aby prattle. She did not lose sight of him when
she removed to the Rue Vivienne. Pierre had entered the elementary school
of the neighborhood, and by his precocious intelligence and exceptional
application, had not been long in getting to the top of his class. The
boy had left school after gaining an exhibition admitting him to the
Chaptal College. This hard worker, who was in a fair way of making his
own position without costing his relatives anything, greatly interested
Madame Desvarennes. She found in this plucky nature a striking analogy to
herself. She formed projects for Pierre's future; in fancy she saw him
enter the Polytechnic school, and leave it with honors. The young man had
the choice of becoming a mining or civil engineer, and of entering the
government service.

He was hesitating what to do when the mistress came and offered him a
situation in her firm as junior partner; it was a golden bridge that she
placed before him. With his exceptional capacities he was not long in
giving to the house a new impulse. He perfected the machinery, and
triumphantly defied all competition. All this was a happy dream in which
Pierre was to her a real son; her home became his, and she monopolized
him completely. But suddenly a shadow came o'er the spirit of her dreams.
Pierre's mother, the little haberdasher, proud of her son, would she
consent to give him up to a stranger? Oh! if Pierre had only been an
orphan! But one could not rob a mother of her son! And Madame Desvarennes
stopped the flight of her imagination. She followed Pierre with anxious
looks; but she forbade herself to dispose of the youth: he did not belong
to her.

This woman, at the age of thirty-five, still young in heart, was
disturbed by feelings which she strove, but vainly, to rule. She hid them
especially from her husband, whose repining chattering she feared. If she
had once shown him her weakness he would have overwhelmed her daily with
the burden of his regrets. But an unforeseen circumstance placed her at
Michel's mercy.

Winter had come, bringing December and its snow. The weather this year
was exceptionally inclement, and traffic in the streets was so difficult,
business was almost suspended. The mistress left her deserted offices and
retired early to her private apartments. The husband and wife spent their
evenings alone. They sat there, facing each other, at the fireside. A
shade concentrated the light of the lamp upon the table covered with