The young woman looked at him in amazement, and smiled; then, finding that he said nothing more, she returned to her drawing-board, and tried to continue her sketch. But Frédéric's presence embarrassed her; the hand that held the pencil trembled, and she did not know what she was doing.
Frédéric continued to gaze at her in silence; he was charmed by her manner, her grace, her amiable yet reserved air. If Sister Anne had had a good education, she would have been like her; she would have had her manners, her talents; she would have had the same command of language. And he began to consider that education, instead of lessening a woman's attractions, imparts an additional fascination to them.
The conversation languished, for Frédéric often relapsed into reverie; but, for all that, the time passed very quickly; it seemed that they were happy to be together, and that that sufficed them. So far as Frédéric was concerned, he would gladly have passed the whole day looking at Constance and drawing comparisons. She noticed that he kept his eyes constantly upon her; but his eyes were so soft, there was in their expression something so tender and touching, that no woman could have been offended at being the object of their scrutiny.
The arrival of the two old friends put an end to this situation, which was very agreeable to the young people, although they dared not confess as much, even to themselves. The general pointed out to the count all the beauties of his garden, and the summer-house was one of them. The count seemed extremely well pleased, for, as he approached the platform, he detected a certain embarrassment, a certain emotion, which added greatly to its attractions in his eyes. The general saw nothing of it; he was not so keen an observer as his friend.
"We have two guests, as you see, niece," he said; "try to do the honors of the establishment so satisfactorily that they won't think of leaving us for a long time."
"I will do my best," said Constance, blushing.
"Mademoiselle," said the count, "your presence alone is enough to detain us."
Frédéric said nothing, but looked at Constance, who, as she thanked the count, cast a furtive glance at his son, as if to make sure that he thought the same.
After dinner, two of the general's neighbors called. One was an enthusiastic player of billiards, who could not sleep if he had not had his game; the other, who was somewhat younger, had seen service in the army, and had an endless stock of campaign stories, which he interspersed with compliments and gallant speeches to Mademoiselle de Valmont.
Frédéric declined to join them at billiards, in order to remain with Constance and to hear her sing or play.