And when at last they drew up into the large station of what was once a quiet, remote village where Parisian invalids, too poor to go elsewhere, came to take medicinal waters, she felt a pang of disappointment.

Lacville, as seen from the railway, is an unattractive place.
"Is this Madame's first visit to Lacville ?" asked her fellow-traveller, helping her out of the railway carriage.

"If so, Madame would doubtless like to make her way to the lake.

Would she care to accompany us thither ?" Sylvia hesitated.

She almost felt inclined to go back to Paris by the next train.