The round table whereat we dined was spread inside the open door which led to the garden, so that the October sunshine fell full on the spotless linen and quaint old plate, and the fresh balmy air filled the room with the scent of sweet herbs.

Louis served us with the mien of a major-domo, and set on each dish as though it had been a peacock or a mess of ortolans.

The woods provided the larger portion of our meal; the garden did its part; the confections Mademoiselle had cooked with her own hand.
By-and-by, as the meal went on, as Louis trod to and fro across the polished floor, and the last insects of summer hummed sleepily outside, and the two gracious faces continued to smile at me out of the gloom--for the ladies sat with their backs to the door--I began to dream again, I began to sink again into folly, that was half-pleasure, half-pain.

The fury of the gaming-house and the riot of Zaton's seemed far away.

The triumphs of the fencing-room--even they grew cheap and tawdry.