cavalier, so much like Raoul, that, if this apparition
had presented itself to her in the midst of the song, her voice must
have failed her. For an instant she doubted; but as the galley touched
the shore she could do so no longer. Two such likenesses could not
exist--even between brothers; and it was certain that the young cavalier
of Sceaux and the young student of the attic were one and the same
person.

This was not, however, what wounded Bathilde; the rank which Raoul
appeared to hold, instead of removing him from the daughter of Albert du
Rocher, only brought him nearer to her, and she had recognized in him,
at first sight, as he had in her, the marks of high birth. What wounded
her--as a betrayal of her good faith and an insult to her love--was
this pretended absence, during which Raoul, forgetting the Rue du
Temps-Perdu, had left his little room solitary, to mix in the fetes at
Sceaux. Thus Raoul had had but an instant's caprice for her, sufficient
to induce him to pass a week or two in an attic, but he had soon got
tired of this life: then he had invented the pretext of a journey,
declaring that it was a misfortune; but none of this was true. Raoul had
never quitted Paris--or, if he had, his first visit had not been to the
Rue du Temps-Perdu.

When Raoul touched the shore, and she found herself only four steps from
him, and saw him whom she had supposed to be a young provincial offering
his arm, in that elegant and easy manner, to the proud Madame de Maine
herself, her strength abandoned her, and with that cry which had gone to
D'Harmental's heart, she fainted. On opening her eyes she found near her
Mademoiselle de Launay, who lavished on her every possible attention.
She wished that instead of returning to Paris Bathilde should remain at
Sceaux, but she was in haste to leave this place where she had suffered
so much, and begged, with an accent that could not be refused, to be
allowed to return, and as a carriage was in readiness to take her, she
went directly. On arriving, Bathilde found Nanette waiting for her;
Buvat also had wished to do so, but by twelve o'clock he was so sleepy
that it was in vain he rubbed his eyes, and tried to sing his favorite
song; he could not keep awake, and at length he went to bed, telling
Nanette to let him know the next morning as soon as Bathilde was
visible.

Bathilde was delighted to find Nanette alone; Buvat's presence would
have been very irksome to her, but as soon as s