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Mrs Pontellier had brought her sketching materials, which she sometimes

dabbled with in an unprofessional way She liked the dabbling She felt

in it satisfaction of a kind which no other e wished to try herself on Mada subject than at that lea

her splendid color

Robert crossed over and seated himself upon the step below Mrs

Pontellier, that he ht watch her work She handled her brushes with

a certain ease and freedo and close

acquaintance with them, but from a natural aptitude Robert followed her

ith close attention, giving forth little ejaculatory expressions

of appreciation in French, which he addressed to Madanolle

"Mais ce n'est pashis oblivious attention he once quietly rested his head against

Mrs Pontellier's arain he

repeated the offense She could not but believe it to be thoughtlessness

on his part; yet that was no reason she should subain to repulse hiy The picture coreatly disappointed to find that it did not look

like her But it was a fair enough piece of work, and in

Mrs Pontellier evidently did not think so After surveying the sketch