"Herminie," replied Ernestine, promptly.
"So be it," responded the marquis. "Very well, Herminie and Gerald love each other devotedly, and are worthy of each other, that is understood; but, with a pride that I both admire and approve,—because there is no possibility of either love or happiness without dignity,—Herminie will not consent to marry Gerald unless the Duchesse de Senneterre calls on her and gives her consent to this marriage. The question is, therefore, to devise a means of compelling this haughtiest of duchesses to make these overtures."
"But nothing is impossible to you, M. de Maillefort," said Ernestine, naïvely.
"Just hear this wheedler with her 'Nothing is impossible to you, M. de Maillefort,'" said the marquis, smiling. Then he added with a sigh: "Ah, my dear child, if you knew what hard things vanity and selfishness are to fight! And those two words describe Madame de Senneterre exactly. But though I am not the great necromancer you say, I shall have to devise some way of taming this two-headed monster, I suppose."
"Ah, if you can ever accomplish that feat, monsieur," said Herminie, "my whole life—"
"I count upon that, my child. Yes, I hope and trust that you will love me during your whole life, even if I should fail in what I am about to undertake, for in that case I believe I should be quite as unhappy as you are, and stand in almost equal need of consolation. Now it is your turn, my dear Ernestine!"
"It seems to me that my prospects are even gloomier than Herminie's," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, sadly.
"I don't know about that, but I must warn you, my poor child, that I can do nothing for you until after I have satisfied myself beyond a doubt of M. Olivier Raymond's worth."
"Why, doesn't what you already know satisfy you, M. de Maillefort?"
"It is perfectly satisfactory so far as his life as a soldier is concerned, but as a man can be a very brave officer and a very bad husband, I shall make some further inquiries concerning him."