'M. de Cocheforet is abroad, I think?' I said as I dressed.
'And likely to remain there,' the man answered carelessly,
shrugging his shoulders. 'Monsieur will doubtless have heard
that he is in trouble. In the meantime, the house is TRISTE, and
Monsieur must overlook much, if he stays. Madame lives retired,
and the roads are ill-made and visitors few.'
'When the lion was ill the jackals left him,' I said.
Louis nodded. 'It is true,' he answered simply. He made no
boast or brag on his own account, I noticed; and it came home to
me that he was a faithful fellow, such as I love. I questioned
him discreetly, and learned that he and Clon and an older man who
lived over the stables were the only male servants left of a
great household. Madame, her sister-in-law, and three women
completed the family.
It took me some time to repair my wardrobe, so that I daresay it
was nearly ten when I left my dismal little room. I found Louis
waiting in the corridor, and he told me that Madame de Cocheforet
and Mademoiselle were in the rose garden, and would be pleased to
receive me.
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