“Because now I can look upon you as a sister more than a stranger. Oh, Sophie—dear Sophie!”
Sophie regarded me with a more astonished expression of face than ever; and I know not what she might have said, had not M. Gerbaut made his appearance at that moment.
“Ah! is that you, Réné?” said he; “you are, indeed, welcome. I asked the news from your friends on the Place there, and when they told me that you were at Varennes, I knew you would not go without calling to see me.”
“Yes, M. Gerbaut,” I answered, going up to him, and shaking his hand; “but I did not expect to find what I have found.”
“And, pray, what have you found?”
“Mademoiselle Sophie, who has been kind enough to sing me an air from the ‘Devin de Village de M. Rousseau.’”
“Ah, indeed! She did not require much persuasion, did she?”
“Only great men, or great fools, require to be asked twice,” said Sophie, laughing; “and as I am not a genius or a ——-”
Here she paused, while a sweet smile played over her lips.