Two days after this riding party, Edward de Sommerston was in his smoking room, stretched out on a divan, smoking and intensely bored, as usual, and watching the puffs of smoke ascend and float about the room until they formed a fog so dense that one could hardly see from one side to the other. Suddenly the door was softly opened; LÉpinette appeared, and, trying to distinguish his master through the clouds that filled the room, said in an undertone:

"Is monsieur le vicomte asleep?"

"What! No, I'm not asleep! I wish I were, but smoking never puts me to sleep! What do you want of me?"

"I came to tell monsieur that I have just made a find."

"A find! Have you found a treasure? So much the better for you; keep it!"

"Oh! monsieur, it isn't a treasure in money; it's something of another sort, which will be much more to monsieur's taste."

The viscount half rose, saying:

"What in the deuce is it?"

"It's a woman, monsieur; or rather, an enchanting girl!"

The viscount fell back on the couch, muttering:

"And you came here and disturbed me for that, did you? That's what you call a treasure!"

"I thought that monsieur would not be sorry to learn that there is in the house a young woman who is really deserving of a moment's attention."

"Aha! so this beauty lives in the house, does she?"

"Yes, monsieur. The concierge, who represents the owner, has several rooms at the top of the house which he furnishes neatly and rents on his own account."

"Oh, yes! his little perquisites; I understand. Well?"

"Well, it's one of those rooms that he has rented to Mademoiselle Georgette, an exceedingly virtuous person, so it seems, who rarely goes out and receives no visitors."

"Ah! very good! So it's a real model of virtue, is it? Did the concierge undertake to swear to that?"

"No, monsieur, the concierge didn't say positively that it was so; I simply repeat what I heard."

"And what does this chaste creature do?"

"She makes small articles in embroidery, monsieur; charming little things, such as mats for candlesticks, little rugs to put under your feet, and cigar cases—oh! lovely cigar cases!"

"How do you know? Have you bought something of the girl already?"

"No, monsieur; but the concierge showed me one that his new tenant made for a present to him; it is exceedingly pretty."

"The concierge smokes, does he?"

"Oh! like a porter, monsieur."

"Those knaves take every conceivable liberty!—Well! how does all this concern me?"

"I thought that monsieur might be curious to see the little one from upstairs."

"Just an ordinary face, I am sure; one of those affected little minxes—the grisette who wants to be followed; I know all about it."

"Oh, no! this one has no ordinary face. I will not say that she is precisely a beauty; that would not be true; but it is the whole aspect of her that attracts—and, above all, a figure so well set up—superb outlines—a shapely leg and such a tiny foot!"

"Really! has she all those things? You have examined her very closely, haven't you?"

"I was on the landing just now, monsieur, as she came upstairs, in a jacket and a short petticoat, both white; and the petticoat has an embroidered hem. Oh! she doesn't seem to be at all hard up! And she was humming between her teeth as she came up. I stood aside to let her pass; at that, she gave me a very pleasant bow; and as she was going on, I said: 'Are we to have the good fortune to have you for a neighbor, mademoiselle?'"

"This devil of a LÉpinette doesn't waste any time; he makes acquaintances at once!"

"When one has the honor of being in monsieur le vicomte's service, one should understand how to deal with the fair sex."

"That's not bad. Go on!"

"The young woman stopped, and answered very pleasantly: 'Yes, monsieur, I live in the house.'—Then she bowed again and went on upstairs."

"Is that all?"

"No, monsieur. As that meeting was very agreeable to me, I went out on the landing several times. It was a happy thought. A moment ago, the young woman came downstairs very fast."

"It seems to me that she spends a good deal of time on the stairs for a girl who never goes out!"

"She had forgotten to buy some coffee, monsieur; coffee is her passion, it seems; she can't do without it!"

"Did she tell you that?"

"Yes, monsieur; but she didn't stop; she went on downstairs. She'll probably come back very soon; if monsieur chooses, I will keep watch on the landing, and as soon as I see Mademoiselle Georgette in the hall below I will let him know."

"Nonsense! Do you suppose I am going to put myself out to see this grisette? You are crazy, LÉpinette!"

"I would just like to have monsieur see her in her jacket and short petticoat; they're so becoming to her!"

"Pardieu! there's a very simple way for me to see this girl without disturbing myself. She embroiders cigar cases, you say? I'll order one of her. Go out and watch for her, and, when she comes, ask her to step into my apartment a moment. You may tell her why."

"Very good, monsieur; I will go on sentry duty, in order to give her your message."

"If you don't see her pass, you may as well go up to her room; there's no need of standing on ceremony with a mere working girl."

"Very well, monsieur; if she has already come in, I will go up and do your errand."

LÉpinette left the room, and Edward de Sommerston surrendered anew to the charms of the cigarette; but five minutes had not passed when the valet reappeared and said to him:

"The young person is here, monsieur."

"Whom do you mean?"

"The girl from upstairs who makes cigar cases."

"Oh! I had already forgotten your protÉgÉe. Well! show her in."

"Here, monsieur?"

"To be sure; you don't suppose I am going to put myself out to go into the salon to receive this grisette, do you?"

"Then I will show her in here."

The servant went out, returned in a moment, and announced: "Mademoiselle Georgette!"—And the Georgette with whom we are already acquainted, having seen her on Rue de Seine and Boulevard Beaumarchais, entered the smoking room in her morning costume; but this time there was something in the simple nÉgligÉ that denoted more thought, more coquetry: the jacket was trimmed with lace, the white petticoat had an embroidered hem; and the hair was arranged according to the prevailing style; plainly, she realized that she was now in the ChaussÉe d'Antin.

Georgette advanced three steps and retreated two, crying:

"Mon Dieu! what a horrible smell!"

Thereupon the viscount turned over on his couch, and said:

"So you don't like the smell of tobacco, my girl?"

"Hallo! there's someone here. But I can't see anything; it's like being in the clouds! Well! I won't stay here! I don't propose to have people think that I've been in barracks!"

And Georgette walked quickly from the smoking room, followed a corridor, opened the first door she saw, and found herself in a charming salon, where she paused a moment.

"This is better! one can at least see something here, and it isn't reeking with tobacco smoke!"

Meanwhile, the young man, surprised by his visitor's abrupt exit, rose from his couch, laughing, and saying to himself:

"This is a most amusing creature! But, after all, I couldn't have seen her here. Where in the devil has she gone! Let's look for her, let's play hide-and-seek; it will remind me of my boyhood!"

Passing from one room to another, the young dandy arrived at last in that one in which Mademoiselle Georgette had taken refuge; he discovered her seated in an easy-chair and turning the leaves of an album that lay on a table near by. The girl's utter lack of ceremony, and her perfect ease of manner in that elegant salon, astonished Edward, who gazed at her for several seconds, then said:

"It seems to amuse you to look at caricatures?"

Georgette rose and courtesied gracefully, as she replied:

"I was waiting for you to come, monsieur, and I thought there was no harm in looking through this album."

"No, indeed! you have done nothing wrong, except running away from my smoking room, as if it were a bear's den."

"Faith! monsieur, I am not sure that I should not prefer a bear's den to a room where the smoke is so thick that you can't see, and makes your eyes smart and your head ache, to say nothing of the insufferable odor!"

While Georgette was speaking, Edward examined her from head to foot; and his examination was evidently favorable to her, for he muttered from time to time:

"Very good, on my word! very seductive! That devil of a LÉpinette didn't deceive me!"

Then the viscount began to walk around the girl, who was standing in the middle of the salon; and he smiled as he observed the little white petticoat that outlined her hips so perfectly; until at last, vexed by this inspection, she exclaimed:

"Haven't you nearly finished staring at me, monsieur?"

"Why, you are exceedingly pleasant to look at!"

"Is that why you sent for me?"

"Well! suppose it were? My valet had praised your face and figure, and I wanted to see if he told the truth."

"If I had known that, I certainly would not have come into your apartment. Adieu, monsieur!"

"One moment, I pray! What a hurry you're in, Mademoiselle Georgette!—for Georgette is your name, I believe?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"From what part of the country do you come?"

"From Bordeaux, monsieur."

"From the South. I'd have bet on it."

"Why so?"

"Because you seem to have a little head that is very quick to take offence."

"Oh! I have a very good head."

"Do you live alone upstairs?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"How many lovers have you, Mademoiselle Georgette?"

The girl stared at the viscount with an impertinent expression, and finally answered:

"I have none, monsieur."

"What! not one? not the least little bit of a one?"

"No, monsieur."

"That is very strange."

"What is there strange about it, monsieur? Do you think that a girl cannot remain virtuous, and live without a lover?"

"It seems to me to be very difficult, to say no more, in Paris."

"No more difficult in Paris than elsewhere; a woman always does just what she chooses."

"Oh! not always! There is the desire to please, the instinct of coquetry, which is inborn in woman. She wants to have pretty gowns, and she can't buy them with what she earns. She wants to wear silk dresses and cashmere shawls! You are fascinating in this dÉshabillÉ; still, you wouldn't go to Mabille's in such a costume."

"Oh! I have no desire to go to Mabille's."

"You don't mean what you say."

"Yes, I do, monsieur."

"No lover! what a phenomenon! Surely, with that figure, that dainty foot, you must have made many conquests?"

"Oh, yes!"

"And you have never listened to any man?"

"Never."

"Then you must have a lover in your province—some secret passion that fills your heart?"

"No, monsieur; I have no secret passion."

"In that case, I say again, you are a phenomenon, and I am very proud to have such a rarity for a neighbor. Are you afraid of loving, pray? afraid of love?"

"I! I am not afraid of anything."

"Ha! ha! ha! you are very amusing!"

"You think me amusing, monsieur? How lucky for me!"

"I think you provoking, alluring, fascinating!"

And the young man tried to take Georgette in his arms; but she quickly extricated herself and pushed him away, saying in a very decided tone:

"I don't like such manners, monsieur; and they will never succeed with me, I warn you."

"Pardon, mademoiselle, pardon! I forgot that I was dealing with a Lucretia."

"Is this all you have to say to me, monsieur?"

"Why, no; I wanted to order an embroidered cigar case; my servant tells me that you make lovely ones."

"I do my best, at all events. Would you like one?"

"If you will make it for me."

"What color do you want?"

"Oh! I leave all those details to you."

"Very good, monsieur! I charge fifteen francs."

"Whatever you choose! The price is of little consequence to me."

"Very well, monsieur; in three days, you shall have your cigar case."

"All right. Will you be kind enough to bring it yourself?"

"Certainly, monsieur."

"Don't be afraid; I won't receive you in my smoking room."

"So much the better! for, really, that smell of tobacco makes my head ache. I have the honor to salute you, monsieur!"

Georgette executed a bewitching little reverence, and the viscount said to himself as he looked after her:

"Pardieu! that little brunette must be mine, for she is really a most original creature!"