. At one moment he wiped away a tear; he was no
longer master of his emotions; but he grew calm almost immediately--his
power of self-command is marvellous; then he went on quietly, but the
emotion in turn had overpowered us. It was electrifying. The Countess
de S., who was near me, was bubbling like a spring, under her yellow
bonnet.

Madame--Ah! yes, I have seen that yellow bonnet. What a sight that
Madame de S. is!

Her Friend--The truth is, she is always dressed like an applewoman. A
bishopric has been offered these messieurs, I know, on good authority;
my husband had it from De l'Euvre. Well--

Madame--(interrupting her)--A bishopric offered to Madame de S. It was
wrong to do so.

Her Friend--You make fun of everything, my dear; there are, however,
some subjects which should be revered. I tell you that the mitre and
the ring have been offered to the Abby Gelon. Well, he refused them. God
knows, however, that the pastoral ring would well become his hand.

Madame--Oh! yes, he has a lovely hand.

Her Friend--He has a white, slender, and aristocratic hand. Perhaps it
is a wrong for us to dwell on these worldly details, but after all his
hand is really beautiful. Do you know (enthusiastically) I find that
the Abbe Gelon compels love of religion? Were you ever present at his
lectures?

Madame--I was at the first one. I would have gone again on Thursday, but
Madame Savain came to try on my bodice and I had a protracted discussion
with her about the slant of the skirts.

Her Friend--Ah! the skirts are cut slantingly.

Madame--Yes, yes, with little cross-bars, which is an idea of my own--I
have not seen it anywhere else; I think it will not look badly.

Her Friend--Madame Savain told me that you had suppressed the shoulders
of the corsage.

Madame--Ah! the gossip! Yes, I will have nothing on the shoulders but
a ribbon, a trifle, just enough to fasten a jewel to--I was afraid that
the corsage would look a little bare. Madame Savain had laid on, at
intervals, some ridiculous frippery. I wanted to try something else--my
plan of crossbars, there and then--and I missed the dear Abbe Gelon's
lecture. He was charming, it seems.

Her Friend--Oh! charming. He spoke against bad books; there was a large
crowd. He demolished all the horrible opinions of Monsieur Renan. What a
monster that man is!

Madame--You have read his book?

Her Friend--Heaven forbid! Don't you know it is impossible for one to
find anything more