?" said Mimi, looking at Rodolphe, "I am not afraid."

When the two friends were alone in Rodolphe's room, which was on the
same floor, Marcel abruptly said to his friend, "Well, what are you
going to do now?"

"I do not know," stammered Rodolphe.

"Come, do not shilly-shally, go and join Mimi! If you do, I prophecy
that tomorrow you will be living together again."

"If it were Musette who had returned, what would you do?" inquired
Rodolphe of his friend.

"If it were Musette that was in the next room," replied Marcel, "well,
frankly, I believe that I should not have been in this one for a quarter
of an hour past."

"Well," said Rodolphe, "I will be more courageous than you, I shall
stay here."

"We shall see that," said Marcel, who had already got into bed. "Are you
coming to bed?"

"Certainly," replied Rodolphe.

But in the middle of the night, Marcel waking up, perceived that
Rodolphe had left him.

In the morning, he went and tapped discreetly at the door of the room in
which Mimi was.

"Come in," said she, and on seeing him, she made a sign to him to speak
low in order not to wake Rodolphe who was asleep. He was seated in an
arm chair, which he had drawn up to the side of the bed, his head
resting on a pillow beside that of Mimi.

"It is like that that you passed the night?" said Marcel in great
astonishment.

"Yes," replied the girl.

Rodolphe woke up all at once, and after kissing Mimi, held out his hand
to Marcel, who seemed greatly puzzled.

"I am going to find some money for breakfast," said he to the painter.
"You will keep Mimi company."

"Well," asked Marcel of the girl when they were alone together, "what
took place last night?"

"Very sad things," said Mimi. "Rodolphe still loves me."

"I know that very well."

"Yes, you wanted to separate him from me. I am not angry about it,
Marcel, you were quite right, I have done no good to the poor fellow."

"And you," asked Marcel, "do you still love him?"

"Do I love him?" said she, clasping her hands. "It is that that tortures
me. I am greatly changed, my friend, and it needed but little time for
that."

"Well, now he loves you, you love him and you cannot do without one
another, come together again and try and remain."

"It is impossible," said Mimi.

"Why?" inquired Marcel. "Certainly it would be more sensible for you to
separate, but as for your not meeting again, you would have to be a
thousand leagues from one another."

"