r friend. It is to
Ramond that we must apply."

Ill luck pursued them, however. Ramond was absent from home, attending a
consultation at Marseilles, and he would not be back until the following
evening. And it young Mme. Ramond, an old friend of Clotilde's,
some three years her junior, who received them. She seemed a little
embarrassed, but she was very amiable, notwithstanding. But the doctor,
naturally, did not prefer his request, and contented himself with
saying, in explanation of his visit, that he had missed Ramond. When
they were in the street again, Pascal and Clotilde felt themselves once
more abandoned and alone. Where now should they turn? What new effort
should they make? And they walked on again aimlessly.

"I did not tell you, master," Clotilde at last ventured to murmur, "but
it seems that Martine met grandmother the other day. Yes, grandmother
has been uneasy about us. She asked Martine why we did not go to her, if
we were in want. And see, here is her house."

They were in fact, in the Rue de la Banne. They could see the corner of
the Place de la Sous-Prefecture. But he at once silenced her.

"Never, do you hear! Nor shall you go either. You say that because it
grieves you to see me in this poverty. My heart, too, is heavy, to think
that you also are in want, that you also suffer. But it is better to
suffer than to do a thing that would leave one an eternal remorse. I
will not. I cannot."

They emerged from the Rue de la Banne, and entered the old quarter.

"I would a thousand times rather apply to a stranger. Perhaps we still
have friends, even if they are only among the poor."

And resolved to beg, David continued his walk, leaning on the arm of
Abishag; the old mendicant king went from door to door, leaning on the
shoulder of the loving subject whose youth was now his only support.
It was almost six o'clock; the heat had abated; the narrow streets were
filling with people; and in this populous quarter where they were loved,
they were everywhere greeted with smiles. Something of pity was mingled
with the admiration they awakened, for every one knew of their ruin. But
they seemed of a nobler beauty than before, he all white, she all blond,
pressing close to each other in their misfortune. They seemed more
united, more one with each other than ever; holding their heads erect,
proud of their glorious love, though touched by misfortune; he shaken,
while she, with a courageous heart, sustained him.