But a change came over the spirit of the paralytic's dream. In the Rue
St. Louis, close to Scarron's, lived a certain Madame Neuillant, who
visited him as a neighbour, and one day excited his curiosity by the
romantic history of a mother and daughter, who had long lived in
Martinique, who had been ruined by the extravagance and follies of a
reprobate husband and father; and were now living in great poverty--the
daughter being supported by Madame de Neuillant herself. The
good-natured cripple was touched by this story, and begged his neighbour
to bring the unhappy ladies to one of his parties. The evening came; the
abbe was, as usual, surrounded by a circle of lady wits, dressed in the
last fashions, flaunting their fans, and laughing merrily at his
sallies. Madame de Neuillant was announced, and entered, followed by a
simply-dressed lady, with the melancholy face of one broken-down by
misfortunes, and a pretty girl of fifteen. The contrast between the
new-comers and the fashionable _habituees_ around him at once struck the
abbe. The girl was not only badly, but even shabbily dressed, and the
shortness of her gown showed that she had grown out of it, and could not
afford a new one.
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