"But you won't stay away so long this time, will you? and when you return, you will be able to come to see me without fear; you won't meet her here again."
"Yes, you will see me. Adieu!"
Gustave took leave of Adolphine, whose eyes were full of tears as she looked after him; but he did not understand their language. He went to his uncle, told him what had happened, and expressed a desire to go to England and stay there for some time.
Monsieur Grandcourt said simply:
"That woman will end by sending you round the world. But let us hope that this will be your last trip. Go to England, go where you please—but don't return unless you are cured of your idiotic passion."
Gustave soon completed his preparations for departure; he had but a few hours to remain in Paris, when he met Cherami.
"Where are we going so fast?" cried Beau Arthur, taking Gustave's hand. "What has happened? Our countenance is not so cheerful and happy as it was the last time? Can it be that anything has happened to interrupt the course of our loves?"
"My friend," replied Gustave, with a sigh, "there has been a great change, indeed, in my affairs since we last met. There is to be no marriage; the love affair is at an end. Fanny has betrayed me again. Ah! I ought to have expected it! But, no; it is impossible to conceive such perfidy in a woman who looks at us with a smiling face, who tells us that she loves us!"
"What's that you say, my boy? The little widow has slipped out of your hand again? Nonsense, that can't be so!"
"It's the truth. She is going to marry the Comte de la Bérinière, an old man, but very rich. She is to be a countess—she has no further use for me."