"Iris, I entreat you!"
"You ask it, and is not that more than a command for me?"
In his gratitude, De Brévannes took hold of Iris's hand, and drawing her towards him, would have kissed her brow, but the young girl repulsed him violently and proudly, to his great surprise, as he imagined he should be giving her the utmost pleasure in acting with such condescension. When she reached the Quai, Iris flung into the river the ring she had received as the reward of her treachery.
After his attentive perusal of the black book, De Brévannes fell into a deep reverie. He could not doubt but he was beloved by Madame de Hansfeld, who struggled with all her power against the involuntary inclination.
Her husband rendered her so miserable, that she went so far as sometimes to desire his death.
Although this wish appeared to him somewhat exaggerated, De Brévannes considered all these circumstances as favourable to him, and awaited with intense anxiety the moment of the meeting which Madame de Hansfeld had appointed for the next day in the Jardin des Plantes.
CHAPTER XXVIII
[ARNOLD AND BERTHA]
Madame de Brévannes had frequently met M. de Hansfeld, under the name of Arnold Schneider, at Pierre Raimond's. He had saved the old engraver's life, and nothing could be more natural than his visits to see him.
Bertha having resolved on again teaching the piano, in order to supply her father's wants, used to go to his abode three times a-week, and remain there for three hours, giving her lessons in his presence.