A chimney piece was commissioned from Jacques.

I can still see his design, it was charming; the whole poetry of winter was expressed in the marble that was to serve as a frame to the flames.

Jacques' studio was too small, he asked for and obtained a room in the mansion, as yet uninhabited, to execute his task in.

A fairly large sum was even advanced him on the price agreed on for his work.

Jacques began by repaying his friend the doctor the money the latter had lent him at Francine's death, then he hurried to the cemetery to cover the earth, beneath which his mistress slept, with flowers.
But spring had been there before him, and on the girl's grave a thousand flowers were springing at hazard amongst the grass.