"
The old man stood up and eyed me for a moment as steadily as his
vacillating glance would permit him, then he held out his hand.
"I trust, Monsieur," he said, "that you will do me the honour to dine with
us, and that whilst you are at Blois we shall see you at Canaples as often
as it may please you to cross its threshold."
I took his hand, but without enthusiasm, for I understood that his words
sprang from no warmth of heart for me, but merely from the fact that he
beheld in me a likely ally to his designs of raising his daughter to the
rank of Duchess.
Eug?ne de Canaples may have been a good-for-nothing knave; still, methought
his character scarce justified the callous indifference manifested by this
selfish, weak-minded old man towards his own son.
There was a knock at the door, and a lackey--the same Guilbert whom I had
seen at Choisy in Mademoiselle's company--appeared with the announcement
that the Chevalier was served.
CHAPTER VIII
THE FORESHADOW OF DISASTER
In the spacious dining salon of the Ch?teau de Canaples I found the two
daughters of my host awaiting us--those same two ladies of the coach in
Place Vend?me and of the hostelry at Choisy, the dark and stately icicle,
Yvonne, and the fair, playful doll, Genevi?ve.
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