"Oh, indeed," laughed Bella, nervously; "how very much interested you are in him! more than he is in you, I'm afraid, dear. He's famed for loving and leaving. Pray how long has this romantic affair been on the tapis?"
"He's met her every day in the Gardens," cried Julius Adolphus, just come in with that fatal apropos of "enfans terribles," much oftener the result of méchanceté than of innocence; "he's met her every day, Bella, while I fed the ducks."
Bella rose, inflated with fury, and summoning all her dignity:
"I suppose, Valérie, you know the sort of reputation you will get through these morning assignations."
Valérie bent over Spit with a smile.
"Of course, it is nothing to me," continued Bella, spitefully; "but I shall consider it my duty to inform mamma."
Valérie fairly laughed out.
"Do your duty, by all means."
"And," continued Bella, a third time, "I dare say she will find some means to put a stop to this absurd friendship with an unmarried and unprincipled man."
Valérie was roused; she lifted her head like a little Pythoness, and her blue eyes flashed angry scorn.