The notary judged it proper not to allow such a joke to be made by a marquis without laughing, and murmuring "Ah, good! very good!" Then, making a direct answer, he said:-- "I was at the château de la Logerie very late, having been there to carry some money to Madame la baronne on an order I did not receive till two in the afternoon. I was coming back on foot, as I usually do, when I heard noises of evil portent in the forest, which confirmed what I already knew of a riot at Montaigu. I feared, if I went any farther, that I might meet the soldiers of the Duc d'Orléans; and to avoid that unpleasantness I thought that M. le marquis would deign to let me lodge here for the night." At the mention of la Logerie Mary and Bertha raised their heads like two horses who hear from afar and suddenly the sound of the bugle. "Oh! you have come from la Logerie, have you?" said the marquis. "Yes, as I have just had the honor of mentioning to Monsieur le marquis," replied Maître Loriot. "Well! well! well! We have had another visitor from la Logerie this evening." "The young baron, perhaps?" suggested the notary. "Yes." "I am looking for him." "Loriot," said the marquis, "I am astonished to hear you--a man whose principles I have always considered sound--to hear you prostituting a title which you habitually respect by attaching it to the name of those Michels." As the marquis uttered this remark with an air of superb disdain Bertha turned crimson and Mary turned pale. The impression produced by his words was lost upon the old gentleman, but it did not escape the little gray eye of the notary. He was about to speak when Monsieur de Souday made a sign with his hand that he had not finished his remarks. "And I wish to know why you, my old crony," he continued, "whom we have always treated well and kindly, why you think it necessary to put forward a subterfuge in order to enter my house." "Monsieur le marquis!" stammered Loriot. "You came here to look for young Michel, didn't you? That's all very well, but why lie about it?" "I beg Monsieur le marquis to accept my most humble excuses. The mother of the young man, whom I have been obliged to accept as a client, being a legacy with the practice of my predecessor, is very anxious. Her son got out of a window on the second story at the risk of breaking his neck, and in defiance of her maternal wishes he has run away; consequently Madame Michel requests me--" "Ha! ha!" cried the marquis, "did he really do that?" "Literally, Monsieur le marquis." "Well, that reconciles me to him,--not perhaps altogether, but somewhat." "If Monsieur le marquis would indicate to me where I am likely to find the young man," said Loriot, "I could take him back to his mother." "As for that, the devil knows where he has taken himself, I don't! Do you know, girls?" asked the marquis, turning to his daughters. Bertha and Mary both made signs in the negative.