Musing thus, I reached my abode. It had seemed a short walk to me. To be sure, the weather was magnificent; the moon was quite as fine as on the preceding night; but my thoughts were not upon the firmament. I was on the point of knocking, when a person who was sitting on the bench near the porte cochère rose quickly and came toward me. "Ah! here you are, Monsieur Dorsan; I was waiting for you." I recognized my little flower girl, whom the sight of Mademoiselle Caroline had banished from my memory. She had not forgotten me; she was waiting for me in the street! and it was nearly twelve o'clock! "How long have you been here, Nicette?" "Since nine o'clock, monsieur." "Why did you wait so long for me?" "Oh! monsieur, please forgive me, but I couldn't stand it; I wanted to thank you again, and tell you what I have done with my money." "My dear girl, that wasn't necessary; I am sure that you are behaving as you ought." "Don't you like it because I waited for you, monsieur? If you don't, I'll go away----" I knew by the sound of her voice that she was ready to weep. Had I spoken harshly to her? She was going away with a heavy heart, but I took her hand and detained her. She heaved a deep sigh. Poor Nicette! could it be for me? If so, I pitied her. In truth, I did not deserve to be loved by a sensitive, faithful heart; and yet, I wanted women to adore me and to be faithful to me: reconcile the two, if you can. "Come, my dear Nicette, tell me all you have done since last night?" "Won't it bore you, monsieur?" "No, of course not; don't you know that I am interested in everything that concerns you?" "Oh, monsieur! if you--but here goes: in the first place, I went home to my mother's, because, after all, she is my mother, and, although she turned me out of doors, I still owe her respect." "That is true; you did very well. How did Madame Jérôme receive you?" "Very badly, monsieur! oh! very badly! She didn't so much as ask me where I'd passed the night. But she proposed to me again to marry Beauvisage, and said that then she'd forgive what she called my _caravanes_.[A] Has there been any _caravanes_ between you and me, monsieur?" [A] In French slang, "love adventures." "Certainly not; and then?" "Oh! I refused; because, when it comes to marriage, I'm obstinate, too. Then she beat me again, and that time you wasn't there to stop her." I could not restrain a smile at the artless way in which Nicette reminded me of the blow I had received in her behalf; but I was distressed by Madame Jérôme's hard-heartedness: to think of turning her daughter out of doors, beating her, and abandoning her, utterly without resource, at the age when the simplest and often the only means of support are to be found in prostitution! Ah! there are mothers unworthy of the name! "Well, Nicette?"