Zut; And Other Parisians (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... The Tuition of Dodo Chapuis HE situation was best summed up in the epigram of little Sacha Vitzoff, the sec ond secretary at the Russian Embassy, who said that there was room enough in Paris for two and a half millions of people and Gabrielle de Poirier, or for two and a half millions of people and Thais de Tremonceau, but that even the place de la Concorde was not sufficiently wide for Gabrielle and Thais to pass without treading on each others' toes. It was a rivalry of long standing, nourished by innumerable petty jealousies and carefully treasured affronts. Gabrielle was tall and very slender, with a clear, pale complexion, and hair of a curious dark bronze that in certain lights showed a hint of olive green. So Thais called her the Asparagus Woman -- la Femme Asperge. Thais was short and anything but slim, and brown of hair, eyes, and skin. So Gabrielle called her the Mud-Ball--la Boule de Boue. And neither appellation was pleasing to the object thereof. These two great luminaries of the Parisian demi-monde, blazing crimson with mutual jealousy, followed, for six months of the year, a kind of right-triangular orbit, comprising the restaurant of Armenonville, the race-course of Auteuil, and the Cafe' de Paris, and embracing divers other points of common interest, -- the Palais de Glace, of a Sunday afternoon, the tea-room of the Elyse'e Palace Hotel, the Folies-Marigny, the Salon, and the Horse-Show; and, individually, Gabrielle's apartment on the avenue Kleber, and Thais's little hotel on the rue de la Faisanderie. Between the last two, as regards situation, cost, and general equipment, there was not a straw's weight of difference, save in the estimation of their respective occupants. The apartment had been rented for a...