ACT IV
"At that period, indeed, for some time past, the friends had led lonely lives.
"Musetta had once more become a sort of semi-official personage; for three or four months Marcel had never met her.
"And Mimi, too, no word of her had Rudolph ever heard except when he talked about her to himself when he was alone.
"One day, as Marcel furtively kissed a bunch of ribbons that Musetta had left behind, he saw Rudolph hiding away a bonnet, that same pink bonnet which Mimi had forgotten.
"'Good!' muttered Marcel, 'he's as craven-hearted as I am.'"
* * * * *
"A gay life, yet a terrible one."