et, which gave an almost serious effect to her golden hair, to her
small slightly turned up nose, with its quivering nostrils, and to her
long eyes, full of enigmas and fun; and a dark stuff dress, which was
fastened at the neck by a sapphire and a diamond pin.

The barrister did not interrupt her, but allowed her to get excited and
to chatter, to enumerate her causes for complaint against poor Count de
Baudemont, who certainly had no suspicion of his wife's escapade, who
would have been very much surprised if any one had told him of it at
that moment, when he was taking his fencing lesson at the club.

When she had quite finished, he said coolly, as if he were throwing a
pail of water on some burning straw.

"But, Madame, there is not the slightest pretext for a divorce in
anything that you have told me, here...the judges would ask me whether I
took the Law Courts for a theater, and intended to make fun of them."

And seeing how disheartened she was, and that she looked like a child
whose favorite toy had been broken, and, also, because she was so
pretty, that he would have liked to kiss her hands in his devotion, and
as she seemed to be witty, and very amusing, and as, moreover, he had no
objection to such visits being prolonged, when papers had to be looked
over, while sitting close together, Maitre Garrulier appeared to be
considering, and, taking his chin in his hand, he said:

"However, I will think it over...there is sure to be some dark spot that
can be made out worse.... Write to me, and come and see me again..."

In the course of her visits, that black spot had increased so much, and
Madame de Baudemont had followed her lawyer's advice so punctually, and
had played on the various cords so skillfully, a few months later, that
after a lawsuit, which is still spoken of in the Courts of Justice, and
during the course of which, the President had to take off his
spectacles, and to use his pocket-handkerchief noisily, the divorce was
pronounced in favor of the Countess Marie Anne Nicole Bournet de
Baudemont, _nee_ de Tanchart de Peothus.

The Count, who was nonplussed at such an adventure, which was turning
out so seriously, first of all, flew into a terrible rage, and nearly
rushed off to the lawyer's office, and threatened to cut off his knavish
ears for him, but when his access of fury was over, and thinking better
of it, he shrugged his shoulders and said:

"All the better for her, if it amuses her!"

Th