406CHAPTER XV
Of All News the Most Spiteful
“O poor and wretched ones!
That, feeble in the mind’s eye, lean your trust
Upon unstaid perverseness.”
–Dante.
Her gestures, her every word, were an effervescence. There was something near hysteria in the bright flashes of her wit. However gay, joyous, cynical, Jacqueline may have seemed to herself, to Berthe, terrified though the girl was, Jacqueline’s mood was a sham.
“The frisson, oh, those few exquisite seconds of emotion, eh Berthe?” she exclaimed. “Pursued by robbers–the chase–the rescue–and the jolting, the jolting that took our breaths! Why, Berthe, what more would you have? Hélas, to be over so quickly! And here we are, left alone in our coach, robbers gone, rescuers gone! Berthe, do you know, I believe they compared notes and decided we weren’t worth it. But I should have thought,” she went on in mock bitterness, “I should indeed, that at least our Fra Diavolo would have been more gallant, even if––”
“Even if?” prompted Berthe, then bit her lip.
“Even–Oh Berthe, fi donc, to catch me so because I was wandering!–even if one could expect no such gallantry from the Chevalier de Missour-i. There now, do you tell Tobie to drive on––”
“But mademoiselle––”
“Say ‘Jeanne’,” the marchioness commanded, stamping her foot.
407“My lady,” the girl persisted, but added with affectionate earnestness, “and my only friend, I was simply going to say that we are not deserted after all.”