"Nevertheless," said Esperance, "I want my father's approval. I will
go down and telephone to Paris."
"I will accompany you," said the diplomat quickly.
She stopped short, and her expression implied distress. Jean went
forward at once. "I will go and secure the connection for you," he
said; "I will wait for you downstairs."
The Count made a scarcely perceptible gesture, as if to stop him; but
he restrained himself and followed the girl in silence out of the
room. He rang, the lift stopped before them, empty. Albert Styvens
went forward, but Esperance drew back, and then she said, quickly, "I
will go down by the stairs."
And light as a breath, she was gone.
Alone in the lift, the young Count felt for a moment abashed, but he
speedily recovered himself, and when Esperance reached the bottom of
the stairs she found him waiting for her.
As she leaped down the last step, she again felt herself lifted and
deposited upon her feet.
"What are you doing?" she cried angrily, startled and offended.
The rapid half-embrace had been almost brutal. Esperance could still
feel on her delicate skin the pressure of the man's strong fingers.
He apologized, and was sincerely repentant. He had acted without
reflection; he had forgotten his great strength which had this time
served him ill. He was violently attracted by this charming little
creature, with whom he admitted to himself that he was deeply in love;
he, who up to this time had always avoided women as if he feared them.
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