The two clerks, trying to run away in order to escape the effects of the Gascon's wrath, collided with two women from the market, who pushed them away with so much force that Monsieur Plumard fell to the ground, and, to put the finish to his misfortunes, he lost his cap in the fall, so that that youthful head was disclosed to view, already almost bald, having only a narrow band of vegetation left, just above the ears. A general laugh arose, and the merriment was increased by the furious manner in which the unfortunate clerk ran through the crowd on all fours, looking between every pair of legs, and shouting: "My cap! my cap! don't step on it!" XIX TWO MEN ON ALL FOURS Ambroisine laughed like the rest when she saw Monsieur Plumard's bald head. She turned toward her friend, to see if she had noticed that sight; but she was thunderstruck by the strange expression presented by Bathilde's face at that moment. The charming girl seemed happy and confused at the same time. Her eyes, half lowered, but in such wise that she could look out of the corners, were more brilliant than usual. Her cheeks wore a deeper flush, her mouth was half open in a smile. All this was not natural; and Ambroisine, with the knowledge that she possessed of the human heart, tried to discover what could cause her friend's emotion. Thereupon Master Hugonnet's daughter saw at Bathilde's left a young man wrapped in a cloak, his head covered by a broad-brimmed hat adorned with waving plumes, and beneath that hat a very comely face, haughty and distinguished, but most seductive when it chose to take the trouble, and that is what it was doing at that moment. "Mon Dieu! it is Comte Léodgard!" said Ambroisine to herself, as she recognized the young man who held Bathilde as if fascinated by the eloquence of his glance; and almost instantly, as if she divined the danger that threatened her friend, she seized her arm and shook it, saying: "Well, well! what is the matter? what are you thinking about, Bathilde? I speak to you, and you do not answer!" "I, Ambroisine? oh! forgive me! I did not hear you." "You seem confused, excited; has anyone been pushing you or incommoding you? would you like to take my other arm?" "Oh, no! no! nobody has troubled me; nothing is the matter." "But I say that there is; it is that young gentleman beside you, who keeps his eyes on you all the time! It is intolerable, isn't it?" "Oh! it doesn't trouble me; just look at him, Ambroisine, without seeming to; you will see what a handsome man that gentleman is." "I don't need to look at him again; I know him perfectly well!" "You know him?" Before Ambroisine had had time to reply, Léodgard, who had recognized the _belle baigneuse_ in her whose arm was passed through that of the girl who had taken his fancy, quickly stepped toward her and accosted her with his most affable air: