sixty years of age, precluded all
hope of such a marriage if it even entered the minds of Grevin and his
daughter, as some persons, surprised at their rejection of eligible
suitors like the sub-prefect and the _procureur-du-roi_, declared that
it did.

The Beauvisage residence, one of the best in Arcis, stands on the Place
du Pont on a line with the rue Vide-Bourse, at the corner of the rue du
Pont, which leads to the Place de l'Eglise. Though, like many provincial
houses, without either court or garden, it produces a certain effect,
in spite of its ornamentation in bad taste. The front door opens on
the Place; the windows of the ground-floor look out on the street-side
towards the post-house and inn, and command beyond the Place a rather
picturesque view of the Aube, the navigation of which begins at the
bridge. Beyond the bridge is another little Place or square, on which
lives Monsieur Grevin, and from which the high-road to Sezanne starts.

On the street and on the square, the Beauvisage house, painted a
spotless white, looks as though built of stone. The height of the
windows and their external mouldings contribute to give a certain
style to the house which contrasts strongly with the generally forlorn
appearance of the houses of Arcis, constructed, as we have already said,
of wood, and covered with plaster, imitating the solidity of stone.
Still, these houses are not without a certain originality, through the
fact that each architect, or each burgher, has endeavored to solve for
himself the problem of styles of building.

The bridge at Arcis is of wood. About four hundred feet above the bridge
the river is crossed by another bridge, on which rise the tall wooden
sides of a mill with several sluices. The space between the public
bridge and this private bridge forms a basin, on the banks of which are
several large houses. By an opening between the roofs can be seen the
height on which stands the chateau of Arcis with its park and gardens,
its outer walls and trees which overhand the river above the bridges,
and the rather scanty pastures of the left bank.

The sound of the water as it runs through the courses above the dam, the
music of the wheels, from which the churned water falls back into the
basin in sparkling cascades, animate the rue du Pont, contrasting in
this respect with the tranquillity of the river flowing downward between
the garden of Monsieur Grevin, whose house is at one angle of the bridge
on t