In all our Madelon's reminiscences of the past, these
two figures assuredly had no place, and yet this was by no
means the first time they had met at this very hotel. The lady
was the Countess G----, with whom one memorable evening Madelon
had had a grand fight over a roulette board; the gentleman was
Horace Graham's _quondam_ fellow-traveller, the Countess's old
admirer, and now her husband.
They were talking as they came together down the courtyard,
and Madelon caught the last words of their conversation.
"Adieu, _mon ami_," cried the lady, as they approached the gate;
"I shall rejoin you this afternoon at Liege."
"And by the earliest train possible, I beg of you," answered
the other. "I may find it necessary to go on to Brussels this
evening."
"By the earliest train possible, _mon ami_. Adieu, then,--_au
revoir_."
"_Au revoir, ma cherie_," answered the gentleman, turning back
to the hotel, but pausing before he had taken a dozen steps.
_"Ma cherie_, you will not forget my business at Madame
Bertrand's?"
"But no, _mon ami_, it shall be attended to without fail.
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