'
With this comfortable reflection he went into the house and was
shown into the drawing room by the servant. There were no lights in
the room, as it was not sufficiently dark for them, and Vandeloup
smiled as he saw a fire in the grate.
'My faith!' he said to himself, 'Madame is as chilly as ever.'
The servant had retired, and he was all by himself in this large
room, with the subdued twilight all through it, and the flicker of
the flames on the ceiling. He went to the fire more from habit than
anything else, and suddenly came on a big armchair, drawn up close
to the side, in which a woman was sitting.
'Ah! the sleeping beauty,' said Vandeloup, carelessly; 'in these
cases the proper thing to do in order to wake the lady is to kiss
her.'
He was, without doubt, an extremely audacious young man, and though
he did not know who the young lady was, would certainly have put his
design into execution, had not the white figure suddenly rose and
confronted him. The light from the fire was fair on her face, and
with a sudden start Vandeloup saw before him the girl he had ruined
and deserted.
'Bebe?' he gasped, recoiling a step.
'Yes!' said Kitty, in an agitated tone, 'your mistress and your
victim.'
'Bah!' said Gaston, coolly, having recovered from the first shock of
surprise. 'That style suits Sarah Bernhardt, not you, my dear. The
first act of this comedy is excellent, but it is necessary the
characters should know one another in order to finish the play.
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