Then, having produced his effect, he sat down
again.
"What! she is a good musician too?"
"Excellent," replied Albert, "and I will wager that whoever hears her
will agree with me.
"How is it possible to hear her? She does not play at the concerts.
But tell us how did you contrive to hear her?" demanded the Princess.
"I study with her father, Francois Darbois, so I have become a friend
of the family. They asked me to dinner once, and I was early enough to
hear Mlle. Esperance play. After dinner we played a very difficult
duet together. She had absolute command of her execution and her
emotion."
A young attache murmured to an amiable dowager, "I am afraid that they
have completely taken him in."
Count Albert sprang to his feet.
"I am not willing that you should try to belittle this family whom you
do not know. Francois Darbois, the philosopher, is a fine character,
of unparalleled honour and integrity: his wife has never frequented
the world where people are 'taken in,' as you say, and as for Mlle.
Esperance ... so much the better if you do not know her?"
The Duke de Morlay-La-Branche, sitting beside the Princess, said to
her, loud enough for all to hear, "Albert Styvens is entirely right:
they are people of a very different order. They are a very refreshing
trio for Parisian society."
Everyone kept quiet and listened to what the Duke had to say. It was
well known that he was attracted by Esperance's beauty and talent, and
it was also known that he was a sceptic, a railer, not easy for anyone
to "take in.
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