lle Aurelie, who was amongst them, engaged his
attention for the moment to point out to him a nephew whom she had
brought with her. He was all complaisance. Helene, without speaking,
gave him her hand, encased in its black glove, but he dared not clasp
it with marked force.

"Oh! here you are!" said Madame Deberle, as she appeared beside them.
"I have been looking for you everywhere. It is nearly three o'clock;
they had better begin."

"Certainly; at once," was his reply.

The drawing-room was now crowded. All round it, in the brilliant glare
thrown from the chandelier, sat the fathers and mothers, their walking
costumes serving to fringe the circle with less vivid colors. Some
ladies, drawing their chairs together, formed groups; men standing
motionless along the walls filled up the gaps; while in the doorway
leading to the next room a cluster of frock-coated guests could be
seen crowding together and peering over each other's shoulders. The
light fell wholly on the little folks, noisy in their glee, as they
rustled about in their seats in the centre of the large room. There
were almost a hundred children packed together; in an endless variety
of gay costumes, bright with blue and red. It was like a sea of fair
heads, varying from pale yellow to ruddy gold, with here and there
bows and flowers gleaming vividly--or like a field of ripe grain,
spangled with poppies and cornflowers, and waving to and fro as though
stirred by a breeze. At times, amidst this confusion of ribbons and
lace, of silk and velvet, a face was turned round--a pink nose, a pair
of blue eyes, a smiling or pouting little mouth. There were some, no
higher than one's boots, who were buried out of sight between big lads
of ten years of age, and whom their mothers sought from a distance,
but in vain. A few of the boys looked bored and foolish by the side of
girls who were busy spreading out their skirts. Some, however, were
already very venturesome, jogging the elbows of their fair neighbors
with whom they were unacquainted, and laughing in their faces. But the
royalty of the gathering remained with the girls, some of whom,
clustering in groups, stirred about in such a way as to threaten
destruction to their chairs, and chattered so loudly that the grown-up
folks could no longer hear one another speaking. And all eyes were
intently gazing at the red curtain.

Slowly was it drawn aside, and in the recess of the doorway appeared a
puppet-show. There wa