cunningly by a means so simple
and so sly that we gape with amazement when by chance we discover them.
We say to ourselves in a stupefied state of mind 'How is it we did not
see this till now?'"

* * * * *

The man who uttered the words was an ex-Minister of the Empire, the
Comte de L----, a thorough profligate, it was said, and a very
accomplished gentleman. A group of young men were listening to him.

He went on:

"I was outwitted by an ordinary uneducated woman in a comic and
thorough-going fashion. I will tell you about it for your instruction.

"I was at the time Minister for Foreign Affairs, and I was in the habit
of taking a long walk every morning in the Champs Elysees. It was the
month of May; I walked along, sniffing in eagerly that sweet odor of
budding leaves.

"Ere long, I noticed, that I used to meet every day a charming little
woman, one of those marvelous, graceful creatures, who bear the
trade-mark of Paris. Pretty? Well, yes and no. Well-made? No, better
than that: her waist was too slight, her shoulders too narrow, her
breast too full, no doubt; but I prefer those exquisite human dolls to
that great statuesque corpse, the Venus of Milo.

"And then this sort of woman trots along in an incomparable fashion, and
the very rustle of her skirt fills the marrow of your bones with desire.
She seemed to give me a side-glance as she passed me. But these women
give you all sorts of looks--you never can tell....

"One morning, I saw her sitting on a bench with an open book between her
hands. I came across, and sat down beside her. Five minutes later, we
were friends. Then, each day, after the smiling salutation 'Good day,
Madame,' 'Good day, Monsieur,' we began to chat. She told me that she
was the wife of a Government clerk, that her life was a sad one, that in
it pleasures were few and cares numerous, and a thousand other things.

"I told her who I was, partly through thoughtlessness, and partly
perhaps through vanity. She pretended to be much astonished.

"Next day, she called at the Ministry to see me; and she came again
there so often that the ushers, having their attention drawn to her
appearance, used to whisper to one another, as soon as they saw her, the
name with which they had christened her 'Madame Leon' that is my
Christian name.

"For three months I saw her every morning without growing tired of her
for a second, so well was she able incessantly to give va