The Necklace

She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs.

He stuttered:—

18



What’s the matter?

53



She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman’s heart.

The sight of the little girl from Brittany who did her humble housework awoke in her desolated regrets and distracted dreams.

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“No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women.”

She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace.

She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five o’clock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired.

Since midnight—her husband has been dozing in a little anteroom with three other men whose wives were having a good time.