“There is no change, good father,” answered Savin, sadly.
Madame Barrau herself now joins the group, and so the subject is dropped. While they greet Catherine with due courtesy, it is plain to see that a barrier divides the husband and wife. Catherine remains but a moment, and then excuses herself to speak with an acquaintance. As for Savin, he waits an instant after her departure, and then turning upon his heel walks away in an opposite direction.
“Noble fellow,” observes the Mayor, as Savin disappears from view. “I fear he has made a bitter mistake.”
“What! In marrying D’Angerolles’s daughter?”
“Yes.”
“How so?”
“Opinions differ as to that. Some say he loved her in secret for many months, while that sot of an Andoche declares that he was caught in a trap.”
“She is not the wife for him, that is certain.”
“Be that as it may, he has been captured by the fair Catherine. How—nobody knows.”
“Ah, but somebody knows,” insists Parjeau, with emphasis.