“‘Come in, both of you, at once,’ I cried, scarce waiting for M. d’Aubeville’s bow. ‘I will put you in the library till I can prepare them.’
“I ran up the steps again, but when I got to the top I had to wait, for the Vicomte, on M. d’Aubeville’s arm, was only half-way up. It gave me something of a shock. Louis—whom I remembered so lithe and active! I observed, too, when he was in the hall, how stiffly he held himself, and guessed, rightly as it appeared, that he was tightly bandaged. But I did not say anything, for you men, Philip, are so strange; when you have a finger-ache the whole house must give you sympathy, but if you are really disabled you are so proud as to be monstrously unpleasant sometimes if a well-meaning female takes note of it. Yet I must have shown by my looks how sorry I was, for Louis suddenly gave me the smile I remembered, and said in French: ‘Quite the return of the veteran, is it not, Mademoiselle? I only need a wooden leg and a patch over one eye to act the part to perfection.’ But I could not laugh.
“I had thought of putting them in the library, as a place not likely to be invaded, quite forgetting for the moment about papa. But when I looked in, there he was, with his handkerchief spread over his face, asleep in his big chair. I might have withdrawn again unnoticed had not Rover, scenting strangers, got up from papa’s feet and growled. Papa woke instantly, and dashed the handkerchief from his face. It is his theory that he does not go to sleep after dinner.
“Now I did not really want dear papa to be the first to hear the news, because, with all due respect, you know, Philip, what he is like, and I feared that in his pleasure and the goodness of his heart he would dash out of the room and go shouting the tidings all over the house. On the other hand, I could not leave my quarry in the hall, so, saying to them briskly, ‘Come in, gentlemen, and shut the door at once, if you please!’ I rushed to papa’s side before he could get out of his chair, and put one hand over his mouth and the other over his eyes.
“‘Dearest, dearest papa!’ I said. ‘You must not say a word above a whisper, though you will see something in a minute that will surprise you very much. Now promise, or you shall not see it!’
“Poor papa, how could he promise when I was gagging him? But he gave a muffled assent, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that the two gentlemen were safely in the room and that the door was shut.
“‘Now you may look!’ I said, and took my hands away. By this time Rover, as he always does when excited, was barking furiously, and, for all my cautions and his promise, papa, too, made a good deal of commotion.
“‘Good Gad!’ he exclaimed, bounding out of his chair, ‘it can’t be—it’s impossible!’
“‘I believe, sir, that it is true, however,’ says Louis, coming forward and holding out a thin hand.
“Papa took it and gazed at him as if he could not believe his eyes. ‘My poor lad! my poor lad!’ he says after a minute, feeling with his other hand for his pocket-handkerchief, which had slipped to the floor, though he did not know it. I knew by experience that he was going to blow his nose very hard, so I picked up the handkerchief and slipped it into his hand. And he did blow his nose. The noise made Rover worse, but when I took off my slipper he went at once under the table and was quite quiet.