the
errors of his youth. Estelle will bring him back to the path of virtue,
be sure of that."

"Oh, Estelle!" Mme Chantereau murmured disdainfully. "I believe the
dear young thing to be incapable of willing anything; she is so
insignificant!"

This opinion caused M. Venot to smile. However, he went into no
explanations about the young bride and, shutting his eyes, as though to
avoid seeming to take any further interest in the matter, he once more
lost himself in his corner behind the petticoats. Mme Hugon, though
weary and absent-minded, had caught some phrases of the conversation,
and she now intervened and summed up in her tolerant way by remarking to
the Marquis de Chouard, who just then bowed to her:

"These ladies are too severe. Existence is so bitter for every one of
us! Ought we not to forgive others much, my friend, if we wish to merit
forgiveness ourselves?"

For some seconds the marquis appeared embarrassed, for he was afraid
of allusions. But the good lady wore so sad a smile that he recovered
almost at once and remarked:

"No, there is no forgiveness for certain faults. It is by reason of
this kind of accommodating spirit that a society sinks into the abyss of
ruin."

The ball had grown still more animated. A fresh quadrille was imparting
a slight swaying motion to the drawing-room floor, as though the old
dwelling had been shaken by the impulse of the dance. Now and again amid
the wan confusion of heads a woman's face with shining eyes and parted
lips stood sharply out as it was whirled away by the dance, the light
of the lusters gleaming on the white skin. Mme du Joncquoy declared that
the present proceedings were senseless. It was madness to crowd five
hundred people into a room which would scarcely contain two hundred. In
fact, why not sign the wedding contract on the Place du Carrousel? This
was the outcome of the new code of manners, said Mme Chantereau. In old
times these solemnities took place in the bosom of the family, but today
one must have a mob of people; the whole street must be allowed to enter
quite freely, and there must be a great crush, or else the evening seems
a chilly affair. People now advertised their luxury and introduced
the mere foam on the wave of Parisian society into their houses, and
accordingly it was only too natural if illicit proceedings such as they
had been discussing afterward polluted the hearth. The ladies complained
that they could not recognize more than fi