Though these incidents occupied the world, they were not of a nature
to penetrate the recesses of the monastic solitude in the Rue
Saint-Denis. However, when paying a visit to Madame Guillaume, the
notary's wife spoke of the exhibition before Augustine, of whom she was
very fond, and explained its purpose. Madame Roguin's gossip naturally
inspired Augustine with a wish to see the pictures, and with courage
enough to ask her cousin secretly to take her to the Louvre. Her
cousin succeeded in the negotiations she opened with Madame Guillaume
for permission to release the young girl for two hours from her dull
labors. Augustine was thus able to make her way through the crowd to
see the crowned work. A fit of trembling shook her like an aspen leaf
as she recognized herself. She was terrified, and looked about her to
find Madame Roguin, from whom she had been separated by a tide of
people. At that moment her frightened eyes fell on the impassioned
face of the young painter. She at once recalled the figure of a
loiterer whom, being curious, she had frequently observed, believing
him to be a new neighbor.

"You see how love has inspired me," said the artist in the timid
creature's ear, and she stood in dismay at the words.

She found supernatural courage to enable her to push through the crowd
and join her cousin, who was still struggling with the mass of people
that hindered her from getting to the picture.

"You will be stifled!" cried Augustine. "Let us go."

But there are moments, at the Salon, when two women are not always
free to direct their steps through the galleries. By the irregular
course to which they were compelled by the press, Mademoiselle