 I never go to extremes,« said his sister-in-law. And then, turning to
Madame de Bellegarde: »What were you calling me just now, madame?«
    »I called you a gad-about,« said the old lady. »But I might call you
something else, too.«
    »A gad-about? What an ugly word! What does it mean?«
    »A very beautiful person,« Newman ventured to say, seeing that it was in
French.
    »That is a pretty compliment but a bad translation,« said the young
marquise. And then, looking at him a moment: »Do you dance?«
    »Not a step.«
    »You are very wrong,« she said simply. And with another look at her back in
the mirror she turned away.
    »Do you like Paris?« asked the old lady, who was apparently wondering what
was the proper way to talk to an American.
    »Yes, rather,« said Newman. And then he added, with a friendly intonation:
»Don't you?«
    »I can't say I know it. I know my house - I know my friends - I don't know
Paris.«
    »Oh, you lose a great deal,« said Newman sympathetically.
    Madame de Bellegarde stared; it was presumably the first time she had been
condoled with on her losses.
    »I am content with what I have,« she said, with dignity.
    Newman's eyes, at this moment, were wandering round the room, which struck
him as rather sad and shabby; passing from the high casements, with their small
thickly-framed panes, to the sallow tints of two or three portraits in pastel,
of the last century, which hung between them. He ought obviously to have
answered that the contentment of his hostess was quite natural - she had a great
deal; but the idea did not occur to him during the pause of some moments which
followed.
    »Well, my dear mother,« said Valentin, coming and leaning against the
chimney-piece, »what do you think of my dear friend Newman? Is he not the
excellent fellow I told you?«
    »My acquaintance with Mr. Newman has not gone very far,« said Madame de
Bellegarde. »I can as yet only appreciate his great politeness.«
    »My mother is a great judge of these matters,« said Valentin to Newman. »If
you have satisfied her, it is a triumph.«
    »I hope I shall
