The Marshal now came in; he had made such haste, that he was mopping his forehead with his bandana.
“I have given Mariette two thousand francs,” he whispered to his sister-in-law.
Adeline colored to the roots of her hair. Two tears hung on the fringes of the still long lashes, and she silently pressed the old man’s hand; his beaming face expressed the glee of a favored lover.
“I intended to spend the money in a present for you, Adeline,” said he. “Instead of repaying me, you must choose for yourself the thing you would like best.”
He took Lisbeth’s hand, which she held out to him, and so bewildered was he by his satisfaction, that he kissed it.
“That looks promising,” said Adeline to Lisbeth, smiling so far as she was able to smile.
The younger Hulot and his wife now came in.
“Is my brother coming to dinner?” asked the Marshal sharply.
Adeline took up a pencil and wrote these words on a scrap of paper:
“I expect him; he promised this morning that he would be here; but if he should not come, it would be because the Marshal kept him. He is overwhelmed with business.”