"Thank you, monsieur," replied Chupin, gravely. "I inquired,
because I think of buying a house "And repeating the name of
Trigault several times to impress it upon his memory he darted off
on his errand.
It might be supposed that his unexpected success had delighted
him, but, on the contrary, it rendered him even more exacting.
The letter he carried burned his pocket like a red-hot iron.
"Madame Paul," he muttered, "that must be the rascal's wife.
First, Paul is his Christian name; secondly, I've been told that
his wife keeps a tobacco shop--so the case is plain. But the
strangest thing about it is that this husband and wife should
write to each other, when I fancied them at dagger's ends." Chupin
would have given a pint of his own blood to know the contents of
the missive. The idea of opening it occurred to him, and it must
be confessed that it was not a feeling of delicacy that prevented
him. He was deterred by a large seal which had been carefully
affixed, and which would plainly furnish evidence if the letter
were tampered with. Thus Chupin was punished for Florent's
faults, for this seal was the viscount's' invariable precaution
against his servant's prying curiosity. So our enterprising youth
could only read and re-read the superscription and smell the
paper, which was strongly scented with verbena. He fancied that
there was some mysterious connection between this letter intended
for M.
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