elegance, always wearing a black watered-silk
dress, a long gold chain falling in loops over her
prominent bosom, a brown velvet cravat around
her neck, and with very pale hands, she seemed the
perfection of dignity and even a little haughty.
She lived, outside of marriage, with a city em-
ployee, M. Louis. We knew him only by his
Christian name. He was a queer trpe, extremely
near-sighted, with mincing movements, always
silent, and presenting a very awkward appearance
in a grey jacket that was too short for him. Sad,
timid, bent, although young, he seemed, not
happy, but resigned. He never dared to speak to
us, or even to look at us, for the madame was very
jealous. When he came in, with his bag of papers
vmder his arm, he contented himself with slightly
lifting his hat in our direction, without turning his
head toward us, and, with a dragging step, glided
into the hall, like a shadow. And how tired the
poor fellow was ! At night M. Louis attended to
the correspondence, kept the books, . . . and did
the rest.
Mme. Paulhat-Durand was named neither Paulhat or Durand; these two names, which go so well together, she acquired, it seems, from two gentle- men, dead to-day, with whom she had lived, and who had supplied her with funds to open her em- ployment-bureau. Her real name was Josephine Carp. Like many keepers of employment-bureaus,