lovely Eastern hangings, old credences, huge
chairs of the Louis XIII epoch. And thus Nana had come into artistic
surroundings of the choicest kind and of the most extravagantly various
dates. But since the studio, which occupied the central portion of
the house, could not be of any use to her, she had upset existing
arrangements, establishing a small drawing room on the first floor, next
to her bedroom and dressing room, and leaving a conservatory, a large
drawing room and a dining room to look after themselves underneath.
She astonished the architect with her ideas, for, as became a Parisian
workgirl who understands the elegancies of life by instinct, she had
suddenly developed a very pretty taste for every species of luxurious
refinement. Indeed, she did not spoil her house overmuch; nay, she
even added to the richness of the furniture, save here and there, where
certain traces of tender foolishness and vulgar magnificence betrayed
the ex-flower seller who had been wont to dream in front of shopwindows
in the arcades.

A carpet was spread on the steps beneath the great awning over the front
door in the court, and the moment you entered the hall you were greeted
by a perfume as of violets and a soft, warm atmosphere which thick
hangings helped to produce. A window, whose yellow-and rose-colored
panes suggested the warm pallor of human flesh, gave light to the wide
staircase, at the foot of which a Negro in carved wood held out a silver
tray full of visiting cards and four white marble women, with bosoms
displayed, raised lamps in their uplifted hands. Bronzes and Chinese
vases full of flowers, divans covered with old Persian rugs, armchairs
upholstered in old tapestry, furnished the entrance hall, adorned
the stairheads and gave the first-floor landing the appearance of an
anteroom. Here men's overcoats and hats were always in evidence, and
there were thick hangings which deadened every sound. It seemed a place
apart: on entering it you might have fancied yourself in a chapel, whose
very air was thrilling with devotion, whose very silence and seclusion
were fraught with mystery.

Nana only opened the large and somewhat too-sumptuous Louis XVI drawing
room on those gala nights when she received society from the Tuileries
or strangers of distinction. Ordinarily she only came downstairs at
mealtimes, and she would feel rather lost on such days as she lunched
by herself in the lofty dining room with its Gobelin tapestry