He recognized his servant.

--Why the shame? she said.




XXII.


THE SERVANT.

"I have already said that dame
Jacinthe although little superannuated,
had still kept her bloom. It is true that
she spared nothing to preserve it:
besides taking a clyster every day, she
swallowed some excellent jelly during
the day and on going to bed."

LE SAGE (_Gil-Blas_).

She looked at him fixedly with burning, feverish eyes.

She was a lusty lass, already arrived at the age of discretion, as Le Sage
says, that is to say, she had passed her fortieth year, the canonical
period for the servants of Curés, but was fair and fresh still, in spite of
some wrinkles and her hair growing gray. She possessed that modest and
appetizing plumpness, somewhat rare among mature virgins, the sign of a
quiet conscience, a good digestion and feelings satisfied.