When they arrived Madame Walter was alone in the little Louis XVI.
boudoir she had adopted for the reception of personal friends. Dressed
in black, she had powdered her hair, which rendered her charming. She
had the air at a distance of an old woman, and close at hand, of a young
one, and when one looked at her well, of a pretty snare for the eyes.
"You are in mourning?" inquired Madeleine.
She replied, sadly: "Yes, and no. I have not lost any relative. But I
have reached the age when one wears the mourning of one's life. I wear
it to-day to inaugurate it. In future I shall wear it in my heart."