the slightest suspicion how true her words were: "I am sure you came partially to see me, but chiefly to see the lioness of the evening, Mlle. de Beaumesnil." The prospective minister smiled as he replied, with truly diplomatic guile: "I assure you, madame, I came only to have the honour of paying my respects to you, and to witness one of those charming fetes you alone know how to give." After which M. de Mornand made his best bow and passed on, whispering to Ravil: "Go and see if she is in one of the other rooms. I will remain here. Try to bring the baron to me if you see him." De Ravil nodded an assent to his Pylades and mingled with the crowd, saying to himself, as he thought of the meeting of the day before, which he had carefully refrained from mentioning to M. de Mornand: "So here is an heiress who wanders about lonely parts of the town, grisette fashion, and then returns to that abominable Madame Laine, who is complacently waiting for her in a cab. This last surprises me very little, however, as that unscrupulous female told me flatly, a week or so ago, that I could no longer count upon her influence. But at whose expense is she favouring this intrigue on the part of the little Beaumesnil? for there must be an intrigue, of course. That big ninny of a Mornand is no good. I might have known it. I must ferret out the truth of all this, for the more I think of it, the more convinced I am that the best thing for me to do is to drop Mornand, and devote my attention to the goose that lays the golden eggs, and, as a preliminary measure, I'll watch what goes on here this evening." Just as the cynic vanished in the crowd, the Duchesse de Senneterre entered the room, but alone--her expression indicative of the deepest annoyance.