The few passers-by whom he met on the boulevard strolled along quietly, without raising their heads.

Although he knew that when cities are wrapped in night the moist atmosphere often reflects the lights, becoming tinged with this uniform glow, which shines without a flicker, he fancied that he was looking at the reflection of a vast fire.

He accepted, without reflection, the idea that Paris was sinking into the abyss of a prodigious conflagration; he found it natural that the private catastrophe in which he had become involved should be merged into a public disaster and that this same night should be for a whole population, as for him! a night of sinister happenings.
Being extremely hungry, he took a cab at the barrier, and had himself driven to a restaurant in the Rue Royale.

In the bright, warm room he was conscious of a sense of well-being.

After ordering his meal, he opened an evening newspaper and saw, in the Parliamentary report, that his Minister had delivered a speech.