re, but whether I shall attain the
consequential virtue I don't know. For the present, however, I am
condemned to it against my will."

"How so?" I asked.

"I have a great desire to rise and seek the Nepenthe of the Cafe
Delphine, but a whimsical fate keeps me coatless and hatless in a
virtuous house. I am also comparatively shirtless, which does not so
much matter."

"I'm afraid my things wouldn't fit you, Master," said I sitting on the
edge of the bed.

"The only coat which the good Blanquette has preserved is the
pearl-buttoned velveteen jacket in which I fiddled away so many happy
hours."

"Why not wear it, until your bag arrives from Melford?"

"In Arcadian villages," he replied, "it commanded respect. In the Cafe
Delphine I'm afraid it would only excite derision."

Presently a strong odour of onions gave promise of an approaching meal,
and a little while afterwards Blanquette entered with the announcement
that soup was on the table. Paragot rose, donned trousers and slippers
and went forth into the salon to dine.

"Simplicity is one of the canons of high art. Life is an art, as I have
endeavoured to teach you. Therefore in life we should aim at simplicity.
To complicate existence into the intricacy of a steam-engine with white
ties and red socks is an offence against art of which I will never again
be guilty. It is also more comfortable to eat soup with your elbows on
the table. _N'est-ce pas_, Blanquette?"

"_Bien sur_," she replied, bending over her bowl, "where else could one
put them?"

This pleased Paragot, who continued to talk in high good humour during
the rest of the meal. Afterwards, he filled a new porcelain pipe, which
Blanquette had purchased, and smoked contentedly the rest of the
evening. Blanquette sat dutifully on a straight-backed chair, her hands
in her lap, listening as she had so often done before to our inspiring
conversation, and adding her word whenever it entered the area of her
comprehension. If we had lectured each other alternately on the Integral
Calculus, Blanquette would have given us her rapt and happy attention.
This evening she would not have minded our talking English; the mere
sound of the Master's voice was sweet: sweeter than ever, now that the
other woman had been "planted there" (she thought of it with a fierce
joy), and the master had come back to her for ever and ever, _in saeculo
saeculorum, amen_. Like many peasant women of strong nature, she had the
terrib