The following Monday, the 10th of October, a clear, victorious sun pierced the grey clouds which had darkened Paris during the previous week. It had drizzled all the previous night, a sort of watery mist, the humidity of which dirtied the streets; but in the early morning, thanks to the sharp wind which was driving the clouds away, the pavement had become drier, and the blue sky had a limpid, spring-like gaiety.
Thus The Ladies’ Paradise, after eight o’clock, blazed forth beneath the clear rays of the sun, in all the glory of its great sale of winter novelties.