ulmann had absconded and would never return, she
recognized fully that her chains had fallen off.

When the caged bird has escaped into the open air of heaven, does he
ever regret his gilded cage and all its luxurious comforts or the
tender endearments of his owner? The bird enjoys his freedom, and
rejoices he is no longer a slave. It may be that wilder and stronger
birds tear him in pieces; that the frost and rain may chill his body,
unused to exposure. He cares not. He wings his flight still higher; he
seeks for a branch; he cooes to his lady-love; he is happy.

Eveline never for one moment reflected that she was in any way
implicated in the fall of Kaulmann and the shame that attended his
ruin. She had no idea that her name was bandied about. She who had
been as a queen, who had been so admired, had such a _succes_! What
was to become of her now? She belongs to no one. No one knows
anything of her past; but it is pretty safe to prophesy her future.
She will have another protector. Of course; but who will he be? Which
of her many admirers? She has a legion of adorers from which to
choose.

This was the talk of the clubs and the gossip of society. While
Eveline sat in her room, rejoicing at her new life of freedom, an idea
suddenly came into her head. She looked for Arpad's visiting-card,
ordered her carriage, and drove out to visit the Belenyis. They lived
some little way from Paris, in the suburbs, where houses can still be
had with rooms on the ground floor. Madame Belenyi liked to live on
the ground floor. The house she had lost was of this sort, and it had
the advantage that, having her own kitchen, she could cook for her
son, and feel sure he was not dining at some tavern in bad company.
Unless on special occasions Arpad invariably came home to dine with
his mother; he would not have missed doing so for a splendid feast. He
thought there was nothing to compare with her dishes of pig's ear and
delicately cooked vegetables.

Eveline's coachman found it hard to make out the narrow little street
in the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the Belenyis had established
themselves. Eveline would not let the carriage go farther than the
corner; there she got out, and, accompanied by her footman, walked up
the street, looking for the right house. It was an old fashioned
cottage, in which Madame Belenyi had hired two rooms divided by a
kitchen. A girl who was working in the garden showed Eveline where the
young gentleman