still sat absorbed in her reflections, no doubt, heard a "trio"
worthy, in its way, of that of the Swiss in "Guillaume Tell."

"Do you see," said Theodose, returning to Flavie, "the pure and honest
Phellion intriguing over there? Give a personal reason to a virtuous
man and he'll paddle in the slimiest puddle; he is hooking that little
Pron, and Pron is taking it all in, solely to get your little Celeste
for Felix Phellion. Separate them, and in ten minutes they'll get
together again, and that young Minard will be growling round them like
an angry bulldog."

Felix, still under the strong emotion imparted to him by Celeste's
generous action and the cry that came from the girl's heart, though no
one but Madame Thuillier still thought of it, became inspired by one
of those ingenuous artfulnesses which are the honest charlatanism of
true love; but he was not to the manner born of it, and mathematics,
moreover, made him somewhat absent-minded. He stationed himself near
Madame Thuillier, imagining that Madame Thuillier would attract
Celeste to her side. This astute calculation succeeded all the better
because young Minard, who saw in Celeste nothing more than a "dot,"
had no such sudden inspiration, and was drinking his coffee and
talking politics with Laudigeois, Monsieur Barniol, and Dutocq by
order of his father, who was thinking and planning for the general
election of the legislature in 1842.

"Who wouldn't love Celeste?" said Felix to Madame Thuillier.

"Little darling, no one in the world loves me as she does," replied
the poor slave, with difficulty restraining her tears.