The orphan rose and advanced to meet Madame de la Rochaiguë who, bustling in, bright and sparkling and smiling, said to the girl in the tenderest manner, seizing both her hands:
"My dearest child, I have come—if you will permit me—to keep you company until the dinner hour, for I am really jealous of my dear sister-in-law's good fortune."
"How very kind you all are to me, madame!" replied Ernestine, grateful for the kind attentions of the baroness.
Helena rose to go, and, with the intention of anticipating any possible question Madame de la Rochaiguë's curiosity might prompt, said to the young girl:
"To-morrow morning at nine o'clock, that is understood, is it not?"
Then, after an affectionate nod of the head to the baroness, Helena departed, escorted to the door by Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
As she was returning to Madame de la Rochaiguë, that lady drew back a few steps in proportion as Ernestine approached, and said to her, in tones of tender reproach:
"Ah, my dear, sweet child, you are incorrigible!"
"And why, madame, do you say that?"
"I am terribly, pitilessly, brutally plain-spoken as I have told you. It is one of my greatest faults, so I shall scold you, scold you every day of your life, if you don't hold yourself straighter."