my past.'

The poet's friends listened with rapt countenances and frequent bursts
of emotion or applause; but the Americans suffered agonies, for the
whole thing was so absurdly melodramatic that it was with great
difficulty they kept themselves from explosions of laughter. When the
little man dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, in bidding adieu to
the lost loves of his youth, tender-hearted old C. sobbed in her napkin;
while Livy only saved herself from hysterics by drinking a glass of
water, and Pelagie ate sugar, with her round eyes fixed on her lover's
face, without the slightest expression whatever.

When the poet mourned his blighted hopes, and asked wildly of all the
elements if he should live or die, Gaston cast reproachful glances at
the alien charmer who had nipped his passion in the bud; and when Jules
gave a sudden start, slapped his brow, and declared that he would live
for his country, old Marie choked in her coffee, while Madame F. clapped
her fat hands, and cried: 'It is sublime!'

The poem closed there, and the providential appearance of their donkeys
gave the ladies an excuse for retiring to their room, where they laughed
till they could laugh no more.

Each meal was as good as a play, and every glimpse they had of the
little pair gave fresh food for mirth. Everything was so formal and
polite, so utterly unlike the free-and-easy customs of their native
land, that they were kept in alternate states of indignation and
amusement the whole time. Jules never was alone with his Pelagie for an
instant; such a breach of etiquette would have shocked the entire town.
In the walks and drives which the family took together, Madame was
always at the Colonel's side; while Gaston escorted his sister, looking
as if he was fast reaching a state of mind when he would give her away
without a pang. Many guests came and went, much kissing and bowing,
prancing and rustling, went on, up and down stairs. Stately old
gentlemen called, papers were signed, fortunes discussed, and gifts
displayed. Pelagie went much to mass; also to the barber's and the bath.
Agitated milliners flew in and out. A great load of trunks arrived from
Nantes, where Madame formerly lived; and the day before the wedding a
whole carriage full of Clomadocs appeared, and Babel seemed to have come
again.

A great supper was given that evening, and the Three were banished to
their own rooms; where, however, they fared sumptuously, for Madame C.
and