He took the seat opposite the Countess; she occupied the whole of hers with her full skirts, which were of gold brocade of an unusual Eastern pattern, and the long clinging folds of the crimson “capuchin.”
Her dark face looked the darker for the powdered hair; the cheeks were still hollow, but all her outline was curved and soft, and her lips were a warm, pale red; her rather sombre eyes were clear and reflective in expression. She wore diamond ear-rings of remarkable size and brilliance, and all her garments and the appointments of her coach showed of noticeable richness. Luc reflected how unaware of her wealth and position he had been when they were climbing the Bohemian rocks together.
“I thought you would come to Paris,” she remarked. “Do you wish to enter politics? You should be at Versailles.”
“Why, perhaps, Madame,” assented Luc. “But Paris is very interesting to one who knows so little of the cities of the world as myself.”
She gave him a full look.
“Oh,” she said slowly; then she added, “But you must meet people, know people, court people—and every one worth meeting, knowing, courting is at Versailles. Shall I help you?”
“I should be deeply grateful,” answered the Marquis simply. “I have no acquaintances at the Court.”
Carola did not answer; she was gazing out of the window. He had already, in Bohemia, guessed her to be a woman of few words, and this impression was confirmed, for the only opening for conversation they had—the campaign of last year—she never mentioned.
The coach drove soon through the massive gates of an hotel that Luc took to be the residence of her brother-in-law, and the Marquis handed her out at the steps of the fine door; it was not the house that had been pointed out to him as the Hôtel Dubussy. As he alighted he noticed a light curricle pass along the street driven by a lady ostentatiously placed high and alone on the box with a black servant behind. Her dress was pale and showy; veils and ribbons flew behind her. The passers-by stared, and so did Luc, for he recognized in her fair, slightly over-opulent beauty the woman whom he had seen last night in the house opposite.
“Who is that lady?” he asked, for the Countess was looking at her very keenly.