cerning the two women whose
kindness of heart had shown itself in his behalf. But though he replied
Yes or No to the inquiries, natural under the circumstances, which the
good woman made as to his accident, and the friendly intervention of
the tenants occupying the fourth floor, he could not hinder her from
following the instinct of her kind; she mentioned the two strangers,
speaking of them as prompted by the interests of her policy and the
subterranean opinions of the porter's lodge.

"Ah," said she, "they were, no doubt, Mademoiselle Leseigneur and her
mother, who have lived here these four years. We do not know exactly
what these ladies do; in the morning, only till the hour of noon, an old
woman who is half deaf, and who never speaks any more than a wall, comes
in to help them; in the evening, two or three old gentlemen, with loops
of ribbon, like you, monsieur, come to see them, and often stay very
late. One of them comes in a carriage with servants, and is said to have
sixty thousand francs a year. However, they are very quiet tenants, as
you are, monsieur; and economical! they live on nothing, and as soon as
a letter is brought they pay for it. It is a queer thing, monsieur, the
mother's name is not the same as the daughter's. Ah, but when they go
for a walk in the Tuileries, mademoiselle is very smart, and she never
goes out but she is followed by a lot of young men; but she shuts the
door in their face, and she is quite right. The proprietor would never
allow----"

The coach having come, Hippolyte heard no more, and went home. His
mother, to whom he related his adventure, dressed his wound afresh, and
would not allow him to go to the studio next day. After taking advice,
various treatments were prescribed, and Hippolyte remained at home three
days. During this retirement his idle fancy recalled vividly, bit by
bit, the details of the scene that had ensued on his fainting fit. The
young girl's profile was clearly projected against the darkness of his
inward vision; he saw once more the mother's faded features, or he felt
the touch of Adelaide's hands. He remembered some gesture which at first
had not greatly struck him, but whose exquisite grace was thrown into
relief by memory; then an attitude, or the tones of a melodious voice,
enhanced by the distance of remembrance, suddenly rose before him, as
objects plunging to the bottom of deep waters come back to the surface.

So, on the day when he could resume wo