A Parisian Romance — page 153: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

144 A PARISIAN ROMANCE. guised admiration he expressed. As their very bread and butter depended upon his good will, she was powerless to resent his half-vailed innuendoes, and it was with a feeling of disgust and anger that she recognized this fact. Juliani, too, came frequently to see her. His admiration for her voice had been genuine, he really believed that she would be a success upon the operatic stage, and to induce her to join him in his coming American tour did not seem as impossi- ble now as formerly. He played his cards very skillfully, painted to her in the most brilliant colors the triumphs she was sure to secure, the delights of being the idol of the public, and the showers of golden ducats that would be poured into her lap. Marcelle had at first laughed at him; she knew that Henri would never consent, and the whole idea seemed to her chimerical. But, little by little, she became fascinated by the glittering prospect. Why should she not make use of the talents that Heaven had given her? Why should she not raise the family out of the depths into which they had been plunged? It was ungenerous of Henri to be so stubborn, it was unkind, cruel! Over and over, she pictured to herself the charm of such a life, the joy of being delivered from this dull, monotonous exist- ence she was forced to endure, and she ended, so dangerous is it to live upon the imagination, by becoming completely converted to Signor Juliani’s views. Her aunt, whom she made her confidante, Gomicbooks.Eo