His apartment was connected by a secret door with the private office of his Excellency.

A private secretary is to the minister himself what des Lupeaulx was to the ministry at large.

The same difference existed between young La Briere and des Lupeaulx that there is between an aide-de-camp and a chief of staff.

This ministerial apprentice decamps when his protector leaves office, returning sometimes when he returns.

If the minister enjoys the royal favor when he falls, or still has parliamentary hopes, he takes his secretary with him into retirement only to bring him back on his return; otherwise he puts him to grass in some of the various administrative pastures,--for instance, in the Court of Exchequer, that wayside refuge where private secretaries wait for the storm to blow over.