The vast silence of the horizon, the sleepy tranquillity of the
evening captured heart, body, and voice. There are peaceful, chosen
hours when it becomes almost impossible to talk.

The servants waited on them noiselessly. The firmamental
conflagration faded away, and the soft night spread its shadows over
the earth.

"Are you going to stay long in this place?" asked Saval.

And the Marquise answered, dwelling on each word: "Yes, as long as I
am happy."

As it was too dark to see, lamps were brought. They cast upon the
table a strange, pale gleam beneath the great obscurity of space;
and very soon a shower of gnats fell upon the tablecloth--the tiny
gnats which immolate themselves by passing over the glass chimneys,
and, with wings and legs scorched, powder the table linen, dishes,
and cups with a kind of gray and hopping dust.

They swallowed them in the wine, they ate them in the sauces, they
saw them moving on the bread, and had their faces and hands tickled
by the countless swarm of these tiny insects. They were continually
compelled to throw away the beverages, to cover the plates, and
while eating to shield the food with infinite precautions.

It amused Yvette. Servigny took care to shelter what she bore to her
mouth, to guard her glass, to hold his handkerchief stretched out
over her head like a roof. But the Marquise, disgusted, became
nervous, and the end of the dinner came quickly. Yvette, who had not