GUILLAUME D'ARS PROPOSES MARRIAGE.
"Rise, Messire Guillaume," said the young woman, rising herself in order to induce him to obey her more quickly. "You surprise us with a thought which is quite new to us, and to which we cannot reply as quickly as it was suggested."
"Rise, Messire Guillaume," said the young woman, rising herself in order to induce him to obey her more quickly. "You surprise us with a thought which is quite new to us, and to which we cannot reply as quickly as it was suggested."
"It did not come to me quickly," said Guillaume. "It has been in my mind two or three years. But your youth and your mourning made me fear that I might speak too soon."
"Permit me to doubt it," said Lauriane, who knew by public report that Guillaume had always led a joyous life and had recently sighed at the feet of several more or less marriageable ladies.
"My dear daughter," said Monsieur de Beuvre at last, "permit me to tell you that Guillaume is not telling an untruth. For a long time past, as I know, he has thought of you whenever he has thought of marriage. But, in my opinion, he has decided a little too late to make his desire known to you."
"A little late?" exclaimed Guillaume in dismay; "can it be that you have disposed——"
"No, no!" laughed De Beuvre; "my daughter is neither betrothed nor promised to anyone, unless it be to our youthful neighbor, the Marquis de Bois-Doré, or to this solemn personage, the other Monsieur de Bois-Doré, who slumbers yonder while another seeks the hand of his future bride!"