y illumined
by visions of extraordinary lucidity.

From time to time, as the result of a conversation somewhat longer
than usual, or of one of those unexpected meetings when faces taken by
surprise allow their real thoughts to be seen, Madame Fromont reflected
seriously concerning this strange little Sidonie; but the active, urgent
duties of life, with its accompaniment of affections and preoccupations,
left her no time for dwelling upon such trifles.

To all women comes a time when they encounter such sudden windings in
the road that their whole horizon changes and all their points of view
become transformed.

Had Claire been a young girl, the falling away of that friendship bit by
bit, as if torn from her by an unkindly hand, would have been a source
of great regret to her. But she had lost her father, the object of her
greatest, her only youthful affection; then she had married. The
child had come, with its thrice welcome demands upon her every moment.
Moreover, she had with her her mother, almost in her dotage, still
stupefied by her husband's tragic death. In a life so fully occupied,
Sidonie's caprices received but little attention; and it had hardly
occurred to Claire Fromont to be surprised at her marriage to Risler.
He was clearly too old for her; but, after all, what difference did it
make, if they loved each other?

As for being vexed because little Chebe had attained that lofty
position, had become almost her equal, her superior nature was incapable
of such pettiness. On the contrary, she would have been glad with all
her heart to know that that young wife, whose home was so near her
own, who lived the same life, so to speak, and had been her playmate
in childhood, was happy and highly esteemed. Being most kindly disposed
toward her, she tried to teach her, to instruct her in the ways of
society, as one might instruct an attractive provincial, who fell but
little short of being altogether charming.

Advice is not readily accepted by one pretty young woman from another.
When Madame Fromont gave a grand dinner-party, she took Madame Risler to
her bedroom, and said to her, smiling frankly in order not to vex her:
"You have put on too many jewels, my dear. And then, you know, with a
high dress one doesn't wear flowers in the hair." Sidonie blushed, and
thanked her friend, but wrote down an additional grievance against her
in the bottom of her heart.

In Claire's circle her welcome was decidedly cold. The