At sight of the grisette, his face brightened up, and assumed an expression of affectionate benevolence. He had always been struck with the grace, gentility, and touching goodness with which Rigolette consoled Germain when she came to converse with him. Germain, on his part, was no ordinary prisoner. His reserve, his mildness, his sadness, inspired interest in the prison officials; an interest they were careful not to show him, for fear of exposing him to the bad treatment of his vicious companions, who, as we have shown, regarded him with suspicious hatred. It rained in torrents, but thanks to her overshoes and umbrella, Rigolette had courageously braved the wind and rain. "What a horrible day, my poor girl!" said the guardian to her, kindly. "You must have had a good deal of courage to come out such a time as this, at least!" "When one is thinking all along the way of the pleasure they are going to give a poor prisoner, one does not pay much attention to the weather, sir!" "I have no need to ask you whom you come to see?" "Surely not. And how is my poor Germain?" "My dear, I have seen many prisoners; they were sad, one or two days, but by degrees they fell in with the rest, and the most sorrowful at first often became the most gay. Germain is not so; he appears to grow sadder every day." "It is this that troubles me." "When I am on service in the yards, I watch him out of the corner of my eye; he is always alone. I have already told you, you should advise him not to act thus, but to speak to his comrades, otherwise he will become their butt. The yards are watched, but--a blow is soon struck!" "Oh, sir! is there still more danger for him?" cried Rigolette. "Not precisely; but the knaves see he is not one of them, and they hate him because he appears honest and proud." "Yet I have advised him to do what you have told me, sir; to endeavor to converse with the least wicked; but it is too much for him; he cannot overcome his repugnance." "He is wrong--wrong; a quarrel is soon got up." "Can he not be separated from the others?" "Since I have noticed two or three days ago their evil intentions toward him, I have advised him to take a room by himself." "Well?" "I did not think of one thing. A whole range of cells are comprised in the repairs now going on in the prison, and the others are occupied." "But these bad men are capable of killing him!" cried Rigolette, with her eyes filled with tears. "If by chance he had some persons interested in his fate, what could they do for him, sir?" "Nothing more than to obtain what the prisoners can obtain themselves by paying money--a separate cell." "Alas! then he is lost, if they hate him in the prison." "Don't disturb yourself; he shall be watched closely. But I repeat, my dear, counsel him to be a little familiar with them; only the first step costs!" "I will recommend him to do this with all my strength, sir; but for a good and honest heart it is hard to be familiar with such people."