"I—I—am afraid so, dear papa!"
"Yet a moment ago you told me you had no lover, and were merely a little girl!"
"I did not know then that Giovanni was in Paris, and I—I—thought he had forgotten all about me."
M. Dantès smiled as he said:
"That makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it, Mademoiselle?"
"Yes," answered Zuleika, innocently; then she added in a tone of great earnestness: "Write to Giovanni in the morning, and—and tell him I shall be delighted to see him."
"I will write and inform him that, so far as I have been able to discover, my daughter does not object to receiving a visit from him."
"Oh! that would be too cold and formal, and Giovanni is such an old friend."
"Well, well," said M. Dantès, "I will so frame my reply as to give entire satisfaction both to you and him. Now, my child, kiss me and retire to your couch, for it is very, very late."