He contented himself with the belief that the most vigorous natures are the most difficult to rouse.

Mademoiselle Cerise sang, with chic and abandon very fascinating to his own sensuous nature, a song with a charming air and sentiment.

It was after a night at the opera when they had seen her in "Lucia," and the contrast, as she sang in his garden, softly lighted, showed her at the most attractive angles.

She drifted from a sparkling chanson to the delicate pathos of a song of De Musset's.
Gaston responded to the artist; but to the woman--no.

He had seen a new life, even in its abandon, polite, fresh.