--she had not caught the elegance of manner or learned the art of
conversation, abounding in words and devoid of ideas, which is current
in fashionable drawing-rooms; on the other hand, she worked hard to
gain the knowledge indispensable to a mother whose chief ambition is
to bring up her children well. Never to lose sight of her boy, to give
him from the cradle that training of every minute which impresses on
the young a love of all that is good and beautiful, to shelter him
from every evil influence and fulfil both the painful duties of a
nurse and the tender offices of a mother,--these were her chief
pleasures.

The coy and gentle being had from the first day so fully resigned
herself never to step beyond the enchanted sphere where she found all
her happiness, that, after six years of the tenderest intimacy, she
still knew her lover only by the name of Roger. A print of the picture
of the Psyche lighting her lamp to gaze on Love in spite of his
prohibition, hung in her room, and constantly reminded her of the
conditions of her happiness. Through all these six years her humble
pleasures had never importuned Roger by a single indiscreet ambition,
and his heart was a treasure-house of kindness. Never had she longed
for diamonds or fine clothes, and had again and again refused the
luxury of a carriage which he had offered her. To look out from her
balcony for Roger's cab, to go with him to the play or make excursions
with him, on fine days in the environs of Paris, to long for him, to
see him, and then to long again,--these made up the history of her
life, poor in incidents but rich in happiness.

As she rocked the infant, now a few months old, on her knee, singing
the while, she allowed herself to recall the memories of the past. She
lingered more especially on the months of September, when Roger was