He thought the word grotesque, and, in a measure, unbecoming on her lips.
Wide straps ran from one end of the ceiling to the other, so as to roll themselves round the drums, and everything kept moving continuously with a provoking mathematical regularity.
They left the spot, and passed close to a ruined hut, which had formerly been used as a repository for gardening implements.
"It is no longer of any use," said Madame Arnoux.
He replied in a tremulous voice:
"Happiness may have been associated with it!"
The clacking of the fire-pump drowned his words, and they entered the workshop where rough drafts were made.
Some men, seated at a narrow table, placed each in front of himself on a revolving disc a piece of paste. Then each man with his left hand scooped out the insides of his own piece while smoothing its surface with the right; and vases could be seen bursting into shape like blossoming flowers.
Madame Arnoux had the moulds for more difficult works shown to him.
In another portion of the building, the threads, the necks, and the projecting lines were being formed. On the floor above, they removed the seams, and stopped up with plaster the little holes that had been left by the preceding operations.