“Yes, it was very sad for you to be out, but you did help us, Sarah, because Ludovic put on one of your dresses, and pretended to be my maid.”
They had by this time reached Miss Thane’s bedchamber. Eustacie opened the door and Miss Thane took one step into the room and recoiled.
“It’s only the scent,” said Eustacie kindly. “And indeed it is already much fainter than it was. Ludovic thought that it would be a good thing to break the bottle, pretending that it was mine. In that way, you understand, he was able to hide his face, because he made believe to cry, and to be frightened. And I scolded him—oh, a faire croire! ”
“I’m glad,” said Miss Thane. “I suppose it had to be my French perfume?”
Ludovic, hearing their voices, strolled across the passage from his own room, and said with a grin: “Sarah, are you savage with me for having spilled your scent? I will buy you some more one day.”
“Thank you, Ludovic!” said Miss Thane with feeling. “And this is the gown you chose to wear, is it? Yes, I see. After all, I never cared for it above the ordinary.”
“It got split a trifle across the shoulders,” explained Ludovic.
“Yes, I noticed that,” agreed Miss Thane. “But what is a mere gown compared with a man’s life?”
Eustacie greeted this sentiment with great approval, and said that she knew Sarah would feel like that.
“Of course,” said Miss Thane. “And I have been thinking, moreover, that we do not consider Ludovic enough. Look at this large, airy apartment of mine, for instance, and only consider the stuffy little back chamber he is obliged to sleep in! I will change with you, my dear Ludovic.”