being very obstinate, and not wishing
to appear to submit to an influence that offended her pride, Rose-Pompon
endeavored to recover her assurance; and, having bolted the door, she
said to Adrienne: "Pray do me the favor to sit down, madame"--still with
the intention of showing that she was no stranger to refined manners and
conversation.

Mdlle. de Cardoville was about mechanically to take a chair, when Rose
Pompon, worthy to practise those ancient virtues of hospitality, which
regarded even an enemy as sacred in the person of a guest, cried out
hastily: "Don't take that chair, madame; it wants a leg."

Adrienne laid her hand on another chair.

"Nor that either; the back is quite loose," again exclaimed Rose-Pompon.
And she spoke the truth; for the chair-back, which was made in the form
of a lyre, remained in the hands of Mdlle. de Cardoville, who said, as
she replaced it discreetly in its former position: "I think, miss, that
we can very well talk standing."

"As you please, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, steadying herself the more
bravely the more uneasy she felt. And the interview of the lady and the
grisette began in this fashion.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE INTERVIEW.

After a minute's hesitation, Rose-Pompon said to Adrienne, whose heart
was beating violently: "I will tell you directly, madame, what I have on
my mind. I should not have gone out of my way to seek you, but, as I
happen to fall in with you, it is very natural I should take advantage of
it."

"But, miss," said Adrienne, mildly, "may I at least know the subject of
the conversation we are to have together?"

"Yes, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, affecting an air of still more
decided confidence; "first of all, you must not suppose I am unhappy, or
going to make a scene of jealousy, or cry like a forsaken damsel. Do not
flatter yourself! Thank heaven, I have no reason to complain of Prince
Charming--that is the pet name I gave him--on the contrary, he has made
me very happy. If I left him, it was against his will, and because I
chose."

So saying, Rose-Pompon, whose heart was swelling in spite of her fine
airs, could not repress a sigh.

"Yes, madame," she resumed, "I left him because I chose--for he quite
doted on me. If I had liked, he would have married me--yes, madame,
married me--so much the worse, if that gives you pain. Though, when I say
'so much the worse,' it is true that I meant to pain you. To be sure I
did--but then, just now whe