"M. le Marquis de Maillefort,
"No. 45 Rue des Martyrs."
Madame de Beaumesnil then summoned a trusty maid who waited upon her exclusively, and as soon as she came in, said to her:
"Madame Dupont, you will take a carriage and deliver this letter yourself to the person to whom it is addressed. In case M. de Maillefort is not at home, you are to wait for him."
"But what if madame la comtesse should need anything during my absence?" said the maid, evidently much surprised at this order.
"Attend to my commission," replied Madame de Beaumesnil. "Mademoiselle here will, I am sure, be kind enough to perform any service I may require."
Herminie bowed her assent.
The countess proceeded to repeat her instructions to her attendant, and while she was thus engaged, Herminie feeling comparatively safe from observation, gazed at Madame de Beaumesnil with a world of love and anxiety in her eyes, saying to herself the while, with touching resignation:
"I dare not gaze at her except by stealth, and yet she is my mother. Ah, may she never suspect that I know the unhappy secret of my birth."
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRIVATE INTERVIEW.
It was with an expression of almost triumphant satisfaction that Mme. de Beaumesnil watched her maid depart.