TOWARD the close of the Restoration, a young man from Besançon, Frederic Hombert by name, came to Paris to study law. His family was not rich and made him only a modest allowance. But as he was very careful, a little was sufficient. He roomed in the Latin quarter so as to be near his work. His tastes and inclinations were so sedentary that he hardly ever visited the promenades, the squares and the monuments, which, in Paris, are the chief objects of curiosity to the stranger. The society of some young men with whom he was thrown in contact at the Law School and a few houses whose doors had been opened to him by letters of introduction, were his only distractions. He kept up a regular correspondence with his parents and sent them word of his success in examinations as he passed them. After having worked assiduously for three years, at length, the time arrived for him to become an advocate. He had only to write his thesis, and had already fixed the time for his return to Besançon, when an unexpected event for a time disturbed his plans.
He lived in the Rue de la Harpe, on the third floor, and on his window sill were some flowers which he looked after carefully. While watering them one morning, at a window opposite him, he noticed a young girl who bagan to laugh. She watched him so gaily and openly that he could not help nodding his head. She graciously returned his salutation, and from this moment they became accustomed to wish each other "good morning" every day from one side of the street to the other. One day, when Frederic had risen earlier than usual, after having saluted his neighbor, he took a sheet of paper which he folded in the form of a letter and showed it to the girl, as if to ask if he could write to her. But she shook her head as a sign of refusal and disappeared as though offended.