ee stood together, checking the movement, the current of which
swept round them.

All at once she asked: "Will you come home with me?"

And he, quivering with desire, answered roughly: "Yes, but I have only a
louis in my pocket."

She smiled indifferently. "It is all the same to me,"' and took his arm
in token of possession.

As they went out he thought that with the other louis he could easily
hire a suit of dress clothes for the next evening.

II

"Monsieur Forestier, if you please?"

"Third floor, the door on the left," the concierge had replied, in a
voice the amiable tone of which betokened a certain consideration for
the tenant, and George Duroy ascended the stairs.

He felt somewhat abashed, awkward, and ill at ease. He was wearing a
dress suit for the first time in his life, and was uneasy about the
general effect of his toilet. He felt it was altogether defective, from
his boots, which were not of patent leather, though neat, for he was
naturally smart about his foot-gear, to his shirt, which he had bought
that very morning for four franc fifty centimes at the Masgasin du
Louvre, and the limp front of which was already rumpled. His everyday
shirts were all more or less damaged, so that he had not been able to
make use of even the least worn of them.

His trousers, rather too loose, set off his leg badly, seeming to flap
about the calf with that creased appearance which second-hand clothes
present. The coat alone did not look bad, being by chance almost a
perfect fit.

He was slowly ascending the stairs with beating heart and anxious mind,
tortured above all by the fear of appearing ridiculous, when suddenly he
saw in front of him a gentleman in full dress looking at him. They were
so close to one another that Duroy took a step back and then remained
stupefied; it was himself, reflected by a tall mirror on the first-floor
landing. A thrill of pleasure shot through him to find himself so much
more presentable than he had imagined.

Only having a small shaving-glass in his room, he had not been able to
see himself all at once, and as he had only an imperfect glimpse of the
various items of his improvised toilet, he had mentally exaggerated its
imperfections, and harped to himself on the idea of appearing grotesque.

But on suddenly coming upon his reflection in the mirror, he had not
even recognized himself; he had taken himself for someone else, for a
gentleman whom at the first glance he h