"Come, my lovely Pilar," said La Flèche, accompanying each word with a gesture big with threats, which were readily intelligible to his victim; "come, queen of the elves and hobgoblins, you must speak. Pick up that coin which is nearest you."
Pilar sat motionless for a long time, pretending to be asleep; she was shivering with fever.
"Come, come, gallows-bird, tow for the stake!" continued La Flèche, "pick up that gold piece, and I will tell you where Mario, your beloved Mario, is."
"What's that!" said the marquis, turning back; "what does he say about Mario?"
"Who is Mario?" asked Lauriane.
"Silence!" cried De Beuvre; "the devil speaks, and you are interested, neighbor!"
The child spoke thus in French, in a shrill voice and with a strongly marked accent:
"Celui de qui depend ce gage,
S'il veut ecouter le presage
Et se bien garer de l'amour—[20]
"I have said enough, I won't say any more," she added in Spanish.
She had forgotten her lesson. Neither prayers nor threats availed to refresh her memory; but she did not admit that she had been coached; she was already a sorceress and proud of her profession. She knew the magic chart much better than La Flèche, and she loved to prophesy. By trying to teach her poetry, which she called another kind of magic, La Flèche had irritated her, and the feeling that she should not succeed had wounded her self-esteem.