His taste and
independence appealed to her artistic nature. His vibrant voice, the
grace of his slender hands, the lightness of his spirits always alert,
his superiority at every sport, made the Duke de Morlay-La-Branche
quite like a real hero of romance. He had expected to subjugate the
little Parisian idol, and found himself thwarted by her. This rather
annoyed him, and he vowed to conquer her.
Doctor Potain, who was looking at his watch, now chimed in with, "My
dear Duke, we must be thinking of leaving; the boat will not wait for
us."
Charles de Morlay thanked his farm hosts, and after bowing elegantly
over Mme. Darbois's hand, looked for Esperance.
"Jean," said Professor Darbois, "look and see if you can find
Esperance, and tell her to come and say good-bye to our dear Doctor."
But Jean returned alone. Esperance was not to be found. She had flown.
"She had not forgotten about the boat," said the young actor.
"Perhaps she has gone on her bicycle to gather news of old mother
Kabastron, who is very ill. That is about ten minutes' distance from
here. I will ride ahead on my bicycle."
The Duke laughed gaily, and prepared a scathing witticism with which
to wither the young girl. But he did not have the pleasure of
delivering it to Esperance, who had hidden herself behind her portrait
at the foot of the rook.
She reappeared much later, and was rebuked by her father for having
shown such discourtesy to his guests.
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