Lucius or St. Lawrence. Scarcely had he made his way into the nave of
the building, when he beheld something that appeared to him far more
interesting than paintings or relics. An English poet has said that at
times there is revealed to us a glimpse of paradise in a woman's face,
and it was such a rare blessing that was at this moment vouchsafed unto
Count Larinski. He was not a romantic man, and yet he remained for
some moments motionless, rooted to the spot in admiration. Was it a
premonition of his destiny? The fact is that, in beholding for the first
time Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz, for it was none other than she who thus
riveted his attention, he experienced an inexplicable surprise, a
thrilling of the heart, such as he never before had experienced. In his
first impression of this charming girl he made one slight mistake. He
divined at once that the man by whom she was accompanied, who had gray
hair, a broad, open brow, vivacious eyes, shaded by beautiful, heavy
eye-brows, belonged to some learned fraternity; but he imagined that
this individual with a white cravat, who had evidently preserved his
freshness of heart, although past sixty years of age, was the fortunate
suitor of the beautiful girl by his side.

There are some women whom it is impossible not to gaze upon. Wherever
Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz appeared she was the object of universal
observation: first, because she was charming; and, then, because she
had a way of her own of dressing and of arranging her hair, a peculiar
movement of the head, a grace of carriage, which inevitably must attract
notice. There were those who made so bold as to assert that she assumed
certain little peculiarities solely for the purpose of attracting
the chance observer. Do not believe a word of it. She was altogether
indifferent to public opinion and consulted her own taste alone, which
was certainly impregnated with a touch of audacity; but she did not seek
to appear audacious--she merely acted according to her natural bent.
Observing her from a distance, people were apt to fancy her affected,
and somewhat inclined to be fantastic; but on approaching her,
their minds were speedily disabused of this fancy. The purity of her
countenance, her air of refinement and thorough modesty, speedily
dispelled any suspicious thoughts, and those who had for a moment
harboured them would say mentally, "Pardon me, mademoiselle, I mistook."
Such, at least, was the mental comment of Count Abel, a