"I remember everything," replied the duke in a grave voice.
Marianne looked at him and commenced to laugh.
"Oh! how you say that, mon Dieu! Do you remember I used to call you Don Carlos? Well, you have just reminded me of Philip II. 'I remember everything!' B-r-r! what a funereal tone. Our reminiscences are not, however, very dramatic."
"That depends on the good or ill effects that they cause," said Rosas very seriously.
"Ah! God forgive me if I have ever willingly done you the least harm, my dear Rosas. Give me your hand. I have always loved you dearly, my friend."
She drew him gently toward her, half bending her face under the cold glance of the young man:
"Look at me closely and see if I lie."
The duke actually endeavored to read the gray-blue eyes of Marianne; but so strange a flash darted from them, that he recoiled, withdrawing his hands from the pressure of those fingers.
"Come, come!" she said, "I see that my cat-like eyes still make you afraid. Are they, then, very dreadful?"
She changed their expression to one of sweetness, humility, timidity and winsomeness.