"That is why they require a licence, I suppose," said Riche. "We only hesitate to believe him when he is speaking the truth." "You are very unkind to rob a poor poet of his character," said Marcel. "Impossible in your case," said Riche laughing. "You have none to lose." "Upon my soul, you will be trying to rob me of my shadow next." "Then we shall begin to believe you without the shadow of a doubt." "Well, gentlemen, what do you say to our all going to bed?" asked Villebois. "Good-night, Monsieur Payot, and may fortune smile on to-morrow's séance. And now, my dear professor," he continued, turning to Delapine, "I am sure that you will need a good rest before you start your task of calling up the spirits from the vasty deep." "Upon my word, I am almost afraid to go to bed," said Marcel, as they passed upstairs to their rooms which were next to each other. "I shall be dreaming of ghosts and goblins all night, and imagining that I see the portraits walking out of their frames." "Believe me you will see more wonderful things than that, my boy, before you are a day older," said Villebois as he shook hands with him. CHAPTER XII THE SEANCE "It is the unexpected which always happens." D'Israeli. "Le passage est bien court de la joie aux douleurs." Victor Hugo. At last the long-looked-for day of the promised séance arrived, and in the evening after dinner Madame Villebois, anxious to carry out Delapine's instructions down to the most minute particular, busied herself in preparing all the details for the arrangement of the room. A sound sleep the previous night had completely restored the good lady's nerves, and the professor's assurance that M. Payot had not the slightest recollection of what had occurred had quite allayed her fears. "My dear, I assure you that Marcel and Payot are now the best of friends," said the doctor, "and everybody is in the best of spirits." "But how could that have possibly been brought about?" asked madame a little dubiously. "Ah, I see you don't know Delapine yet," replied her husband. "He is a marvel. I really believe that he could tame a Bengal tiger with a single gesture, and as for M. Payot, he is just like wax in the professor's hands. You need not have the slightest fear about our friend Marcel either. He has not only forgiven Payot, but has made him positively forget that there ever was a difference between them." Madame merely shrugged her shoulders, but a glance at the beaming face of the poet who happened to enter the room at the moment, entirely reassured her. As for the other members of the house party, needless to say they were all on the tip-toe of expectation, not unmixed in the case of Renée with a certain amount of anxiety. Delapine returned from the Sorbonne rather earlier than usual, in order to see that all the necessary arrangements were made in strict accordance with his wishes.