so kind as to make me regarding the matter of our kermess; a
project now unfortunately rendered futile by that Zibeline!"

"Otherwise called 'Mademoiselle de Vermont.'"

"I prefer to call her Zibeline--that name is better suited to a
courtesan."

"You are very severe toward her!"

"I can not endure hypocrites!" naively replied the worthy man.

"She appeared to me to be very beautiful, however," continued Eugenie
Gontier, in order to keep up the conversation on the woman who she felt
instinctively was her rival.

"Beautiful! Not so beautiful as you," rejoined M. Desvanneaux, gallantly.
"She is a very ambitious person, who throws her money at our heads, the
better to humiliate us."

"But, since it is all in the interest of the Orphan Asylum--"

"Say, rather, in her own interest, to put herself on a pedestal because
of her generosity! Oh, she has succeeded at the first stroke! Already, at
the Hotel de Montgeron they swear by her; and if this sort of thing goes
on, I shall very soon be regarded only as a pariah!"

"Poor Monsieur Desvanneaux!"

"You pity me, dear Mademoiselle? I thank you! The role of consoler is
truly worthy of your large heart, and if you do not forbid me to hope--"
said this modern Tartufe, approaching Eugenie little by little.

"Take care!" said she; "suppose the General should be hidden under that
table, like Orgon!"

"The General!" exclaimed Desvanneaux; "he is too much occupied
elsewhere!"

"Occupied with whom?"

"With Zibeline, probably. He never left her side all the evening, last
night at the Opera."

"Pardon me! He was here until after ten o'clock."

"Yes, but afterward--when the opera was over?"

"Well, what happened when the opera was over?" Eugenie inquired, forcing
herself to hide her emotion.

"They went away together! I saw them--I was watching them from behind a
column. What a scandal!"

"And your conclusion on all this, Monsieur Desvanneaux?"

"It is that the General is deceiving you, dear Mademoiselle."

"With that young girl?"

"A bold hussy, I tell you! A Messalina! Ah, I pity you sincerely in my
turn! And should a devoted consoler, a discreet avenger, be able to make
you forget this outrage to your charms, behold me at your feet, devoting
to you my prayers, awaiting only a word from you to become the most
fortunate among the elect--"

A loud knock at the outer door spared Mademoiselle Gontier the trouble of
repelling her ridiculous adorer, who promptly scr