"And—Monsieur de Rosas?" asked Vaudrey, who was quite pale.
"He?"
Marianne laughed.
"Well, he has gone—I have told you as much. He has, moreover, perhaps, done wisely. I regretted him momentarily—but, bah! I should have sent him away—yes, very quickly, just so! without even allowing him to touch the tips of my fingers."
"Rosas?" repeated the minister, looking keenly into Marianne's eyes.
"Rosas!" she again said, lowering her voice. "And do you know why I would have done that?"
"No—" answered Sulpice trembling.
"Simply because I no longer loved him, and that I loved another."
She had spoken these last words slowly and in such passionate, vibrating tones that Sulpice felt himself shudder with delight.
"Ah," he said, as he went toward her, "is that the reason? Truly, Marianne, is that the reason?"