“Matter! How dare you, a young person, sit coolly down, with the self-possession of a garçon , and look at that picture?”

“It is a very ugly picture, but I cannot at all see why I should not look at it.”

“ Bon! bon! Speak no more of it. But you ought not to be here alone.”

“If, however, I have no society⁠—no party , as you say? And then, what does it signify whether I am alone, or accompanied? nobody meddles with me.”

“ Taisez-vous, et asseyez-vous là⁠—là! ” 103 ⁠—setting down a chair with emphasis in a particularly dull corner, before a series of most specially dreary “ cadres .”

“ Mais, Monsieur? ”

“ Mais, Mademoiselle, asseyez-vous, et ne bougez pas⁠—entendez-vous?⁠—jusqu’à ce qu’on vienne vous chercher, ou que je vous donne la permission. ” 104