"Had you heard that Mademoiselle de Gramont had left the château?"
"Yes; my cousin Bertha wrote to me, and"—
Again M. de Bois seized upon the thread of conversation.
"Have you no news from Mademoiselle Madeleine?—no letter?"
"None," sighed Maurice, convinced that, as M. de Bois plunged into the subject in this straightforward, calm manner, he could not possibly be in her confidence.
The host went on.
"Has not Count Tristan been able to obtain any trace of her?"
"Thus far, none at all! What could have become of her! Where could she have gone!" exclaimed Maurice; but not in a tone of interrogation, for he now felt assured that M. de Bois could not answer.
"One thing is certain; what Mademoiselle Mad—ad—adeleine has done must have been prompted by a noble motive. She could not cause you all this sorrow unless she imagined herself compelled to take the step which we must all lament."