Chapter 5
It took Clifford a month to entirely recover, although at the
end of the first week he was pronounced convalescent by Elliott,
who was an authority, and his convalescence was aided by the
cordiality with which Rue Barrée acknowledged his solemn salutes.
Forty times a day he blessed Rue Barrée for her refusal, and
thanked his lucky stars, and at the same time, oh, wondrous heart
of ours!—he suffered the tortures of the blighted.
Elliott was annoyed, partly by Clifford's reticence, partly by
the unexplainable thaw in the frigidity of Rue Barrée. At their
frequent encounters, when she, tripping along the rue de Seine,
with music-roll and big straw hat would pass Clifford and his
familiars steering an easterly course to the Café Vachette, and at
the respectful uncovering
