"The ex-beau carries the day!" said the photographer; "he is rich and fashionable, and such advantages seduce these little girls, who are immensely flattered by hanging on a dandy's arm." "And then, he's very good-looking still," said the miniature painter. "I can understand that he may have taken the little one's fancy. These girls have a surprising taste for mature men." "The Lovelace of the first floor must have put out some money," said the two men of letters; "he's dressed the little neighbor from top to toe. Women can always be caught by flattering their coquetry." "And we couldn't offer her all that!" "It's very strange! this Mardeille has the reputation of being a stingy curmudgeon with women." "That's a report that he spreads himself, so as to get all the more credit." The young doctor said nothing; he simply sighed, as he thought: "She hasn't even had a cold!" Monsieur Bistelle was furious, for she had received his bouquets and had not received him, and had met all his propositions with a refusal, although they were most alluring. And so, when he saw Georgette pass in her new attire, he cried: "Bah! cheap stuff! Why, that shawl isn't a cashmere, nor even a Lyon; that dress isn't silk; that bonnet didn't come from one of our leading milliners! It's all trumpery; anyone can see that at a glance. I'd have dressed the girl a hundred times better; she's a fool to prefer that Mardeille, who never knew what it was to be generous to a woman!" This gentleman did not reflect that he himself was very ugly, whereas his rival was still very comely; but that is one of the things that one never considers. Moreover, we are so accustomed to our own faces that we never deem ourselves unattractive. Even Monsieur Renardin, the old bachelor, made a very pronounced grimace when he saw Georgette pass; especially as Mademoiselle Arthémise, his maid-servant, did not fail to say, with a sneer: "See, there goes your flame on the arm of the Joconde of the first floor! I advise you to send boxes of candied fruits to such hussies! The shirtmaker snaps her fingers at you." "In the first place, Arthémise, you're talking nonsense; that young woman didn't receive any candied fruit from me, as you ate it all." "Thank God! I was on hand to stop it as it passed--or else she would have got it. It's very lucky that I ate it, you see. I suppose you think that mincing thing would have put the box on her head to go out with you, don't you? Oh! she's a sly one! She's bleeding the ex-young man of the first floor; she's quite right, for he's a skinflint with women, they say; he's getting what he deserves."