Victorine smiled again, with a quick pleasure at the unaffected offer. "Thank you very much. A dish of thé à l'anglais would be delightful."
Deborah's heart sank. In Maryland tea was a luxury drunk only upon particular occasions. She had not the slightest idea that there was such an article in her kitchen here. Bravely saying nothing, however, she struck a little gong, and, at the appearance of Laroux, ordered, rather faintly, two dishes of Bohea. Laroux, receiving the command with perfect stoicism, bowed and disappeared, to return, in a very short space of time, with two pretty bowls filled with sweet, brown liquid. These he deftly arranged on a low stand between the ladies, placing beside them a little plate of rissoles. Madame la Comtesse decided at once that such a servant as this should not soon leave her.
"Ah—this is most comfortable. I am going to remain with you during the whole afternoon. It is wonderful to find some one who is neither a saint, an etiquette, nor a rival. My faith, madame, one might say anything to you!"
Deborah smiled, sipped her tea, and could find nothing to reply. Her face, however, invited confidence; and the Maréchale sighed and continued:
"You seem to be almost happy! The look on your face one sees only once a lifetime. It is youth, and—innocence, I think. How old are you? Oh, pardon! I am absurdly thoughtless! But you look so young!"
"I am eighteen," responded Deborah at once.
"And I—nineteen. Beside you I appear thirty. It is because I have lived here for three years. Ah! How I have been bored!"
"It must have been very lonely all the summer. But now, with Monsieur the Marshal returned, it will be better."
"Oh, you are right! It will be more difficult now, and so, more absorbing. But Jules lets me do almost as I please. If he were but more strict, less cold, François would have more interest. He is growing indifferent. Dieu! How I have worked to prevent that! But—it is imbecile of me! I care so much for him that I cannot behave as I should!"
"I do not understand," said Deborah, indistinctly, with a new feeling, one of dread, stealing over her. Instinctively she feared to hear what this pale, big-eyed little creature was going to say next.