The two cousins hesitated an instant before entering, for the widely opened glazed doors afforded a view right through the gallery--a view of a surging sea of heads, which two currents, as it were, kept in a continuous eddying movement.

But they entered after all.

Five or six groups of men, talking very loudly and gesticulating, were obstinately discussing the play amid these violent interruptions; others were filing round, their heels, as they turned, sounding sharply on the waxed floor.
To right and left, between columns of variegated imitation marble, women were sitting on benches covered with red velvet and viewing the passing movement of the crowd with an air of fatigue as though the heat had rendered them languid.

In the lofty mirrors behind them one saw the reflection of their chignons.

At the end of the room, in front of the bar, a man with a huge corporation was drinking a glass of fruit syrup.
But Fauchery, in order to breathe more freely, had gone to the balcony.
La Faloise, who was studying the photographs of actresses hung in frames alternating with the mirrors between the columns, ended by following him.