ls
of all that men held wise," bartereth away the society of the
living.

Little gregarious by nature, Paris had already ceased to
delight me in the same way that it had delighted me at first. A
"retired leisure," and the society of the woman whom I loved,
grew to be the day-dream of my solitary life. And still, ever
more and more plainly, it became evident to me that for the
career of the student I was designed by nature. Bayle, Magliabecchi
of Florence, Isaac Reed, Sir Thomas Brown, Montaigne--those
were the men whose lot in life I envied--those the literary
anchorites in whose steps I would fain have followed.

But this was not to be; so I worked on, rose early, studied
late, gained experience, took out my second inscription with
credit, and had the satisfaction of knowing that I was fast
acquiring the good opinion of Dr. Cheron. Thus Christmas
passed by, and January with its bitter winds; and February set
in, bright but frosty. And still, without encouragement or
nope, I went on loving Hortense Dufresnoy.

My opportunities of seeing her were few and brief. A passing bow in the
hall, or a distant "good-evening" as we passed upon the stairs, for some
time made up the sum of our intercourse. Gradually, however, a kind of
formal acquaintance sprang up between us; an acquaintance fostered by
trifles and dependent on the idlest, or what seemed the idlest,
casualties. I say "seemed," for often that which to her appeared the
work of chance was the result of elaborate contrivance on my part. She
little knew, when I met her on the staircase, how I had been listening
for the last hour to catch the echo of her step. She little dreamed when
I encountered her at the corner of the street, how I had been concealed,
till that moment, in the _cafe_ over the way, ready to dart out as soon
as she appeared in sight. I would then affect either a polite unconcern,
or an air of judicious surprise, or pretend not to lift my eyes at all
till she was nearly past; and I think I must have been a very fair
actor, for it all succeeded capitally, and I am not aware that she ever
had the least suspicion of the truth. Let me, however, recall one
incident over which I had no control, and which did more towards
promoting our intercourse than all the rest.

It is a cold, bright morning in February. There is a brisk
exhilaration in the air. The windows and gilded balconies
sparkle in the sun, and it is pleasant to hear the frosty ring of
one's bo