"Oho! then it was for me that you made this toilet. You look very well; and I--this cap--do you think that it is becoming to me? I look a little tired, do I not? They absolutely insisted upon making me dance last night.--But what ails you, my child? One would say that you were not listening to me; you seem distraught." "Ah! madame, it is because----" "Because what? finish your sentence." "Since I had the honor to see you last, I have learned something about----" "About what?" "About my birth, about my family." "Your family; you told me that you were an abandoned child." "True, madame; but someone who knew my nurse has told me several things which may help me, they say, to find my parents." "Really--I think I will put on a blue ribbon instead of a pink one, it will look better.--Were you not left at the Foundling Hospital in Paris?" "No, madame, I was born in Paris, but I was given in charge of a nurse, who came from Picardie, and who went back to her province at once." Madame de Grangeville ceased to toy with her cap and said to Mademoiselle Lizida, who was putting the room in order: "Leave us, go.--You were saying that your nurse lived in Picardie?" "Yes, madame." "What was her name?" "Marguerite Thomasseau." "Marguerite--are you sure that her name was Marguerite?" "Yes, madame." "And--and you--what name did your parents give you?" "The gentleman who placed me in my nurse's hands--she did not know whether he was my father, but she presumed that he was--told her that my name was Evelina de Paulausky." Madame de Grangeville moved suddenly on her chair; but instead of approaching Violette, she drew away from her; one would have thought that she was afraid of the girl. The latter waited anxiously to hear what the lady was going to say to her; but several moments, which seemed very long, passed, and not a word fell from the lips of Madame de Grangeville, whose head had fallen on her breast, and who seemed to be absorbed in her reflections. Violette decided to continue. "That is not all, madame," she said; "it seems that when he placed me in charge of my nurse, instead of giving her a _layette_, he gave her some men's clothes, among which there was a handkerchief belonging to my mother. "Aha! did he say that?" "Yes, the gentleman said so when he gave it to my nurse; and she always kept it, hoping that it might enable me some day to make myself known to her who brought me into the world." "Well! and that handkerchief----" "It was given to me to-day; here it is--would you like to look at it, madame?"