Madame d'Estrelle realized all these things for the first time, and was deeply impressed by them. Little _Juliot_, who was so called to distinguish him from Master Julien, whose godson he was, had an interesting face. He was a funny little rascal, with a shrewd face, turned-up nose, keen eye and sly mouth, and had the artless and cunning self-possession of a schoolboy in vacation. Had he been disguised as a great nobleman, he would never have been confounded with the too pretty and too polished little men who are all covered with the same aristocratic varnish. Juliot had his coating of caste, to be sure, but of that peculiar shading which the bourgeoise mind does not seek to efface, because in that social stratum every one has to exist by his own exertions, and to make a place for himself with the aid of the means which are at his command. Thus the child had the biting wit, combined with a certain innocent curiosity, which denoted the freshly ground Parisian, inquisitive and loquacious, credulous and shrewd all at once. In order not to expose Madame d'Estrelle's name to the possible consequences of his chatter in the office, he had been told that she was a client from the country newly arrived in Paris, who had never been to the theatre before; and, as Julie enjoyed questioning him, he did the honors of the capital city and the stage, between the acts. He pointed out the king's box to her, and the pit and the chandelier; he even explained the play and the relative importance of all the characters. "You are going to see a beautiful play," he informed her before the curtain rose. "Perhaps you won't understand it very well, because it's in poetry. I have read it with my godfather Julien, and he explained it all to me just as if it was in prose. When you don't understand, mademoiselle, you must ask me." "You chatter like a magpie," said his mother. "Don't you suppose madame knows Corneille better than you do?" "Oh! perhaps she does; but I don't believe she knows as much as my godfather!" "Much madame cares about your godfather's knowledge! You fancy that the whole world knows him!" "Oh well! if you don't know him," said Juliot to Madame d'Estrelle, "I'll show him to you. He isn't far away, you know!" "What!" said Marcel, much annoyed, "is he here? do you see him?" "Yes, I've seen him quite awhile. He likes _Polyeucte_ so much! He has seen it more than ten times, I am sure! See, look in the pit, the third row. His back is turned to us; but I recognize him, _pardi!_ He has on his black coat and his _chapeau à gances._"