basin, on the edges of which
four large swans of delftware emitted the water from their beaks.

The journalist stopped and said to himself: "This is luxury; this is
the kind of house in which to live. Why can I not have one?"

His companion did not speak. He looked at her and thought once more:
"If I only had taken her!"

Suddenly Suzanne seemed to awaken from her reverie. "Come," said she,
dragging Georges through a group which barred their way, and turning
him to the right. Before him, surrounded by verdure on all sides, was
the picture. One had to look closely at it in order to understand it.
It was a grand work--the work of a master--one of those triumphs of art
which furnishes one for years with food for thought.

Du Roy gazed at it for some time, and then turned away, to make room
for others. Suzanne's tiny hand still rested upon his arm. She asked:

"Would you like a glass of champagne? We will go to the buffet; we
shall find papa there."

Slowly they traversed the crowded rooms. Suddenly Georges heard a voice
say: "That is Laroche and Mme. du Roy."

He turned and saw his wife passing upon the minister's arm. They were
talking in low tones and smiling into each other's eyes. He fancied he
saw some people whisper, as they gazed at them, and he felt a desire to
fall upon those two beings and smite them to the earth. His wife was
making a laughing-stock of him. Who was she? A shrewd little parvenue,
that was all. He could never make his way with a wife who compromised
him. She would be a stumbling-block in his path. Ah, if he had
foreseen, if he had known. He would have played for higher stakes. What
a brilliant match he might have made with little Suzanne! How could he
have been so blind?

They reached the dining-room with its marble columns and walls hung
with old Gobelins tapestry. Walter spied his editor, and hastened to
shake hands. He was beside himself with joy. "Have you seen everything?
Say, Suzanne, have you shown him everything? What a lot of people, eh?
Have you seen Prince de Guerche? he just drank a glass of punch." Then
he pounced upon Senator Rissolin and his wife.

A gentleman greeted Suzanne--a tall, slender man with fair whiskers and
a worldly air. Georges heard her call him Marquis de Cazolles, and he
was suddenly inspired with jealousy. How long had she known him? Since
she had become wealthy no doubt. He saw in him a possible suitor. Some
one seized his arm. It was Norbert de Varenne