Two banks of the Seine

e did not take the trouble to close the door and, swinging her muff, hurried through the somber

t usher of the Collège, watched her approach, his t

bold, face, her astrakhan jacket and purple velvet toque with border of astrakhan to match, the curls of which mingled with her own brown hair, an aigrette of white feathers

an eager hand that he

t you wish

here is the lectu

e? There, you are

ture. "It is useless, madame! The hall is full, overcrowded.... More

adding, after a pause, "Did you happen to see a tall,

ried to

ny people at an opening lecture during the whole fifteen years that I have been an usher of the Collège...." Carelessly he straightene

ure hall swung back under the pressure of the departing audience an

ue," said Pageot, indicating a lady

ed to stop Mme. de Ma

y you are early! Yet I onl

r.... I was quite upset, I assure you.... Well, tell me, was it at least all right insid

se assumed a ro

ing, I heard nothing.... Standing, with rows of men in front of me and the smell of perspiratio

dread

ious! What a child you are, little Zozé! Here or elsewhere you will meet M. Raindal again.... T

ing to do with

, then it must be the son.... Do you really think that no

eed in having a salon like the Pums or the Silberschmidts.... Thank you!... My system is not so a

And they stood at one side in the narrow p

men who dug up questions and men who solved problems. There were the established mistresses of the tables where discussion takes place, plus their lively retinue of little women, little men, little young men, little old men, the whole flight of those who prattle, cackle, and giggle on the heights of art as sparrows do on the branches of trees; there were pretty faces, dull with powder, peeping out of soft sable collars; inquisitive silhouette

more human and tender object; and thither, despite contrary appearances, all her actions tended. But to witness the gossip, the coquetries and friendly encounters of those well-known

tary movement of surprise an

k at th

the dusty tulle bonnet pinned awry on her head. The girl, who had the haughty gait and the somewhat bitter, aggressive expression which fatigue, p

come out?" she asked

ckly removed

. Shall I tell him t

lease tell him that I am waiting

you know who she is?" he added mysteriously, as he turned back to Mme. Ch

the cold. At intervals she would stop and throw a searching glance towards the steps at the end of the courtyard. Through the window could be seen the meditative face of Pageot, which had at that distance and in the thick ochreous ai

ible husband," the man who would have a right to her kisses, to her flesh, and would thereafter spend all his nights beside her. One more to reject! The ninth one in ten years! "A young savant of the greatest merit," Saulvard had written; "one of our rising hopes in Assyriology, M. Pierre Boerzell...." M. Boerzell! M. Boerzell! She repeated the harsh, barbarous name. Well, that "hope" would be no less sadly handicapped in

bly one of

one-the man she had once lost-the runaway and defaulting fiancé, Albert Dastarac. Ten years had passed since then, but there were s

y mist, Thérèse Raindal could not believe in the actuality of that past betrayal; she could not explain it to herself or even understand it. Images, daily called back to her memory, were so familiar and recent! She fancied she was beside Albart in her fathe drawing-room in the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Once more she saw

r of lecture halls. Albart seemed to notice none of all those defects of which she was more conscious than anyone else and which often made her secretly unhappy. He saw nothing but her charms. He was always enraptured with her pale, straight nose chiselled lik

ing the chorus with him. Or, when he was alone with the young girl, he would sit at her feet on a stool of blue satin while she talked about the future,-how she would regulate the hours of his work, help him in his career, and push him on to the highest attainments. Then suddenly, wildly, he would throw himself upon her and p

otesting his sorrow. Three weeks later, M. Raindal had taken his daughter to the Luxembourg, as one would lead a convalescent to take a little rest in the spring air of the gardens; there Thérèse saw her fiancé

ried. I only heard of it yesterday!... Ma?tre Gaussine has a reputation for getting good positions f

. What an outrageous memory! Then came the ghastly days in her room, still impregnated with the rogu perfume,-the long hours of day dreams, whe

er mind, no matter how much learning she had crowded it with, the tenacious image of the charming Albart, who, notwith

an, it was always he who came between, who took her back, resurrecting in her austere frame his Theresoun of old, his captivated Theresoun. Invisible to all others, but present to her, he would seem to be there, hand on hip, his knee bent in tha

t with a refusal so sharp and angry, and like a blow that it left him daze

reporter who interviewed me on Cleopatra, the English in Egypt .

hearing the jovial

ing; I was working,

a friend or a colleague, he took her arm and ra

girl who looked like a school teacher, walking arm in arm tenderly. Some attempted a guess; some instinctively smiled, moved by vague sympathetic i

xact opinion of his opening lecture. Was she satisfied? Had it gone well? It was not too long? And the peroration, what had she though

though I might say you were a l

have all those fine ladies and their tame cats.... But a

France. Science! Le Collège de France! There lay his faith, his church, and he had no other! Thérèse k

ir warning. I think we shall not see them again.... Moreover, this a

patra!" Thérè

rs. I maintai

three weeks; articles every night, every morning ... everywhere-those papers which fell into line later proving more ardent than the first ones, thus seeking in the fervor of their adhesion an excuse for the shame of their delay; letters, interviews, reque

of view, and deriving its inspiration from indigenous documents and the popular sentiments of the period? And then who had helped him to the very end, faithfully seconded him in the hea

claimed, abandoning the tone of friendly custody

smiled t

ets everything, one does know where one is any more.... I am leading y

sal. Then he went on: "Well, no! I must leave you.... I am going to climb up to your Uncle Cyprie;

n the midst of the melancholy crowd standing about the st

ar, l see you

voir,

ase, which was slipping from his elbow, and slowly and with deliberati