ollow mere literary productions. No, the
public preserved an attitude more in harmony with the nature of the work
presented to them. They were serious and grave.

As I paused between the phrases the better to disentangle the different
trains of thought, I had leisure to examine behind my spectacles the
entire hall. I can truly say that not the faintest smile could be seen
on any lips. On the contrary, even the freshest faces wore an expression
of austerity. I seemed to have ripened all their intellects as if by
magic. Here and there while I read some young people whispered to their
neighbours. They were probably debating some special point treated of in
my discourse.

More than that, a beautiful young creature of twenty-two or twenty-four,
seated in the left corner of the north balcony, was listening with great
attention and taking notes. Her face had a delicacy of features and a
mobility of expression truly remarkable. The attention with which she
listened to my words gave an added charm to her singular face. She was
not alone. A big, robust man, who, like the Assyrian kings, wore a long
curled beard and long black hair, stood beside her and occasionally
spoke to her in a low voice. My attention, which at first was divided
amongst my entire audience, concentrated itself little by little on the
young woman. She inspired me, I confess, with an interest which certain
of my colleagues might consider unworthy of a scientific mind such as
mine, though I feel sure that none of them under similar circumstances
would have been more indifferent than I. As I proceeded she scribbled
in a little note-book; and as she listened to my discourse one could
see that she was visibly swayed by the most contradictory emotions; she
seemed to pass from satisfaction and joy to surprise and even anxiety.
I examined her with increasing curiosity. Would to God I had set eyes on
her and her only that day under the cupola!

I had nearly finished; there hardly remained more than twenty-five or
thirty pages at most to read when suddenly my eyes encountered those of
the man with the Assyrian beard. How can I explain to you what happened
then, seeing that I cannot explain it to myself? All I can say is
that the glance of this personage put me at once into a state of
indescribable agitation. The eye-balls fixed on me were of a
greenish colour. I could not turn my own away. I stood there dumb and
open-mouthed. As I had stopped speaking the audience beg