But all this eagerness on the part of the public irritated Lucy Stewart.

What brutes were these people to be pushing women like that! She stayed in the rear of them all with Caroline Hequet and her mother.

The entrance hall was now empty, while beyond it was still heard the long-drawn rumble of the boulevard.
"As though they were always funny, those pieces of theirs!" Lucy kept repeating as she climbed the stair.
In the house Fauchery and La Faloise, in front of their stalls, were gazing about them anew.

By this time the house was resplendent.

High jets of gas illumined the great glass chandelier with a rustling of yellow and rosy flames, which rained down a stream of brilliant light from dome to floor.