"MY DEAREST JULIE:--The child arrives this evening. I shall be at your house to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. We haven't a minute to lose. Notify a certain person at once. We must come to a full understanding without delay. Silence and prudence, "L. DE L. R." The baroness addressed this note to-- _Madame la Vicomtesse de Mirecourt._ Then, calling her maid, and handing her the missive, she said: "While we are at table you must take this to Madame de Mirecourt. You will take a box with you when you go out, as if you were going on an errand." Almost at the same moment the baron was affixing his signature to the following note: "M. de la Rochaigue begs that M. le Baron de Ravil will see him to-morrow at his house between one and two o'clock in the afternoon. The matter is urgent. "M. de la Rochaigue counts upon seeing M. de Ravil at the time and place named, and assures him of his most distinguished consideration." The baron addressed this note to-- _M. le Baron de Ravil,_ _No. 7 Rue Godot-de-Mauroy._ Then he said to his valet: "Call some one to post this letter at once." And last, but not least, Mlle. Helena, after taking the same precautions as the baron and baroness, penned the following note: * * * * * "MY DEAR ABBE:--Do not fail to call to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. "May God be with you. The hour has come. "Pray for me as I pray for you. "H. DE L. R." * * * * * This note Helena addressed to-- _M. l' Abbe Ledoux,_ _Rue de la Plaushe._ CHAPTER XV. A GLORIOUS DREAM. On the day following this conference in the Rochaigue family, three important scenes took place in the homes of as many different persons. The first occurred in the house of Abbe Ledoux, the priest we saw administering the last sacrament to Madame de Beaumesnil. The abbe was a small man, with an insinuating smile, a sharp, penetrating eye, ruddy complexion, and gray hair. He was pacing his bedroom in a restless, agitated manner, glancing every now and then at the clock, and seemed to be waiting for some one. Suddenly the sound of the door-bell was heard; the door opened, and a servant, who looked very much like a sacristan, announced: "M. Celestin de Macreuse." This pious founder of the St. Polycarpe mission was a tall, rather stout young man with excellent manners, rather faded light hair, regular features, and fine complexion. In fact, he might easily have passed for a handsome man, had it not been for the expression of treacherous sweetness and extreme self-complacency that characterised his countenance. When he entered the room M. de Macreuse kissed Abbe Ledoux in a Christianlike manner on both cheeks, and the abbe returned the salute in the same apostolic fashion. "You have no idea how impatiently I have been waiting for you, my dear Celestin," he said.