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 had been back in Paris nearly two months when the strange business connected with the golden egg came about. There was a time when I was very glad that my master had something to occupy his mind; but that was at the beginning of it. By and by, I thought much as the rest of them did; and whether to laugh or whether to cry I really did not know.

For my part, I was not sorry to be in Paris. All said and done, it's a city for a gentleman to live in. High born or low, good man or bad, you may find your company there so long as the guineas rattle in your pocket. And when you've spent your bit, you'll still find your company. That's the way of it—either rich or poor, but no betweens; and no need to show your family Bible before you're on nodding terms with your neighbors.

"If you'll take my advice, sir," said I to Sir Nicolas, the week after the Oakley affair, "you'll stop here until it's time to move for Monaco. Folks will be coming back from the seaside in a month or so, and meanwhile we'll do no hurt to rest a bit."

"Indeed, and I believe you're right," cried he, "