stead of exciting ridicule; and it was easy to understand the dread
experience by Morok at sight of those great, staring round eyes, which
appeared to watch for the death of the lion-tamer (what a horrible
death!) with unshaken confidence. Above the dark box of the Englishman,
affording a graceful contrast, were seated the Morinvals and Mdlle. de
Cardoville. The latter was placed nearest the stage. Her head was
uncovered, and she wore a dress of sky-blue China crepe, ornamented at
the bosom with a brooch of the finest Oriental pearls--nothing more; yet
Adrienne, thus attired, was charming. She held in her hand an enormous
bouquet, composed of the rarest flowers of India: the stephanotis and the
gardenia mingled the dead white of their blossoms with the purple
hibiscus and Java amaryllis.

Madame de Morinval, seated on the opposite side of the box, was dressed
with equal taste and simplicity; Morinval, a fair and very handsome young
man, of elegant appearance, was behind the two ladies. M. de Montbron was
expected to arrive every moment. The reader will please to recollect that
the stage-box to the right of the audience, opposite Adrienne's, had
remained till then quite empty. The stage represented one of the gigantic
forests of India. In the background, tall exotic trees rose in spiral or
spreading forms, among rugged masses of perpendicular rocks, with here
and there glimpses of a tropical sky. The side-scenes formed tufts of
trees, interspersed with rocks; and at the side which was immediately
beneath Adrienne's box appeared the irregular opening of a deep and
gloomy cavern, round which were heaped huge blocks of granite, as if
thrown together by some convulsion of nature. This scenery, full of a
wild and savage grandeur, was wonderfully "built up," so as to make the
illusion as complete as possible; the footlights were lowered, and being
covered with a purple shade, threw over this landscape a subdued reddish
light, which increased the gloomy and startling effect of the whole.
Adrienne, leaning forward from the box, with cheeks slightly flushed,
sparkling eyes, and throbbing heart, sought to trace in this scene the
solitary forest described by the traveller who had eulogized Djalma's
generosity and courage, when he threw himself upon a ferocious tigress to
save the life of a poor black slave. Chance coincided wonderfully indeed
with her recollections. Absorbed in the contemplation of the scenery and
the thoughts it aw