e murmured, with the disinterestedness of a courtesan gratifying a
fancy: "What you please, my lady; I only want you."

And lifting her charming eyes towards the young man's moustache, she
took his arm and leant lovingly upon it.

"Let us go and have a grenadine first of all," she remarked. "And then
we will take a stroll together. I should like to go to the opera like
this, with you, to show you off. And we will go home early, eh?"

* * * * *

He lay late at this girl's place. It was broad day when he left, and the
notion occurred to him to buy the _Vie Francaise_. He opened the paper
with feverish hand. His article was not there, and he stood on the
footpath, anxiously running his eye down the printed columns with the
hope of at length finding what he was in search of. A weight suddenly
oppressed his heart, for after the fatigue of a night of love, this
vexation came upon him with the weight of a disaster.

He reached home and went to sleep in his clothes on the bed.

Entering the office some hours later, he went on to see Monsieur Walter.

"I was surprised at not seeing my second article on Algeria in the paper
this morning, sir," said he.

The manager raised his head, and replied in a dry tone: "I gave it to
your friend Forestier, and asked him to read it through. He did not
think it up to the mark; you must rewrite it."

Duroy, in a rage, went out without saying a word, and abruptly entering
his old comrade's room, said:

"Why didn't you let my article go in this morning?"

The journalist was smoking a cigarette with his back almost on the seat
of his armchair and his feet on the table, his heels soiling an article
already commenced. He said slowly, in a bored and distant voice, as
though speaking from the depths of a hole: "The governor thought it
poor, and told me to give it back to you to do over again. There it is."
And he pointed out the slips flattened out under a paperweight.

Duroy, abashed, could find nothing to say in reply, and as he was
putting his prose into his pocket, Forestier went on: "To-day you must
first of all go to the Prefecture." And he proceeded to give a list of
business errands and items of news to be attended to.

Duroy went off without having been able to find the cutting remark he
wanted to. He brought back his article the next day. It was returned to
him again. Having rewritten it a third time, and finding it still
refused, he understood th