People
come here to see and to be seen; and, moreover, this is neutral
ground, where so-called honest women can meet those notorious
characters from whom they are elsewhere separated by an impassable
abyss. What exquisite pleasure it must be to the dames of society
to find themselves beside Jenny Fancy or Ninette Simplon, or any
other of those young ladies whom they habitually call "creatures,"
but whom they are continually talking of, and whose toilettes,
make-up, and jargon, they assiduously copy!
However, Chupin indulged in none of these reflections. He was
engaged in noting Madame d'Argeles's evident anxiety and
restlessness. She looked eagerly on all sides, sometimes half
leaning out of her carriage, and immediately turning her head
whenever she heard the gallop of a horseman behind her. She was
evidently looking or waiting for some one, but the person did not
make his appearance, and so, growing weary of waiting, after
driving three times round the lake, she made a sign to her
coachman, who at once drew out of line, and turned his horse into
a side-path. Chupin hastened after the victoria, keeping it in
sight until he was fortunate enough to meet an empty cab, which he
at once hired. Madame d'Argeles's coachman, who had received his
orders, now drove down the Champs Elysees, again crossed the Place
de la Concorde, turned into the boulevards, and stopped short at
the corner of the Chaussee d'Antin, where, having tied a thick
veil over her face, Madame Lia abruptly alighted and walked away.
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