"I know it, but I can't get rid of him. I think he's got something in hand, for little Tortillard came here the other night along with Barbillon. I'm afraid he'll do something to my lodgers, so, when his fortnight is up, I shall bundle him, telling him his room is taken for an ambassador, or the husband of Madame Saint-Ildefonse, my independent lady." "An independent lady?" "I believe you! Three rooms and a cabinet in the front,--nothing less,--newly furnished, to say nothing of an attic for her servant. Eighty francs a month, and paid in advance by her uncle, to whom she gives one of her spare rooms when he comes up from the country. But I believe his country-house is about the Rue Vivienne, or the Rue St. Honore." "I twig! She's independent because the old fellow pays." "Hush! Here's her maid." A middle-aged woman, wearing a white apron of very doubtful cleanliness, entered the dealer's warehouse. "What can I do for you, Madame Charles?" "Father Micou, is your nephew within?" "He has gone to the post-office; but I expect him in immediately." "M. Badinot wishes him to take this letter to its address instantly. There's no answer, but it is in great haste." "In a quarter of an hour he will be on his way thither, madame." "He must make great haste." "He shall, be assured." The servant went away. "Is she the maid of one of your lodgers, Father Micou?" "She is the _bonne_ of my independent lady, Madame Saint-Ildefonse. But M. Badinot is her uncle; he came from the country yesterday," said the respectable Micou, who was looking at the letter, and then added, reading the address, "Look, now, what grand acquaintances! Why, I told you they were high folks; he writes to a viscount." "Oh, bah!" "See here, then, 'To Monsieur the Vicomte de Saint-Remy, Rue de Chaillot. In great haste. Private.' I hope, when we lodge independent persons who have uncles who write to viscounts, we may allow some few of our other lodgers higher up in the house to be without passports, eh?" "I believe you. Well, then, Father Micou, we shall soon be back. I shall fasten my dog and cart to your door, and carry what I have; so be ready with the goods and the money, so that I may cut at once." "I'll be ready. Four good iron plates, each two feet square, three bars of iron two feet long, and two hinges for your valve. This valve seems very odd to me; but it's no affair of mine. Is that all?" "Yes, and my money?" "Oh, you shall have your money. But now I look at you in the light--now I get a good view of you--" "Well?" "I don't know--but you seem as if something was the matter." "I do?" "Yes." "Oh, nonsense! If anything ails me it is that I'm hungry." "You're hungry? Like enough; but it rather looks as if you wanted to appear very lively, whilst all the while there's something that worries you; and it must be _something_, for it ain't a trifle that puts you out." "I tell you you're mistaken, Father Micou," said Nicholas, shuddering.