"What now?" She took his wrinkled old hand in hers so plump and dimpled. "Have I committed some new sin? I have been so glad for days and days that I could only rejoice."
"No, not sin. It is to hear a strange story and to be happier, perhaps."
He looked curiously at her. "Oh, something has happened!" she cried. Was it possible M. St. Armand had returned? For days her mind had been full of him. And he would be the guest of the Fleurys.
"Yes, I should spoil it in the telling, and I had strict injunctions." There was an air of mystery about him.
Surely there was no trouble. But what could they want with her? A strange story! Could some one have learned about her mother or her father?
"I will change my attire in a moment. Pani, Margot will gladly come and keep you company."
"Nay, little one, I am not a baby to be watched," Pani protested.
Jeanne laughed. She looked very sweet and charming in her blue and white frock made in a plain fashion, for it did not seem becoming in her to simulate the style of the great ladies. A soft, white kerchief was drawn in a knot about her shoulders, showing the shapely throat that was nearer ivory than pearl. In the knot she drew a few violets. Head gear she usually disdained, but now she put over her curls a dainty white cap that made a delicious contrast with the dark rings nestling below the edge. A pretty, lissome girl, with a step so light it would not have crushed the grass under her feet, had there been any.
"There seems a great stir in the town," she said.
They had turned into St. Anne's street and were going toward the church.