"It is not as it used to be," said Claude, with a mournful smile, "when I walked by your side day after day."
Mimi sighed, and said nothing.
"It is different with you," said Claude; "you are the centre of universal admiration, and everybody pays you attention. The time never passes heavily with you; but think of me—miserable, obscure, friendless!"
Mimi turned, and looked at him with such a piteous face that Claude stopped short. Her eyes were fixed on his with tender melancholy and reproach. They were filled with tears.
"And do you really believe that?" she said—"that the time never passes heavily with me? It has been a sad time ever since I came here. Think how short a time it is since poor, dear papa left me! Do you think I can have the heart for much enjoyment?"
"Forgive me," said Claude, deeply moved; "I had forgotten; I did not think what I was saying; I was too selfish."
"That is true," said Mimi. "While you were suffering from loneliness, you should have thought that I, too, was suffering, even in the midst of the crowd. But what are they all to me? They are all strangers. It is my friends that I want to see; and you are away, and the good Père Michel never comes!"
"Were you lonely on the road?" asked Claude.
"Never," said Mimi, innocently, "after you came."
As she said this, a flush passed over her lovely face, and she looked away confused. Claude seized her hand, and pressed it to his lips. They then walked on in silence for some time. At last Claude spoke again.