The girl held her peace, but indulged in a pretty little pout; whereupon her mother seized her hand and pressed it, and said in a gentler tone and with an expression of the deepest melancholy:
“I distress you, Ernestine; you don’t love your mother.”
The girl replied by putting her mother’s hand to her lips and murmuring:
“Oh! you know that I do!”
Suddenly, happening to turn her head, Mademoiselle de Noirmont caught sight of Chérubin, who did not know which leg to stand on. When she saw that young man standing behind her and cutting such an amusing figure, young Ernestine only half restrained her longing to laugh.
“What is the matter?” her mother asked her; “what has happened to you? You should not laugh so in company—it is not proper.”
The girl replied by nudging her mother gently and whispering:
“Look—behind us—there’s a young gentleman.”
Madame de Noirmont turned and saw Chérubin, who, having no idea which way to turn, bowed low to her. Amazed to see the young man in hiding in a window recess, Madame de Noirmont was about to move so that he might pass; but at that moment, Monfréville, having just discovered his young friend, for whom he had been searching the salons in vain, drew near to assist him in escaping from his prison.
When she saw Monfréville coming straight toward her, Madame de Noirmont seemed to experience a nervous convulsion; but her face changed very slightly.