It is plain enough that we have upset her."
"How? What do you mean, cousin?"
"Did you not know that the Countess is madly in love with the Duke,
and that she had hoped to marry him this winter?"
"Poor woman," sighed Esperance, sincerely.
The Duke came by, and seeing them alone, he joined them.
"The three of you alone?" he cried. "Then you will allow me to join
you for a moment?"
"Look," said Maurice, indicating Albert and the Countess de Morgueil.
"There is a dangerous woman who is making mischief at this moment!...
And, nevertheless, I owe her the happiness this moment brings me."
"My father," said Esperance, "has been as indulgent to me as always."
"Thanks for these tidings," said the Duke. "Do you think he will
receive me to-morrow, if I go to him?"
"Oh! certainly, after the fete; a little while after, for first he
wished to speak to Count Styvens," she said timidly.
"Will you," the Duke asked Maurice, "make an appointment for me, and
tell me as soon as you have an answer?"
"With pleasure."
The Duke bowed to the girls and withdrew. He took Maurice's hand, "I
am happy, my friend, everything is going as I wish. I seem to hear
laughter coming out of the shadows."
And he disappeared.
The young people waited for Albert a little while longer, but as he
did not appear, Maurice advised the girls to retire, and he returned
to sit down anxiously under the oak.
He had been there hardly a quarter of an hour when he saw the Countess
de Morgueil go by.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238