That was the ceremony, and that night the nuptials. Few young couples
make a better commencement. She gave him a list of her debts, and he
paid them. They removed from Ralph's dim quarters to a cheap and
cheerful chamber upon the new Boulevard. It was on the fifth floor; the
room was just adapted for so little a couple. Superficially observed,
the furniture resolved itself into an enormous clock and a monstrously
fine mirror; but after a while you might remark four small chairs and a
great one, a bureau and a wardrobe, a sofa and a canopied bed; and just
without the two gorgeously curtained windows lay a cunning balcony,
where they could sit of evenings, with the old ruin of the Hotel Cluny
beneath them, the towers of Notre Dame in the middle ground, and at the
horizon the beautifully wooded hill of Pere la Chaise.
Suzette had tristful eyes when they rested upon this cemetery. Her baby
lay there, without a stone--not without a flower.
"_Pauvre petite Jules!_" she used to say, nestling close to Ralph, and
for a little while they would not speak nor move, but the smoke of his
cigar made a charmed circle around them, and the stars came out above,
and the panorama of the great Boulevard moved on at their feet.
Their first difficulties were financial, of course.
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