Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive) [Illustration: fontispiece _VIOLETTE RESISTS JÉRICOURT_ _Violette’s hands were active and strong; she put one of them to her persecutor’s face and dug her nails in so far that the blood flowed freely, and the pain forced the young man to relax his hold._] NOVELS BY Paul de Kock VOLUME XV THE FLOWER GIRL OF THE CHÂTEAU D’EAU VOL. I PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH [Illustration: colophon] GEORGE BARRIE’S SONS THE JEFFERSON PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK _Copyrighted, 1903-1904, by G. B. & Sons._ THE FLOWER GIRL OF THE CHÂTEAU D’EAU I PAPA’S BIRTHDAY It was the month of May in the year 1853--you see that our subject is not lost in the night of time--it was a Monday and there was a flower market on Boulevard Saint-Martin, in front, or rather on both sides of the Château d’Eau. The booths of the dealers extended as far as Rue de Lancry, a favor which had been only recently accorded to the flower girls, but upon which the passers-by had as much reason to congratulate themselves as the dealers and the people of that portion of the quarter. Is there anything more delightful to the eye than flowers? What is there which charms the sight and pleases the sense of smell more? Are there people who do not love flowers? If you should tell me that there were, I would not believe it. The weather was fine, which was a rare occurrence during that spring, as you must remember as well as I. The sun had deigned to show himself, and people were very grateful to him, because the sun for the last few years had become too high and mighty a prince in France; he no longer condescended to mingle with the people, he showed himself too rarely to the inhabitants of this part of the globe. And yet, although we do not adore him on our knees, like the Incas, we take no less pleasure in seeing him, in feeling the pleasant warmth of his beams, and although we are great friends of invention and of progress, we have not yet found anything to replace the sun. There were therefore many people on the boulevards, and particularly near the flower market; everyone was anxious to take advantage of a fine day, not being certain of another on the morrow; and everybody was sensible: fine weather, pleasure and happiness we must seize you when you come to us, and never say: “I will wait till to-morrow.”