gure in--"

"A figure, Monsieur! do you call me a figure?"

"A gentleman, I mean. Artists call it figure. Well, I might give you
this reason, which is quite good enough for you, but it is not the real
one. I prefer to tell you frankly what passed. You have a very beautiful
daughter, Monsieur."

M. Charnot made his customary bow.

"One of my friends is in love with her. He is shy, and dares not tell
his love. We met you by chance in the wood, and I was seized with the
idea of making a sketch of Mademoiselle Jeanne, so like that she could
not mistake it, and then exhibiting it with the certainty of her seeing
it and guessing its meaning. I trusted she would recall to her mind, not
myself, for my youth is past, but a young friend of mine who is of the
age and build of a lover. If this was a crime, Monsieur, I am ready to
take the blame for it upon myself, for I alone committed it."

"It certainly was criminal, Monsieur; criminal in you, at any
rate--you who are a man of weight, respected for your talent and your
character--to aid and abet in a frivolous love-affair."

"It was the deepest and most honorable sentiment, Monsieur."

"A blaze of straw!"

"Nothing of the sort!"

"Don't tell me! Your friend's a mere boy."

"So much the better for him, and for her, too! If you want a man of
middle age for your son-in-law, just try one and see what they are
worth. You may be sorry that you ever refused this boy, who, it is true,
is only twenty-four, has little money, no decided calling, nor yet that
gift of self-confidence which does instead of merit for so many people;
but who is a brave and noble soul, whom I can answer for as for myself.
Go, Monsieur, you will find your daughter great names, fat purses,
gold lace, long beards, swelling waistbands, reputations, pretensions,
justified or not, everything, in short, in which he is poor; but him you
will never find again! That is all I have to tell you."

Lampron had become animated and spoke with heat. There was the slightest
flash of anger in his eyes.

I saw M. Charnot get up, approach him, and hold out his hand.

"I did not wish you to say anything else, Monsieur; that is enough for
me. Flamaran asked my daughter's hand for your friend only this morning.
Flamaran loses no time when charged with a commission. He, too, told me
much that was good of your friend. I also questioned Counsellor Boule.
But however flattering characters they might give him, I still needed