dience, usually rather
undemonstrative.

"Never have I received so many flowers as were given to me last night,"
said Eugenic, displaying an enormous beribboned basket which ornamented
the table. "But that which particularly flattered me," she added, "was
the spontaneous tribute from that pretty foreigner who sought me in the
greenroom expressly to offer me her bouquet."

"The young lady in the proscenium box, I will wager," said Lenaieff.

"Precisely. I know that they call her Zibeline, but I did not catch her
real name."

"It is Mademoiselle de Vermont," said Edmond Delorme. "She is, in my
opinion, the most dashing of all the Amazons in the Bois de Boulogne. The
Chevalier de Sainte-Foy brought her to visit my studio last autumn, and I
am making a life-size portrait of her on her famous horse, Seaman, the
winner of the great steeplechase at Liverpool, in 1882."

"What were you pencilling on the back of your menu while you were
talking?" asked the actress, curiously.

"The profile of General de Prerolles," the painter replied. "I think that
his mare Aida would make a capital companion picture for Seaman, and that
he himself would be an appropriate figure to adorn a canvas hung on the
line opposite her at the next Salon!"

"Pardon me, dear master!" interrupted the General. "Spare me, I pray, the
honor of figuring in this equestrian contradance. I have not the means to
bequeath to posterity that your fair model possesses--"

"Is she, then, as rich as they say?" inquired one of the guests.

"I can answer for that," said the Baron de Samoreau. "She has a letter of
credit upon me from my correspondent in New York. Last night, during an
entr'acte, she gave me an order to hold a million francs at her disposal
before the end of the week."

"I know the reason why," added Henri.

"But," Lenaieff exclaimed, "you told me that you did not know her!"

"I have made her acquaintance since then."

"Ah! Where?" Eugenie inquired, with interest.

"At my sister's house, during the meeting of a charitable society."

"Had it anything to do with the society for which Monsieur Desvanneaux
asked me to appear in a kermess?"

"Well, yes. In fact, he has gone so far as to announce that he is assured
of your cooperation."

"I could not refuse him," said Eugenie. "Under the mantle of charity, the
holy man paid court to me!"

"I knew well enough that he had not yet laid down his arms forever," said
the General.

"Oh, he is not