gardenia mingled the dead white of their blossoms with the purple
hibiscus and Java amaryllis.

Madame de Morinval, seated on the opposite side of the box, was dressed
with equal taste and simplicity; Morinval, a fair and very handsome
young man, of elegant appearance, was behind the two ladies. M. de
Montbron was expected to arrive every moment. The reader will please
to recollect that the stage-box to the right of the audience, opposite
Adrienne's, had remained till then quite empty. The stage represented
one of the gigantic forests of India. In the background, tall exotic
trees rose in spiral or spreading forms, among rugged masses of
perpendicular rocks, with here and there glimpses of a tropical sky. The
side-scenes formed tufts of trees, interspersed with rocks; and at the
side which was immediately beneath Adrienne's box appeared the irregular
opening of a deep and gloomy cavern, round which were heaped huge blocks
of granite, as if thrown together by some convulsion of nature. This
scenery, full of a wild and savage grandeur, was wonderfully "built up,"
so as to make the illusion as complete as possible; the footlights
were lowered, and being covered with a purple shade, threw over this
landscape a subdued reddish light, which increased the gloomy and
startling effect of the whole. Adrienne, leaning forward from the box,
with cheeks slightly flushed, sparkling eyes, and throbbing heart,
sought to trace in this scene the solitary forest described by the
traveller who had eulogized Djalma's generosity and courage, when he
threw himself upon a ferocious tigress to save the life of a poor black
slave. Chance coincided wonderfully indeed with her recollections.
Absorbed in the contemplation of the scenery and the thoughts it
awakened in her heart, she paid no attention to what was passing in the
house. And yet something calculated to excite curiosity was taking place
in the opposite stage-box.

The door of this box opened. A man about forty years of age, of a yellow
complexion, entered; he was clothed after the East Indian fashion, in a
long robe of orange silk, bound round the waist with a green sash, and
he wore a small white turban. He placed two chairs at the front of the
box; and, having glanced round the house for a moment, he started, his
black eyes sparkled, and he went out quickly. That man was Faringhea.
His apparition caused surprise and curiosity in the theatre; the
majority of the spectators not having