"Poor Gustave!" said Adolphine to herself, as she left the room; "father doesn't want him to come here any more! What, in heaven's name, would he say if he knew about that duel? Then it would surely be: 'I don't want to see him in my house again!'—Luckily he thinks, like everybody else, that Auguste's injury was the result of a fall on the stairs. But I suppose father is right, and Gustave will never come here; I shall never see him again!"
The girl put her handkerchief to her eyes once more, then went in search of Madeleine, her maid, a young girl from Picardy, who did not know Gustave, because she did not enter Monsieur Gerbault's service until after his eldest daughter's marriage. Madeleine was very fond of her mistress; she saw that she was unhappy, and often said to her:
"Mon Dieu! mamzelle, when shall I see you happy and gay, as you ought to be at your age?"
"Why, I am very happy, Madeleine," replied Adolphine, forcing back a sigh. Whereat the Picarde murmured, with a shrug of her shoulders:
"Oh! nenni! I can see well enough that you always have something inside that keeps you from laughing!"
XXII
A SOFT-SPOKEN GENTLEMAN
The guests were punctual; the dinner was voted excellent. Monsieur Batonnin ate for four, but was not thereby prevented from praising each dish, adding compliments for the host, for the young lady of the house, and even for the cook; if there had been a cat or a dog, it is probable that it would have come in for its share in that distribution of flattering speeches.
At dessert, the conversation fell upon the newly married couple, Monsieur Gerbault expressing his regret that they had been unable to come to dinner.
"Yes, they make a charming couple," said Batonnin, with his inevitable smile. "Can Monsieur Monléard use his right arm now?"
"Yes; it is entirely well. It took a long while, for a mere fall on the stairs."