am lost!" thought Calyste; "they will meet me down there."

When Calyste reached the little esplanade which surrounds the church
of Saint-Nazaire, and from which is seen Paimboeuf and the magnificent
Mouths of the Loire as they struggle with the sea, he found Camille
and the marquise waving their handkerchiefs as a last adieu to two
passengers on the deck of the departing steamer. Beatrix was charming
as she stood there, her features softened by the shadow of a rice-straw
hat, on which were tufts and knots of scarlet ribbon. She wore a muslin
gown with a pattern of flowers, and was leaning with one well-gloved
hand on a slender parasol. Nothing is finer to the eyes than a woman
poised on a rock like a statue on its pedestal. Conti could see Calyste
from the vessel as he approached Camille.

"I thought," said the young man, "that you would probably come back
alone."

"You have done right, Calyste," she replied, pressing his hand.

Beatrix turned round, saw her young lover, and gave him the most
imperious look in her repertory. A smile, which the marquise detected
on the eloquent lips of Mademoiselle des Touches, made her aware of the
vulgarity of such conduct, worthy only of a bourgeoise. She then said to
Calyste, smiling,--

"Are you not guilty of a slight impertinence in supposing that I should
bore Camille, if left alone with her?"

"My dear, one man to two widows is none too much," said Mademoiselle des
Touches, taking Calyste's arm, and leaving Beatrix to watch the vessel
till it disappeared.

At this moment Calyste heard the approaching voices of Mademoiselle de
Pen-Hoel, the Vicomtesse de Kergarouet, Charlotte, and Gasselin,
who were all talking at once, like so many magpies. The old maid was
questioning Gasselin as to what had brought him and his master to
Saint-Nazaire; the carriage of Mademoiselle des Touches had already
caught her eye. Before the young Breton could get out of sight,
Charlotte had seen him.

"Why, there's Calyste!" she exclaimed eagerly.

"Go and offer them seats in my carriage," said Camille to Calyste; "the
maid can sit with the coachman. I saw those ladies lose their places in
the mail-coach."

Calyste, who could not help himself, carried the message. As soon as
Madame de Kergarouet learned that the offer came from the celebrated
Camille Maupin, and that the Marquise de Rochefide was of the party,
she was much surprised at the objections raised by her elder sister, who
refused p