He smiled.
“No, madame. One does not expect to find anything criminal. Well, monsieur le baron, permit me to take my leave. I will see Maître Barraud to-day, and he will probably request an interview with you before you go down to Poissy.”
“Let me wish you good success, and prognosticate victory,” said Nathalie, giving him her hand with a smile.
“I shall work for it, madame, were it only to justify your prophecy,” returned M. Rodoin, bowing low.
Chapter Sixteen.
Father and Daughter.
The country round Poissy, mellow with ripening grapes, sunned itself in broad luxuriance, and the river threaded it lazily, its silver length curving snake-like between green edges. Nathalie and her little son were by its side, she bareheaded, with only a white umbrella between her and the sun, which now and then caught the rich red-brown of hair and brightened it. Raoul, with his little closely-cropped head and dark dancing eyes, was engaged in plying a primitive fishing-line, formed of whip-cord fastened at one end to a long stick, and adorned at the other with a crooked pin and a small piece of meat. Every now and then a bit of weed caught the bait, and gave all the excitement of a bite, and this and the joy of getting his feet wet kept him perfectly content and happy. Occasionally a peasant passed them, always with the same remark, “Fine weather, madame, for the grapes;” but otherwise the sleepy silence of the place was undisturbed, and Nathalie liked it better than she had ever liked it before.
She was happier, for one thing, though she blamed herself for the selfishness of her happiness, since evidently a cloud of uneasiness rested on Poissy. Mme. de Beaudrillart did not confide in her daughter-in-law; but a change had come over her since their departure for Paris; age seemed to have suddenly laid a grasping hand upon her; she was silent, grave, rigid. Léon’s moods varied from gloom to gaiety. Claire indulged in taunts as to the delights of Paris. Only Félicie’s small interests kept her busily occupied. Her own father’s advice had amazed Nathalie. From him she expected fighting counsels, whereas he wrote with a hesitation new to him, and talked temporisingly, with suggestions of possible arrangements. Moreover, they had been at home three days, and he had not come out, as she had expected, to see Léon on the matter, while she disliked leaving her husband for as many hours as would be required for driving into Tours.