“Permit me to present to you M. Daniel Champcey, one of our most distinguished naval officers.”
Daniel bowed, first to her, and then solemnly to Mrs. Brian, and long, stiff Sir Thorn.
“I need not tell you, my dear count,” said Miss Sarah, “that your friends are always welcome here.”
Then, turning to Daniel, she added,—
“Besides, I have long since known you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, sir. And I even know that you are one of the most frequent visitors at Count Ville-Handry’s house.”
She looked at Daniel with a kind of malicious simplicity, and then added,
“I do not mean to say that the count would not be wrong if he attributed your frequent visits exclusively to his own merits. I have heard something of a certain young lady”—
“Sarah,” here broke in Mrs. Brian, “what you say there is highly improper.” This reproof, so far from checking Miss Sarah’s merriment, only seemed to increase it. Without losing sight of Daniel, she turned to her aunt, and said,—