Uncertain what amount of knowledge I ought to admit, I took
refuge in gallantry.
'I should be surprised if he did not,' I answered, with a bow,
'being, as he is, so close, and having such an inducement to
return, Madame.'
She drew a long, shivering sigh, at the thought of his peril, I
fancied, and she sat back against the wall. Nor did she say any
more, though I heard her sigh again. Is a moment she rose.
'The afternoons are growing chilly,' she said; 'I will go in and
see how Mademoiselle is. Sometimes she does not come to supper.
If she cannot descend this evening, I am afraid that you must
excuse me too, Monsieur.'
I said what was right, and watched her go in; and, as I did so, I
loathed my errand, and the mean contemptible curiosity which it
had planted in my mind, more than at any former time. These
women--I could find it in my heart to hate them for their
frankness, for their foolish confidence, and the silly
trustfulness that made them so easy a prey!
NOM DE DIEU! What did the woman mean by telling me all this? To
meet me in such a way, to disarm one by such methods, was to take
an unfair advantage.
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