“What is it, then?”
“You see Henri, do you not?”
“Well, yes, I do, certainly. What then?”
“Then look at him long and well, for you will not see him again in many a day. He is going to Mexico!”
“To exploit a mine?”
“Yes, Heloise,” the officer replied, “a mine that will make the walls of Puebla totter.”
“In that case, good luck, my General!” said the duenna, presenting arms with her umbrella.
Fanny could not repress a smile in spite of her tears. Her lover seized this moment to withdraw from her arms and reach the stairs.
“And now, Marquis de Prerolles, go forth to battle!” cried the old actress to him over the banisters, with the air of an artist who knows her proper cue.