He had ridden by on purpose to show that he had money, and she sent him
by Terrapin's word a petition for a few francs to buy her a chamber.
Fanchette's friend had come home from the country, and it would not do
for her to occupy their single bedroom; but Ralph made reply by deputy,
to the effect that the donor of the jewelry would, he supposed, give her
a room. It was a weary week ensuing; he drank spirits all the time, and
made love to an English governess in the Tuileries garden, and when
Sunday came, with a rainy, windy, dismal evening, he went with Terrapin
and Co. to the Closerie des Lilas.
This is the great ball of the Latin Quarter. It stands near the barriers
upon the Boulevard, and is haunted with students and grisettes. Commonly
it was thronged with waltzers, and the scene on gala nights, when all
the lamps were aflame, and the music drowned out by the thunder of the
dance, was a compromise between Paradise and Pandemonium. To-night there
was a beggarly array of folk; the multitude of _garcons_ contemplated
each other's white aprons, and old Bullier, the proprietor, staggering
under his huge hat, exhibited a desire to be taken out and interred. The
wild-eyed young man with flying, carroty locks, who stood in the set
directly under the orchestra, at that part of the floor called "the
kitchen," was flinging up his legs without any perceptible enjoyment,
and the policemen in helmets, and cuirassiers, who had hard work to keep
order in general, looked like lay figures now, and strolled off into the
embowered and sloppy gardens.
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