Thélénie with difficulty repressed a nervous gesture; but she found it more difficult to mask the threatening expression which passed over her face and which Freluchon did not fail to observe, although she affected to smile as she murmured:
“Yes, so I have been told. But Monsieur Edmond has been in love so often! it is never a serious matter with him.”
“It is true,” said Freluchon, playing with his switch, “that I have known him to have love-affairs which lasted only a short time. But this time it is a genuine passion, a sincere attachment, for he expects to marry his love very soon.”
“Oh! he says that, but he will think twice before doing it.”
“Why so? Mademoiselle Agathe is a charming girl; she is bright and talented; she has an equable, sweet disposition, and much charm.”
“Ha! ha! ha! what an eloquent portrait! Look out! One would think that you too were in love with the young lady.”
“Isn’t she the girl who lives with that other woman in the Courtivaux house?” said Madame Droguet.
“As you very elegantly express it, madame,” Freluchon replied, “she is that girl. By the way, I haven’t as yet seen any other girl in the neighborhood.”
“But they say that those women——”
Thélénie hastily interrupted the giantess, whispering: