“My word, Madame,” said Maurice, “is not worth much, being that of a diplomat, but such as it is it is yours. However, my clothes are scarcely presentable,” which was true enough. Several buttons were missing, and the collar hung by a thread.
“That can be easily remedied,” said she. “There are several new hussar uniforms in the armory.”
“O, Madame, and you will permit me to wear one of those gay uniforms of light blue and silver lace?”
The Colonel looked thoughtfully at Maurice. He was too much a banterer himself to miss the undercurrent of raillery. He eyed Madame discreetly; he saw that she had accepted merely the surface tones.
“And you will wear one, too, Jack?” said Maurice.
“No, thank you. I pass my word, Madame; I do not like confinement.”
“Well, then, the count will shortly return and establish you in better quarters. Let us suppose you are my guests for a—a fortnight. Since both of us are right, since neither your cause nor mine is wrong, an armistice! Ah! I forgot. The east corridor on the third floor is forbidden you. Should you mistake and go that way, a guard will direct you properly. Messieurs, till dinner!” and with a smile which illumined her face as a sudden burst of sunshine flashes across a hillside, she passed out of the room, followed by her henchman, who had not yet put aside the thoughtful repose of his countenance.
“A house party,” said Maurice, when he could no longer hear their footsteps. “And what the deuce have they got so valuable in the east corridor on the third floor?”
“It's small matter to me,” said Fitzgerald tranquilly. “The main fact is that she has given up her game.”
Said Maurice, his face expressing both pity and astonishment: “My dear, dear John! Didn't you see that woman's eyes, her hair, her chin, her nose?”