Finally a grand trio brought the scene to a close, and it was then that an attendant appeared in Lucy Stewart's box and threw on the stage two immense bouquets of white lilacs.

There was applause; Nana and Rose Mignon bowed, while Prulliere picked up the bouquets.

Many of the occupants of the stalls turned smilingly toward the ground-floor occupied by Steiner and Mignon.

The banker, his face blood-red, was suffering from little convulsive twitchings of the chin, as though he had a stoppage in his throat.
What followed took the house by storm completely.

Diana had gone off in a rage, and directly afterward, Venus, sitting on a moss-clad seat, called Mars to her.