"you have an opera-glass. Let me have it."

"An opera--glass!--no!--what do you suppose I would be doing with an
opera-glass?" Here he turned impatiently toward the stage.

"But, Talbot," I continued, pulling him by the shoulder, "listen to me
will you? Do you see the stage--box?--there!--no, the next.--did you
ever behold as lovely a woman?"

"She is very beautiful, no doubt," he said.

"I wonder who she can be?"

"Why, in the name of all that is angelic, don't you know who she is?
'Not to know her argues yourself unknown.' She is the celebrated Madame
Lalande--the beauty of the day par excellence, and the talk of the
whole town. Immensely wealthy too--a widow, and a great match--has just
arrived from Paris."

"Do you know her?"

"Yes; I have the honor."

"Will you introduce me?"

"Assuredly, with the greatest pleasure; when shall it be?"

"To-morrow, at one, I will call upon you at B--'s.

"Very good; and now do hold your tongue, if you can."

In this latter respect I was forced to take Talbot's advice; for he
remained obstinately deaf to every further question or suggestion, and
occupied himself exclusively for the rest of the evening with what was
transacting upon the stage.

In the meantime I kept my eyes riveted on Madame Lalande, and at length
had the good fortune to obtain a full front view of her face. It was
exquisitely lovely--this, of course, my heart had told me before,
even had not Talbot fully satisfied me upon the point--but still the
unintelligible something disturbed me. I finally concluded that my
senses were impressed by a certain air of gravity, sadness, or, still
more properly, of weariness, which took something from the youth
and freshness of the countenance, only to endow it with a seraphic
tenderness and majesty, and thus, of course, to my enthusiastic and
romantic temperment, with an interest tenfold.

While I thus feasted my eyes, I perceived, at last, to my great
trepidation, by an almost imperceptible start on the part of the lady,
that she had become suddenly aware of the intensity of my gaze. Still,
I was absolutely fascinated, and could not withdraw it, even for an
instant. She turned aside her face, and again I saw only the chiselled
contour of the back portion of the head. After some minutes, as if urged
by curiosity to see if I was still looking, she gradually brought her
face again around and again encountered my burning gaze. Her large dark
eyes fell instantly, and