"Yes," answered Madeleine, smiling gravely.
"It would not render him wretched? It would not exasperate him?" questioned Maurice.
"No."
"He is not jealous, then?"
"Yes, I fear he is,—very jealous; but not of you."
"And yet, he has cause," returned Maurice, with violence which he could not control; "more cause than I trust he has of being jealous of any other man; and there may be, must be other men who aspire to love you. Your position, Madeleine, must expose you, at times, to impertinence; you must need protection."
"I have a talisman within which protects me ever," answered Madeleine.
"Ah, I know,—the love you bear him, my rival! Let us not speak of him. I cannot endure it; let us ever banish him from our conversation."
"I did not mean to make you suffer," said Madeleine, soothingly.
Before he could reply, Victorine entered with a mysterious air. Her countenance intimated that she had a matter of the utmost importance upon her mind.