its brilliant colors being crossed upon the bosom showed the spring of
the neck,--its whiteness contrasting delightfully against the tones of
a guipure lace which lay upon her shoulders. Her eyes and their long
black lashes added at this moment to the expression of curiosity which
puckered her pretty mouth. On the forehead, which was well modelled,
an observer would have noticed a roundness characteristic of the true
Parisian woman,--self-willed, merry, well-informed, but inaccessible
to vulgar seductions. Her hands, which were almost transparent, were
hanging down at the end of each arm of her chair; the tapering
fingers, slightly turned up at their points, showed nails like
almonds, which caught the light. Adam smiled at his wife's impatience,
and looked at her with a glance which two years of married life had
not yet chilled. Already the little countess had made herself mistress
of the situation, for she scarcely paid attention to her husband's
admiration. In fact, in the look which she occasionally cast at him,
there seemed to be the consciousness of a Frenchwoman's ascendancy
over the puny, volatile, and red-haired Pole.

"Here comes Paz," said the count, hearing a step which echoed through
the gallery.

The countess beheld a tall and handsome man, well-made, and bearing on
his face the signs of pain which come of inward strength and secret
endurance of sorrow. He wore one of those tight, frogged overcoats
which were then called "polonaise." Thick, black hair, rather unkempt,
covered his square head, and Clementine noticed his broad forehead
shining like a block of white marble, for Paz held his visored cap in
his hand. The hand itself was like that of the Infant Hercules. Robust
health flourished on his face, which was divided by a large Roman nose
and reminded Clementine of some handsome Transteverino. A black silk