Léodgard drew his heavy eyebrows together, and said in an ironical tone:
"You see, chevalier, you are no longer the same man. You desire now to make inquiries before you fight! Whereas, formerly, you would throw yourself head foremost into the mêlée, without disturbing yourself concerning the motive of the quarrel, and sometimes dealing blows on both sides. You were admirable then."
"Perhaps so.—Yes, I do not deny that I am no longer the same. The hatred that I once felt for the whole human race has vanished and given place to gentler sentiments. When I felt my heart beat again, I realized that all sensibility had not died within me. I have found my heart anew, I have felt sensations which I never expected again to know. And the gloom and despair which consumed me are transformed into touching memories."
"What can have produced this miraculous change in you, I pray to know?"
"A child!"
"A child?"
"Yes. The loss of my daughter made me the man you described so well just now. Another child—an angel like the first—has restored me to myself. This child is not mine; but she is so affectionate, so lovable! Dear little one! she smiles at my caresses, she already manifests affection for me, and I imagine that my own daughter is given back to me!"
"Who is this marvellous child, pray?"
"Yours, count. I am speaking of your daughter, your little Blanche.—Ah! I am entitled to love her, to lavish my affection upon her, for I, representing your father, had the honor to act as her godfather. I tell you again, your daughter is an angel; it is not only the beauty of her features that people admire in her; young as she is, her eyes already have a sweet and gentle expression which charms, attracts one, while her pure and noble brow denotes unusual intelligence!—Do you not wish to see her, count? Will you never imprint a kiss on that angel's brow? You have no suspicion that you possess such a treasure; but I am convinced that to see her for an instant will suffice to make you love her?"
"Was it to tell me all this, to speak to me of that child, that you came hither, chevalier?" asked Léodgard, with a sombre expression.