"Oh, a very short time; only since day before yesterday," replied Bertha.
This answer added to Madeleine's discomposure. There was no hope for Gaston de Bois.
"Why do you look so sorrowful?" inquired Bertha, noticing her cousin's expression.
"I am thinking of one who has loved you long, with such devotion, with such self-abnegation, with such an ardent desire to become worthy of you, that I could not but sigh over his disappointment. But this sudden affection of yours may not be very deep."
"Ah, but it is! And as for suddenness, when I say I have only loved him since day before yesterday, I mean that I only then discovered how much I cared for him."
"And how came you to know that he was dear to you?"
"You will be very much shocked when I answer that question; but you always said I was eccentric. I first felt that I loved him when I saw him getting into a great rage, and when I positively fancied that I caught the sound of a horrible oath, which he uttered in an undertone!"
"That is original! I never before heard of a young lady being inspired by love for a young man when he was angry, or when he was profane."
"Ah, but he was angry in a good cause," returned Bertha, earnestly. "It was righteous indignation, and it was the violence with which he defended one whom I love, that won my heart completely."
"Whom did he defend?" asked Madeleine, unsuspiciously.