“ Ma foi! I want it,” said Madame Homais, yawning at large. “But never mind; we’ve had a beautiful day for our fête.”

Rodolphe repeated in a low voice, and with a tender look, “Oh, yes! very beautiful!”

And having bowed to one another, they separated.

Two days later, in the Fanal de Rouen , there was a long article on the show. Homais had composed it with verve the very next morning.

“Why these festoons, these flowers, these garlands? Whither hurries this crowd like the waves of a furious sea under the torrents of a tropical sun pouring its heat upon our heads?”