I was delighted to believe it, and when I went into society I used to carry her pictures with me in a portfolio and hand them round to the company.

I remember, once, a lady thought I was offering them for sale, and I took it very ill.

We don't know what we may come to! Then came my dark days, and my explosion with Madame Nioche.

Noemie had no more twenty-franc lessons; but in the course of time, when she grew older, and it became highly expedient that she should do something that would help to keep us alive, she bethought herself of her palette and brushes.

Some of our friends in the quartier pronounced the idea fantastic: they recommended her to try bonnet making, to get a situation in a shop, or--if she was more ambitious--to advertise for a place of dame de compagnie.