She had just opened her hand-bag, giving some coins to the guardian who was disappearing at the end of the gallery.
"Oh, is that you ?" she said, on seeing Ferragut, without any surprise, as if she had left him but a short time before.
Then she explained her presence at this late hour.

She had not visited the Aquarium for a long time.

The tank of cuttlefish was to her like a cage of tropical birds, full of colors and cries that enlivened the solitude of a melancholy matron.
She always adored the monsters living on the other side of these crystals, and before going to lunch she had felt an irresistible desire to see them.

She feared that the guard had not been taking good care of them during her absence.
"Just see how beautiful they are!..." And she pointed to a tank that appeared empty.

Neither in its quiet still waters nor on the floor of the oily sand could be seen the slightest animal motion.