e appointed to watch
Modeste, had a certain assumed stiffness of demeanor and a quiver in
their voices, which the suspected party did not notice, so absorbed
was she in her embroidery. Modeste laid each thread of cotton with a
precision that would have made an ordinary workwoman desperate. Her face
expressed the pleasure she took in the smooth petals of the flower
she was working. The dwarf, seated between his mistress and Gobenheim,
restrained his emotion, trying to find means to approach Modeste and
whisper a word of warning in her ear.

By taking a position in front of Madame Mignon, Madame Latournelle, with
the diabolical intelligence of conscientious duty, had isolated Modeste.
Madame Mignon, whose blindness always made her silent, was even paler
than usual, showing plainly that she was aware of the test to which
her daughter was about to be subjected. Perhaps at the last moment she
revolted from the stratagem, necessary as it might seem to her. Hence
her silence; she was weeping inwardly. Exupere, the spring of the
trap, was wholly ignorant of the piece in which he was to play a
part. Gobenheim, by reason of his character, remained in a state of
indifference equal to that displayed by Modeste. To a spectator who
understood the situation, this contrast between the ignorance of some
and the palpitating interest of others would have seemed quite poetic.
Nowadays romance-writers arrange such effects; and it is quite within
their province to do so, for nature in all ages takes the liberty to be
stronger than they. In this instance, as you will see, nature, social
nature, which is a second nature within nature, amused herself by making
truth more interesting than fiction; just as mountain torrents describe
curves which are beyond the skill of painters to convey, and accomplish
giant deeds in displacing or smoothing stones which are the wonder of
architects and sculptors.

It was eight o'clock. At that season twilight was still shedding its
last gleams; there was not a cloud in the sky; the balmy air caressed
the earth, the flowers gave forth their fragrance, the steps of
pedestrians turning homeward sounded along the gravelly road, the sea
shone like a mirror, and there was so little wind that the wax candles
upon the card-tables sent up a steady flame, although the windows were
wide open. This salon, this evening, this dwelling--what a frame for the
portrait of the young girl whom these persons were now studying with