The old woman escorted the strangers to their rooms, showing them every courtesy. As they passed through a passageway they met the fair Cecilia, who bowed pleasantly to the young Frenchman. Whereupon Bertrand heaved a sigh and thought: "This is the economy the lieutenant mentioned!" The travellers being installed in their apartment, Signora Falenza left them, saying: "When you gentlemen wish for anything, you need only come to my room; my niece and I will hasten to offer our services." "In that case," thought Auguste, "I hope that I shall frequently have occasion to seek them." Bertrand inspected the two rooms, and at each object that he examined, frowned and muttered: "This is very nice!" "Isn't it, Bertrand?" "Yes, indeed! a wretched bed and no pillows!" "So much the better! we will go and ask for one." "Two broken chairs!" "So much the better! I'll go and change them." "Closets that won't lock!" "Bah! they're good enough for what we have to put in them." "A desk that I can't find any key to!" "I'll go and ask the ladies for it." "Not a candlestick on the mantel!" "The ladies will give us one." "Not even a jar of water." "Perhaps it isn't the custom in the country." "Well! it's a very clean custom that don't allow a person to wash his hands! In fact, monsieur, we lack everything here." "We shall lack nothing if we ask the ladies for it." "The ladies! the ladies!" "And the low rent, Bertrand--don't you take that into account?" "If there wasn't anybody but the old landlady in the house, you wouldn't have been tempted to come here to live." "That may be; but if I can enjoy the company of a pretty woman, and at the same time reduce my expenses, it seems to me, Bertrand, that you can't object to that." Bertrand said no more; he went into a corner and filled his pipe, and as it was growing dark, Auguste went to his landladies' room to ask for a light. The old lady was absent, but her niece was there, and our Frenchman, overjoyed at the opportunity of a tête-à-tête with the fair Cecilia, sat down beside the young woman, who seemed less shy at home than on the street, and who replied with a smile to the soft avowals that he addressed to her. The conversation lasted until very late. Auguste forgot Bertrand, who was without a light; he was in a fair way to forget a great many things, but Signora Falenza returned and by her presence revived his memory. He went up to his own room; Bertrand had thrown himself on the bed and was asleep. Auguste did not think it best to wake him, and he too fell asleep, his mind full of the fascinating Cecilia's image, convinced that he had never been more comfortably bedded.