“But”—
“It is true I have heard people talk of her once, a long time ago.”
“Whom?”
“One of my friends, Maxime de Brevan, a fine, noble fellow.”
“What sort of a woman is she?”
“Ah, me! that I cannot tell you. Maxime happened to mention her just in passing; and I never thought that one of these days I should—If I seemed to be so very much surprised just now, it was because I remembered, all of a sudden, a very ugly story in which Maxime said she had been involved, and then”—
He was ridiculous in his inability to tell a fib; so, when he found that he was talking nonsense, he turned his head away to avoid Henrietta’s eyes. She interrupted him, and said reproachfully,—
“Do you really think I am not strong enough to hear the truth?”
At first he did not reply. Overcome by the strange position in which he found himself, he looked for a way to escape, and found none. At last he said,—
“Miss Henrietta, you must give me time before I tell you any more. I know nothing positive; and I dare say I am unnecessarily alarmed. I will tell you all as soon as I am better informed.”