'I have caused it to be whispered, of course; we never say those things ourselves.'
'Where does Othmar hide her at present, do you say?'
'At a farmhouse at Les Hameaux. He is not magnificent in his maintenance of her; it is a very simple place, and she lives very simply there.'
'That is just like a very rich man. Besides, Othmar always has a taste for black bread and bare boards. You know at one time he actually dreamed of breaking up the whole network of the Othmar power, and stripping himself of everything, and living like St. Vincent de Paul. That was before those children were born; their mother would certainly never take the vow of poverty! Well, shall you and I ride down to Magny some morning and see this prodigy of genius and simplicity? You can recall yourself to her, and you can present me. We will represent ourselves as inspired by what we have heard from Rosselin.'
Loswa hesitated. Othmar was not a man whom he cared to cross. Yet he had a desire to see again the face which he had sketched on Bonaventure, and he had a vague idea that by going thither he might in some way learn something which would enable him to pay off that old score which had so long cherished against Othmar's wife. He had had a restless and hopeless passion for her years before; he had served and flattered her docilely because he held at its just value the great power of her social influence; he had been of use to her in a thousand ways at her château parties and in her Paris entertainments; he had always been docile and devoted, and ingenious to please, and submissive under offence, but all the same, at the bottom of his heart there was a bitter rancour against her for her blindness to his charms; for her criticism of his talents; for her constant careless treatment of him as a mere décor de fête, as a mere amateur; and if he could see her pride hurt or her indifference penetrated, he felt that he would be happier and better satisfied. A thousand slighting words which she had spoken out of caprice, and forgotten as soon as they were uttered, had remained written on his memory and unforgiven. He would not have quarrelled with her openly for his life; he was too sensible of the pleasure of her acquaintance, the charm of her presence, the value of her goodwill; but if he could have helped unseen to put any thorns under the rose leaves of her couch, he would have done so willingly; he would have even chosen thorns which were poisoned.
'Yes, we will go and see her,' said Blanchette, as their horses paced under the boughs. 'It is always amusing to be the first to inspect a person the world is going to be asked to admire. On peut la dénigrer si bien!'
'But,' suggested Loswa, with hesitation, 'if we dénigrer here, we shall please Madame Nadège. Is that what you wish to do? I think if we go at all we must, on the contrary, go to befriend, to admire, to assist the new talent.'
Blanche de Laon gave him a little approving caress with her whip.
'You are a clever man, Loris,' she said with appreciation. 'We will go to-morrow—no, the day after to-morrow,' she added. 'I will meet you at St. Cyr; the horses shall be sent there by train; I often send mine by train to places where I wish to ride; send yours also. We will go early because it is a long way. The day after to-morrow I know that Othmar will be at Ferrières; there is a great breakfast; he cannot escape from it; there will be no fear of meeting him in Chevreuse.'
'But are you sure what we shall accomplish when we reach there?'