"It was your absurd explanation that caused all this useless discussion," said the marquis to the carpenter. "Where did you pick up all these foolish ideas that you attribute to me? It is the young woman's father with whom I am on bad terms, on account of a quarrel of many years' standing, and not with a child whom I don't know, and against whom I have nothing to say, absolutely nothing."
"And whom you would have turned out of your house, nevertheless, if she had dared to appear here!" said Gilberte, looking closely at the marquis, whose embarrassment was beginning to encourage her materially.
"Turned out?—no; I turn no one out," he replied; "I simply should have considered it a little cruel, a little strange, that she should think of coming here."
"Well, she has thought of it many times, none the less," said Gilberte; "I know it, for I know her thoughts, and I am going to tell you what she has said to me."
"What is the use?" said the marquis, turning his head away; "why spend so much time over an impulsive phrase that escaped me without reflection? I should be distressed beyond words to cause an unkind thought against the girl in anybody's mind. I say again, I do not know her and I can in no way reproach her. The only thing that I desire is that my words may not be repeated, tortured, exaggerated. Do you hear, Jean? you take it upon yourself to interpret the exclamations that escape me, and you do it very badly. I beg you, if you have any affection for me," added the marquis with a painful effort, "never to utter my name at Châteaubrun, and not to discuss me in any way. I also request madame to protect me from any indirect contact, any roundabout explanation, in a word, from every sort of relation with that family; and if, to make sure that my repose shall still be respected in that regard, I must give the lie to what I said without reflection in my excitement, I am ready to protest against anything which could possibly impair the reputation and character of Mademoiselle de Châteaubrun in my mind."
The marquis spoke with a measured coldness which restored to his manner all its customary propriety and dignity. Gilberte would have preferred a fresh outbreak of wrath, which would have led her to expect a reaction marked by weakness and emotion. She no longer felt the courage to insist, and understanding, from the sudden frigidity of the marquis's manner, that she was half divined, and that an unconquerable distrust had taken possession of him, she felt so ill at ease, that she wished to go away at once; but Jean was not at all satisfied with the result of this explanation, and he determined to strike the last blow.
"Well," he said, "it must be as Monsieur de Boisguilbault pleases. He is kind and just at the bottom of his heart, Madame Rose; let us go, and cause him no more pain; but first I would like to have a sort of understanding between you two. Come, let us open our hearts a little! You will blush, scold me, perhaps you will cry. But I know what I am doing, I know that this is an opportunity that may never come again, and that we must be willing to submit to a little trouble to assist and comfort those we love. You look at me in surprise! don't you know that Monsieur de Boisguilbault is our Emile's best friend, that he has his whole confidence, and that he is perfectly well acquainted with all his troubles and yours, although he doesn't know that you are the one?—Yes, Monsieur de Boisguilbault, Madame Rose here is the lady! you understand me, don't you? So speak to her, encourage her, tell her that Emile has done right, and she, too, in refusing to yield to Père Cardonnet's malice. That is what I intended to say to you when you interrupted me with an outcry about Mademoiselle de Châteaubrun, when God knows if I was thinking of her!"
Gilberte became so confused that Monsieur de Boisguilbault, who was beginning to regard her with mingled interest and uneasiness, was touched by her plight and strove to reassure her. He took her hand and said, leading her back to her chair:
"Don't be embarrassed before me; I am an old man and it is another old man who betrays your secrets. Undoubtedly he has a very bold and unusual way of acting; but as his intentions are good and his exceptional character endears him to the person in whom you and I are more interested than in anybody else in the world, let us try to overcome our mutual embarrassment, and, as he says, to make the most of the opportunity!"
But Gilberte, confounded by the carpenter's determination, and terrified to see her heart's secret in the hands of a man who still inspired more terror than confidence, put both her hands over her face and did not answer.