"Because I must say nothing—I have my orders."
"Did he give them to you?"
"Isn't she curious, the dear; isn't she curious?" said the housekeeper, laughing.
"You are right; pardon my questions, ma'am. Since we go on foot to the place to which you conduct me," added Fleur-de-Marie, sweetly, "I shall know what I so much desire to know."
"In fact, my dear, before a quarter of an hour we shall have arrived."
The housekeeper, having left behind her the last houses of Batignolles followed, with Fleur-de-Marie, a grassy footpath. The day was calm and beautiful, the sky toward the west half concealed by red and purple clouds; the sun, beginning to decline, cast his oblique rays on the heights of Colombe, on the other side of the Seine. As Fleur-de-Marie drew near the banks of the river, her pale cheeks became slightly colored; she inhaled with delight the sharp, pure air of the country, and cried, in a burst of artless joy, "Oh! there in the middle of the river, do you see that pretty little island covered with willows and poplars, with the white house on the shore? How charming this habitation must be in summer, when all the trees are covered with leaves! What repose, what refreshing air must be found there."
"Verily!" said Mrs. Seraphin with a strange smile, "I am delighted that you find the island pretty."
"Why, madame?"
"Because we are going there."
"To that island?"