"Oh, don't be too sure about that! Daniel is not one of those whining lovers who publish their lamentations to the whole world. He loves her, as I could see by his sudden paleness when I announced to him the definite rejection of his offer; but he has an iron will, and you may be certain that if he is so calm, that only shows he still cherishes some hope. As for me, I won't believe in Kondjé-Gul's marriage with her cousin, until I see them coming out of church together."
Now although it was of small consequence to me that Kiusko, in his robust faith, still preserved a remnant of hope, I must admit that I felt somewhat aggravated by his presumptuous pertinacity. As he had formally declared his love, Kondjé-Gul could not henceforth feign to ignore it. There was an offensive kind of impertinence to her about that coolness of his, which affected to take no account of an engagement of which she had informed him as a justification for her refusal. However reserved he might be, and even if he never betrayed by a single word the secret feeling which he concealed so carefully during our intercourse as friends, it would be impossible for me not to feel the constraint of such a situation. So far as he was concerned, it did not seem to trouble him in the least. This demeanour, and this insolent confidence of his—such as might be expected in a petty feudal tyrant—irritated me inexpressibly; but an incident occurred, at first sight insignificant, which diverted the current of my suspicions into quite a different channel.
One morning, about ten o'clock, I was accompanying my aunt upon one of her rounds of visiting the poor. As we happened to be passing Count Téral's house, I was very much surprised to see Daniel coming out of it. What had he been doing there? This was Kondjé-Gul's lesson time, and certainly not the time of day for callers. This discovery put me into a state of agitation which it was extremely difficult for me to avoid showing.
I reflected, however, that it was quite possible Maud or Susannah had entrusted him with a message or with some book, which he had come to deliver. However that might be, I wanted to clear up the mystery. When half-way down the Champs Elysées, I pretended to have an order to give to a coachmaker, and leaving my aunt to return home alone, I went back to Téral House.
As I had anticipated, Kondjé-Gul was shut up with her music-mistress. I sent up my name in the ordinary way, and was immediately introduced.
"What! is it you?" she said, pretending before her mistress to be surprised at such an early visit. "Have you come to play a duet with me?"
"No," I answered, "I was passing by this way, and I will only trouble you long enough to find out if you have formed any plans for to-day with your friends the Montagues."
"None," she replied, "beyond that they are expecting me at three o'clock."
"Then they did not send you any message this morning?"
"No. Has anything happened?" she added in Turkish.