“Besides, there are enough of us here to defend ourselves,” said Dupré, drawing himself up; “and we have weapons, thank God!”
“Dupré, go and see if Catherine is getting supper ready.”
“Yes, monsieur, and I’ll go too and see if Madame Constance and her daughter want anything.”
Dupré did not go to Adeline’s room; but he was glad of an opportunity to let the strangers know that there were more people in the house, for he was not at all pleased to find that the strangers were going to pass the night there.
He went to the kitchen, and asked Catherine what she thought of the strangers.
“Faith! I think they’re honest folk; the old man seems very respectable.”
“For an old man who can hardly stand on his legs, he has very bright eyes! And his two sons! one of them looks very much like a regular ne’er-do-well; he always has a sneering laugh when he speaks, and he drinks—oh! he don’t leave any in his glass!”
“Indeed! that’s very surprising, isn’t it? A peddler!”
“And the other one,—such a sombre air! He never lifts his eyes; and so far the only word he has said is a single ‘yes,’ and he said it in such a lugubrious way! I don’t like those people.”
“Bah! you are too suspicious, my dear Dupré.”