The pedestrians, too, were very numerous; for winter costumes have a charm of their own, and the cloaks and furs in which a pretty woman wraps herself sometimes form an admirable foil for delicate features or dainty graces: the flowers we find under the snow seem fairer than others. You need not cry out--there are flowers under the snow. My own attire was irreproachable, and I flattered myself that it was in excellent taste. I strolled along, beaming with anticipation, toward the appointed place. There were many people seated, but I soon spied her I sought. Armantine was there, with two ladies whom I recognized as having seen among her guests. The three vied with one another in elegance. I approached them and bowed, as if the meeting were accidental. Madame Sordeville welcomed me with the sweetest glance, pointing to a chair by her side. We exchanged the customary greetings, and I seated myself beside Armantine. "So you are not afraid of the cold?" she said laughingly. "When ladies defy it, what would you think of me if I were afraid of it?" "And then," said one of her companions, "if we had to pass the whole winter indoors, for fear of the cold, I fancy we should not be very fresh in the spring." The ladies criticised the costumes and equipages of those who passed, and I put in a word or two now and then. But I was rather distraught, for I was dreaming of the happiness which I hoped for and expected, and I was counting the minutes. My plan was already formed. There are some excellent restaurants on the Champs-Élysées, with charming private rooms into which one can slip without being seen. If she refused to go to a restaurant, there were plenty of cabs; I had only to hire one with blinds and tell the driver to take us outside the walls. I glanced at Armantine from time to time and motioned toward her two companions, murmuring under my breath words which she understood; for she whispered: "Be patient a while." At last, about three o'clock, Madame Gerbancourt said to her sister: "We must be thinking about going home, for we are to have company to-day, you know.--Are you going soon, my dear?" This question was addressed to Armantine, who replied: "Madame Dauberny promised to join me here, and I shall wait for her. If Monsieur Rochebrune will honor me with his company till she comes, it will be very kind of him. It is putting his good nature to a severe test, but we have only one cavalier, and I must make the most of him." I hastened to reply that I was entirely at her service; my heart beat fast with joy, for I thought that the two sisters were going away at last. But the younger said, as she drew her cloak about her: "Oh! we have time enough; it isn't three o'clock. Your people won't come so early; we don't dine at three!" "But they are provincials, my dear, and they think it's more polite to come and bore us two hours ahead of time." "So much the worse for them! I am going to stay here until my watch says three o'clock."