The young man, having shaken hands with Monsieur Gerbault, walked toward Adolphine and her sister; it was easy to see how excited and perturbed he was; but Adolphine, whose emotion was even greater perhaps, hastily left her seat and, after responding to Gustave's greeting, went to talk with Monsieur Clairval, who was not playing cards at that moment; so that there was no one to interfere with the interview which Gustave desired to have with her sister.

As for Fanny, she was absolutely unembarrassed; she smiled sweetly on Gustave, greeted him as if she had seen him the day before, and said, pointing to a seat by her side:

"So here you are at last, monsieur le voyageur! Mon Dieu! you seem to be imitating the Wandering Jew nowadays; you travel all the time, you are never at rest. Do you know, monsieur, that your friends are not reconciled to your long absences, and you surely will put an end to your peregrinations—unless you have a fancy to discover a new world?"

Gustave, bewildered by the jocular tone in which the widow addressed him, was unable for a moment to find words in which to reply. Fanny interpreted his confusion to her own advantage, and continued, but with a change of manner, and in an almost sentimental tone:

"Many things have happened since we met."

"Yes, madame; I have heard of the—loss you have sustained; and I beg you to believe that I shared the grief which you must have felt."

"I don't doubt it; you have so much delicacy of feeling, Monsieur Gustave! Yes, I had a very cruel experience, although Monsieur MonlÉard hardly deserved the tears I shed for him. He was a proud man, overflowing with vanity, hard-hearted, loving only himself, conceited, self-sufficient; but he is dead, I don't mean to speak ill of him, although he left me in a decidedly equivocal position. Ah! if I had known—if I could have foreseen. I have bitterly regretted what—what——" Then, suddenly changing her tone again, and becoming playful once more: "You are just from Berlin, I hear? Is there much fun there? Are the balls gorgeous? do the women dress well? does everybody go to the theatre? The Germans are very fond of music; you must have gone to concerts and evening parties and the play a great deal. Ah! what fortunate creatures men are! They can do whatever they please, while we poor women are obliged to stay at home, and, in many cases, never have anyone come to see us! That's the way I've been living for six months; and I am terribly bored; oh! terribly!"

"You had your sister, at least, to share your troubles."

"My sister! She's a lively creature, isn't she? I don't know what's been the matter with her lately, but she's a regular extinguisher. And then, you know, my temperament isn't like Adolphine's; she is melancholy by nature, and I am very light-headed. Don't you remember, Gustave? Heavens! what a mad creature I am! here I am calling you Gustave, just as I used to before I was married! Does that offend you?"

"Oh! you can't think it; it reminds me of such a happy time!"

"Why, I don't see but that that time has come back; for we are in the same position that we were then—almost."

Gustave could not restrain a sigh at that almost. The young widow made haste to continue:

"And now that I am free, that I am my own mistress, won't you do me the favor of coming to see me sometimes, Monsieur Gustave? Won't you have a little pity on the tedium of a poor widow, who was so anxious for you to come back, who talked about you every day with Adolphine?"

"What, madame! can it be true? you have thought sometimes of me?"

"He asks me if I have thought of him! he doubts it!—Is it because you had altogether forgotten me?"

"I, forget you? Ah! that would be impossible! Your lovely features are engraved on my heart, on my mind. Although far from you, I saw you all the time. Ah! Fanny, when one has once loved you.—But, pardon me, madame, I am losing my head; I call you Fanny, as I used."

"That doesn't offend me in the least; on the contrary, I like it. But just see what faces Monsieur Batonnin is making at us! One would say that he was trying to throw his eyes at us. Mon Dieu! how funny he is when he looks like that! Ha! ha! ha! it's enough to kill one."

"Madame MonlÉard is in great spirits to-night," said Monsieur Clairval to Monsieur Batonnin, who replied:

"I've noticed that she's been in much better spirits ever since she's been a widow."

"That Monsieur Batonnin, with his soft-spoken ways, always has something unkind to say," muttered Madame de Mirallon.

"And he smears honey on his words, to make them go down; that's the custom."

Adolphine had walked mechanically to the piano; she was suffering intensely, she would have liked to leave the salon, but she dared not, because it would have worried her father. To make her misery complete, Monsieur Batonnin joined her.

"Are we going to have the pleasure of hearing you sing, mademoiselle?"

"No, monsieur; I could not possibly sing; I have a very sore throat."

"I trust, mademoiselle, that you are not still offended with me because I thought that you looked ill?"

"Oh! not at all, monsieur; indeed, I think that you must have been right, for I don't feel very well this evening."

"Madame your sister is well enough for two, I judge, she is in such good spirits; she seems to be talking a good deal with that gentleman. Isn't he the same one who was with you one morning when I came to your room with your father?"

"Yes, monsieur; that is he."

"He was very dismal then; it seems that his gloom has disappeared, for he is laughing heartily with your sister. Are they acquainted?"

"Why, to be sure; Monsieur Gustave is an old friend of ours."

"Very good! I said to myself: 'Madame MonlÉard doesn't stand much on ceremony with that young man; he must be an old acquaintance, at least.'"

To avoid listening any longer to Monsieur Batonnin, Adolphine seated herself by the whist table, and pretended to watch the game; but, sit where she would, she heard her sister's exclamations, whispering, and laughter, and the evening seemed endless to her.

At last the clock struck eleven; Fanny rose and prepared to take her leave. Gustave looked at her, as if undecided as to what he should do, but the young widow observed:

"Monsieur Clairval is playing whist; besides, I don't want him always to have the trouble of going home with me; and as Monsieur Gustave is here, perhaps he would be willing to escort me as far as my door."

Gustave's face beamed; he hastened to say that he should be too happy to offer her his arm. Whereupon, Fanny made haste to say good-night to her father and sister.

The young man, in his turn, went to Adolphine, and said to her in an undertone:

"Dear little sister, I am a very happy man! She has given me permission to call on her; she has even given me to understand that she regrets having refused to marry me; in short, she is touched by my constancy."

"It is well; be happy, that is my dearest wish; and, above all things, go to my sister's; that will be much better, believe me, than to come to court her here."

Gustave was about to reply, but Fanny called him and took him away. Thereupon Adolphine went to her room, saying to herself:

"Such evenings as this are too horrible; I shall not have the courage to endure them often. Oh! let them be happy together! but I pray that he may not come here any more, that I may not be forced to be a witness of his love for another!"