This duty toward himself fulfilled, the young Count lounged on the terrace, as he had the evening before, and smoked his cigar.  Though it was near midday, it was doubtful to him whether the solitude and silence appeared less complete and oppressive than on the preceding night.  A hushed cackling of fowls, the drowsy hum of bees, and the muffled chime of a distant bell—­these were all the sounds to be heard.

Camors lounged on the terrace, dreaming of his club, of the noisy Paris crowd, of the rumbling omnibuses, of the playbill of the little kiosk, of the scent of heated asphalt—­and the memory of the least of these enchantments brought infinite peace to his soul.  The inhabitant of Paris has one great blessing, which he does not take into account until he suffers from its loss—­one great half of his existence is filled up without the least trouble to himself.  The all-potent vitality which ceaselessly envelops him takes away from him in a vast degree the exertion of amusing himself.  The roar of the city, rising like a great bass around him, fills up the gaps in his thoughts, and never leaves that disagreeable sensation—­a void.

There is no Parisian who is not happy in the belief that he makes all the noise he hears, writes all the books he reads, edits all the journals on which he breakfasts, writes all the vaudevilles on which he sups, and invents all the ‘bon mots’ he repeats.

But this flattering allusion vanishes the moment chance takes him a mile away from the Rue Vivienne.  The proof confounds him, for he is bored terribly, and becomes sick of himself.  Perhaps his secret soul, weakened and unnerved, may even be assailed by the suspicion that he is a feeble human creature after all!  But no!  He returns to Paris; the collective electricity again inspires him; he rebounds; he recovers; he is busy, keen to discern, active, and recognizes once more, to his intense satisfaction, that he is after all one of the elect of God’s creatures—­momentarily degraded, it may be, by contact with the inferior beings who people the departments.

Camors had within himself more resources than most men to conquer the blue-devils; but in these early hours of his experience in country life, deprived of his club, his horses, and his cook, banished from all his old haunts and habits, he began to feel terribly the weight of time.  He, therefore, experienced a delicious sensation when suddenly he heard that regular beat of hoofs upon the road which to his trained ear announced the approach of several riding-horses.  The next moment he saw advancing up his shaded avenue two ladies on horseback, followed by a groom with a black cockade.

Though quite amazed at this charming spectacle, Camors remembered his duty as a gentleman and descended the steps of the terrace.  But the two ladies, at sight of him, appeared as surprised as himself, suddenly drew rein and conferred hastily.  Then, recovering, they continued their way, traversed the lower court below the terraces, and disappeared in the direction of the lake.