That is an earnest promise that her flesh is quite firm, even at thirty!" A whole draft of youth intoxicated him.

Durtal, astonished, took a look at himself in the mirror.

His tired eyes brightened, his face seemed more youthful, less worn.

"Lucky I had just shaved," he said to himself.
But gradually, as he mused, he saw in this mirror, which he was so little in the habit of consulting, his features droop and his eyes lose their sparkle.

His stature, which had seemed to increase in this spiritual upheaval, diminished again.