“To-morrow.”
“And Raoul?”
“Oh, Raoul must stay behind. It would displease my mother very much if we took him. As it is—” He broke off and looked at her, and they both laughed. “We will make some excuse. You need not tell her that you know anything about that letter.”
The excuse he made was that his wife had a great desire to go to Paris. “And,” he said, privately to his mother, “I may as well take the opportunity of settling with this Lemaire. The fellow thinks he can bully me.”
“You could do it better alone, in my opinion,” replied Mme. de Beaudrillart, determinedly. “Nathalie ought to be very well content to stay here. At any rate, take my advice, and keep the matter to yourself. Your wife cannot be expected to look at the matter as we do; she would naturally think that money might set matters right—perhaps would want you to appeal to that terrible father. Imagine Monsieur Bourget as your adviser!”
Léon cleared his throat. “She need know nothing,” he said.
Mme. de Beaudrillart was more uneasy than she allowed. Faith in her son could not obliterate the remembrance of past folly. She feared that something, some handle, existed to account for this vile accusation, and she dared not examine too closely into the when and where, lest fear should be confirmed. She came down the next morning with dark rings round heavy eyes to find Léon his old self—gay, careless. No letter had come, and he was able to think with exhilaration of Paris, its stifled charm reasserting itself, and old pleasures beckoning. The picture shone with a brilliancy which swept away clouds, and his wife’s delight at having gained her rightful position helped his cheerfulness. Claire looked at her with indignation, believing the happiness in her eyes to belong only to joy at getting what apparently had been her secret longing, a visit to Paris, and letting sharp words fly to show that she understood this depravity.
“And we are to be trusted with Raoul!” she said.
Nathalie’s face changed a little.
“If you will be so good,” she said. “I hope he will not be naughty.”