"Madame," he said in Flavie's ear, "if any one here is capable of appreciating you it is certainly I.You seem to me a pearl dropped into the mire.

You say you are forty-two, but a woman is no older than she looks, and many women of thirty would be thankful to have your figure and that noble countenance, where love has passed without ever filling the void in your heart.

You have given yourself to God, I know, and I have too much religion myself to regret it, but I also know that you have done so because no human being has proved worthy of you.

You have been loved, but you have never been adored--I have divined that.

There is your husband, who has not known how to please you in a position in keeping with your deserts.