He threw his cap into the air exultantly and shouted another hurrah.
Strangely enough, it was Sue who first gave a thought to the marquis. Glancing suddenly toward him, she exclaimed in a low voice:
"O Monsieur!"
He was still standing in the same tense attitude, his expression dazed and unbelieving. Not one of them but expected that this news, so happy to Louis, so tragic to him, might cause an attack, possibly a fatal one, of his physical ailment. But the marquis was made of sterner stuff than they knew. With a sudden squaring of his shoulders, he walked over to the window and stood staring out, his back toward them all, his hands clenched behind him.
So long did he remain thus, that the tense silence became almost unbearable. It was Louis at last, with his head up and the kindest expression the girls had ever seen in his eyes, who walked over to Monsieur and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Will you forgive me, sir," he said very quietly, "for my beastly expressions of joy? I ought to have realized what a blow this news would be to you,—whatever it may mean to me."
The marquis turned and looked deep into his eyes.
"My boy," he spoke in a husky voice, "you are worthy to be the lineal descendant of a king, even if fate has willed that you are not."
He could say no more at that moment, and Louis went on:
"I want you to know I feel, sir, that my obligation to you remains precisely the same, even though conditions are changed. I owe you everything I have. You undoubtedly will no longer contemplate taking me for your adopted son. There isn't the slightest reason for it now. But I want to give you and the country you love the very best that is in me. I am an American of the Americans, and I'm prouder of it than ever. But I want to 'do my bit' for France and for you. Will you allow me, sir, to go with you to France and join the French Flying Corps? It is the only way that I can repay you."