f by Vaudrey. He,
in his turn, basked comfortably in the light of her smiles, and listened
with pleasure to the sound of his own voice. He could catch glimpses
through the box curtains from between these two charming profiles--one a
brunette, the other a blonde--of the vast auditorium all crimson and
gold, blazing with lights and crowded with faces. From this well-dressed
crowd, from these boxes where one caught sight of white gleaming
shoulders, half-gloved arms, flower-decked heads, sparkling necklaces,
flashing glances, it seemed to Vaudrey as if a strange, subtle perfume
arose--the perfume of women, an intoxicating odor, in the midst of this
radiancy that rivaled the brilliant sun at its rising.

Upon the stage, amid the dazzling splendor of the ballet, in the milky
ray of the electric light, the swelling skirts whirled, the pink
slippers that he had seen but a moment before near by, and the gleaming,
silver helmets, the tinfoil and the spangles shone in the dance. A fairy
light enveloped all these stage splendors; and this luxurious ensemble,
as seen from the depths of the box, seemed to him to be the glory of an
unending apotheosis, a sort of fete given to celebrate his entrance on
his public career.

Then, in the unconcealed effusion of his delight, without any effort at
effect, speaking frankly to this woman, to Guy, and to Gerson, as if he
were communing with himself to the mocking accompaniment of this Hindoo
music, he revealed his joys, his prospects, and his dreams. He replied
to Sabine's congratulations by avowing his intention to devote himself
entirely to his country.

"In short, your Excellency," she said, "you are really going to do great
things?"

He gazed dreamily around the theatre, smiling as if he beheld some lucky
vision, and answered:

"Really, madame, I accepted office only because I felt it was my duty
and as a means of doing good. I intend to be just--to be honest. I
should like to discover some unappreciated genius and raise him from the
obscurity in which an unjust fate has shrouded him, to the height where
he belongs. If we are to do no better than those we have succeeded, it
was useless to turn them out!"

"Ah! _pardieu_," said Lissac, while Madame Marsy smiled and nodded
approval of Vaudrey's words, "you and your colleagues are just now in
the honeymoon of your power."

"We will endeavor to make this honeymoon of as long duration as
possible," laughingly replied Sulpice. "I belie