"Why, you don't suppose that he will still want to marry your sister, do you?"
"Why not? He loved her so much!"
"Well, I'll bet that he won't. Think of it, mamzelle, after two such affronts as that! for you told me it was the second time she had broken with him. Why, he would have to be a downright fool for that. Is Monsieur Gustave a fool?"
"Oh, no! far from it."
"Well, then——"
At that moment the bell rang; Adolphine started, without knowing why, and Madeleine cried:
"There, suppose it was him? Speak of the devil——"
It was, in fact, Gustave, and Madeleine's face was wreathed in smiles when she announced him to her mistress. The young man entered with more or less embarrassment, caused by Cherami's disclosures. But Adolphine held out her hand, and he pressed it in his with such force that the girl was deeply moved; for Gustave had never manifested so much pleasure at sight of her.
In a moment she spied the scar, and exclaimed in dismay:
"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, you are wounded!"