Then, at a gesture from her mistress, she ran headlong down the steps of the portico.
"The devil is in her, Jacquelin," were the first words she uttered.
Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon.
The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon's return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of the excited old maid.

But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search of a bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures.

These extraordinary events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the minds of every one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was Monsieur de Valois.

Within two days the town of Alencon had been agitated by such startling events that certain good women were heard to remark that the world was coming to an end.

This last news, however, resolved itself into a single question, "What is happening at the Cormons ?" The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard's to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon to settle there.