Her
cousin succeeded in the negotiations she opened with Madame Guillaume
for permission to release the young girl for two hours from her dull
labors. Augustine was thus able to make her way through the crowd to
see the crowned work. A fit of trembling shook her like an aspen leaf
as she recognized herself. She was terrified, and looked about her to
find Madame Roguin, from whom she had been separated by a tide of
people. At that moment her frightened eyes fell on the impassioned
face of the young painter. She at once recalled the figure of a
loiterer whom, being curious, she had frequently observed, believing
him to be a new neighbor.
"You see how love has inspired me," said the artist in the timid
creature's ear, and she stood in dismay at the words.
She found supernatural courage to enable her to push through the crowd
and join her cousin, who was still struggling with the mass of people
that hindered her from getting to the picture.
"You will be stifled!" cried Augustine. "Let us go."
But there are moments, at the Salon, when two women are not always
free to direct their steps through the galleries. By the irregular
course to which they were compelled by the press, Mademoiselle
Guillaume and her cousin were pushed to within a few steps of the
second picture. Chance thus brought them, both together, to where they
could easily see the canvas made famous by fashion, for once in
agreement with talent. Madame Roguin's exclamation of surprise was
lost in the hubbub and buzz of the crowd; Augustine involuntarily shed
tears at the sight of this wonderful study.
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