a thin smoke, a fine, quivering gauze, on the
point of floating away; and emotion suddenly took possession of her.
To love! to love! everything brought her back to that caressing phrase
--even the pride born of her virtue. Her dreaming became so light, she
no longer thought, but lay there, steeped in springtide, with moist
eyes.

At last, as she was about to resume her reading, Paris slowly came
into view. Not a breath of wind had stirred; it was as if a magician
had waved his wand. The last gauzy film detached itself, soared and
vanished in the air; and the city spread out without a shadow, under
the conquering sun. Helene, with her chin resting on her hand, gazed
on this mighty awakening.

A far-stretching valley appeared, with a myriad of buildings huddled
together. Over the distant range of hills were scattered close-set
roofs, and you could divine that the sea of houses rolled afar off
behind the undulating ground, into the fields hidden from sight. It
was as the ocean, with all the infinity and mystery of its waves.
Paris spread out as vast as the heavens on high. Burnished with the
sunshine that lovely morning, the city looked like a field of yellow
corn; and the huge picture was all simplicity, compounded of two
colors only, the pale blue of the sky, and the golden reflections of
the housetops. The stream of light from the spring sun invested
everything with the beauty of a new birth. So pure was the light that
the minutest objects became visible. Paris, with its chaotic maze of
stonework, shone as though under glass. From time to time, however, a
breath of wind passed athwart this bright, quiescent serenity; and
then the outlines of some districts grew faint, and quivered as if
they were being viewed through an invisible flame.

Helene took interest at first in gazing on the large expanse spread
under her windows, the slope of the Trocadero, and the far-stretching
quays. She had to lean out to distinguish the deserted square of the
Champ-de-Mars, barred at the farther end by the sombre Military
School. Down below, on thoroughfare and pavement on each side of the
Seine, she could see the passers-by--a busy cluster of black dots,
moving like a swarm of ants. A yellow omnibus shone out like a spark
of fire; drays and cabs crossed the bridge, mere child's toys in the
distance, with miniature horses like pieces of mechanism; and amongst
others traversing the grassy slopes was a servant girl, with a white
apron