The expedition of Schweinfurth, who had lived for several years amongst the Nuehr, Djour, Bongo, and Niam-Niam tribes, was of special interest to her, and she was loud in her expressions of gratitude to Ali when, on a certain occasion, that interpreter brought with him an old soldier of the Dinha tribe, who was reported to have accompanied the great German traveller as far as the territory of the Monbuttoos, within three degrees of the Equator, and who had returned to Khartoum with his master in July of the preceding year, 1871. The conversation of this man became of such engrossing interest to Madame de Guéran that very soon she talked with him alone, and left all her other visitors out in the cold.
At the same time her character appeared to become completely metamorphosed. If, during the progress of the voyage, she had occasionally seemed nervous, such occasions had been exceptional; as a rule (nearly always, in fact) her manner had been easy, light-hearted and frank.
She appeared to have forgotten that she was a woman and beloved, and, without the least affectation, she treated MM. Morin and Périères as friends, and set her wits to work to pass herself off with them as a good fellow and a boon companion.
Now, on the contrary, she avoided their society, got out of their way, and seemed actually to dread meeting them. Any one, seeing her, would have said that she had some confidential communication to make to them, some secret to unfold, but that she lacked the courage to speak.
On their side, MM. de Morin and Périères were astonished at her mode of treating them, and took umbrage at it. Their love for Madame de Guéran was above suspicion and beyond doubt. Both of them young, rich, clever, well-born and good style, they had asked her hand in marriage; and, to please her, and in the hope of winning that hand, they had given up their cherished Parisian habits, the pleasures of the beau monde, and had undertaken a voyage, to the dangers of which, as we have already recorded, they were fully alive. This love, the main-spring of their entire conduct and conspicuous at every turn, had naturally increased during the voyage. Men who are already in love cannot with impunity be thrown into close intimacy with the loved one, especially if they are ever of necessity summoned to her side to undergo with her the innumerable vicissitudes of travel, to follow her up hill and down dale, and to share her dangers.
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With a view to prevailing on them to accompany her to Africa, Madame de Guéran had said to them—"I do not know you sufficiently yet, and I look upon this journey as a method of instruction, so far as your characters are concerned."
She had, perhaps, become as wise as she wished to be, but all the time she was pursuing her studies they, in their turn, were learning to know her better, and to appreciate her more fully. Every time they halted she was seen in a new light. Yesterday, so to speak, she was intrepid, cool, and resolute; to-day, in the desert, with the slave caravan before her, she is once more the sympathizing, tender-hearted woman. And, moreover, under the glorious sun of Africa, in the midst of this so luxuriant Nature, her beauty was so transcendent—it burst into full bloom—it positively shone! In the afternoon under a tent, in the evening on board their vessel, she held them captive under the spell of her feeling tones, her exquisite sensibility.
They were, consequently, but involuntarily, more in love than ever, absolutely conquered and enslaved, and they suffered, in proportion, from the coolness with which for some days past she had treated them. If they had made up their minds together to find out the cause of this, they might not, possibly, have been so uneasy, but, unfortunately, they mutually distrusted each other.
A moment's confidence would have taught them that they had equal grounds of complaint against her, and that she had put them both on identically the same footing. But love would be love no longer if it took to reasoning; it warps the finest natures, and inspires the sincerest hearts with jealousy.