Count Abel only accorded a wandering attention to either St.
Lucius or St.Lawrence.Scarcely had he made his way into the nave of the building, when he beheld something that appeared to him far more interesting than paintings or relics.

An English poet has said that at times there is revealed to us a glimpse of paradise in a woman's face, and it was such a rare blessing that was at this moment vouchsafed unto Count Larinski.

He was not a romantic man, and yet he remained for some moments motionless, rooted to the spot in admiration.

Was it a premonition of his destiny?
The fact is that, in beholding for the first time Mlle.

Antoinette Moriaz, for it was none other than she who thus riveted his attention, he experienced an inexplicable surprise, a thrilling of the heart, such as he never before had experienced.