"Well, do you recognize me?" she said to him in an imperious tone.
Touquet started with surprise, but forcing himself to restrain his anger, he answered,—
"You, at my house, madame! and what did you come to seek here?"
"Some news of Blanche."
"Of Blanche?"
"Yes, that astonishes you! you did not suppose that I knew this young girl? You believed that the Marquis de Villebelle could yield to his new passion without my knowing the object of it, without my learning that you were still the confidant of his amours."
Touquet's eyes blazed with fury as he said to Julia,—
"Jealousy has disturbed your reason, madame. If your lover has left you is it to me that you should betake yourself? Why should you suppose that the marquis is the abductor of a young girl whom he has never seen?"
"Your falsehoods are useless. I know a great deal more than you think. If you should see the marquis before I do, advise him to hasten to restore Blanche to Urbain. If by your perfidious counsels he should become guilty of—he would be the first to punish you for your crime. As for me, you will see me again; I also have a secret to reveal to you."
Thus speaking, Julia walked towards the door. The barber made a movement as if to stop her, but she turned and her hand still grasped her stiletto. Turning on Touquet a terrible look, she rapidly left his house.