"Very good, monsieur," continued the old servant, bowing courteously, evidently very glad of an opportunity to be polite and hospitable without violating his orders. "Monsieur le marquis did not think that you would come so soon; he did not expect you before to-morrow at the earliest. He is in his park, _I will run_ and tell him. But first I shall have the honor to escort you to the salon." When he talked of running, the old man uttered a strange boast; he had the gait and the agility of a centenarian. He led Emile to the low, narrow doorway of a stairway turret, and slowly selecting a key from his bunch preceded him upstairs to another door studded with great nails and locked like the first. Another key; and, after passing through a long corridor, a third key to open the apartments. Emile was taken through several rooms, where the contrast to the bright sunlight was so great that he seemed to be in utter darkness. At last he entered a vast salon and the valet waved him to a chair, saying: "Does monsieur wish me to open the blinds?" Emile made him understand by signs that it was useless, and the old man left him alone. When his eyes became accustomed to the dim grayish light that crept into that room, he was struck by the sumptuous character of the furniture. Everything dated from the time of Louis XIII. and one would have said that a connoisseur had guided the selection of even the least important articles. Nothing was lacking; from the frames of the mirrors to the tiniest nail in the hangings, there was not the slightest departure from the prevailing style. And it was all authentic, partly worn, still in good condition, although somewhat tarnished, at once rich and simple. Emile admired Monsieur de Boisguilbault's good taste and knowledge. He learned later that the disinclination to move and the horror of change, which seemed hereditary in that family, were alone responsible for the marvellous preservation and transmission from father to son of these treasures, which it is the present fashion to collect at great expense in _bric-à-brac_ shops, which are to-day the most sumptuous and interesting places imaginable.