"It is there, it is always there that her eyes turn," said Edouard sorrowfully. "Madman that I am! I believed that she was thinking of me."
Ten minutes passed, during which Isaure stood at the window, and the young men, stationed behind some trees, did not lose sight of her or of the White House. At the end of that time, a light appeared in a window of that mysterious house.
"That is the signal that she was waiting for, no doubt," said Edouard.
And, in fact, the girl instantly left the window, disappeared from her room and soon stole softly out of the cottage. Edouard gripped his friend’s arm fiercely; he could not speak, but he followed every movement that Isaure made. She, after locking her door, darted swiftly into the field, and crossing it at a rapid pace, soon reached the entrance to the White House, and glided furtively through the door, which closed behind her.
The young men followed her, watched her enter the house, and stopped a few steps away.
"There is no more doubt," said Edouard in a gloomy voice; "she is there with my rival! Ah! I am going——"
"What are you going to do?" said Alfred, holding Edouard back; "knock at that door? make an uproar? They will not admit you, and besides you will not find out anything more. Would it not be better to wait until she comes out? Perhaps the man who is in there will accompany her; suppose we could see them, hear them, unobserved! There will still be time enough to challenge your rival; as he is here, he cannot escape you."
"Yes, yes, you are right," said Edouard; "let us wait, I will try to be strong enough."
"See, let us take our places under this clump of trees. We shall be just opposite the door, and no one can see us. Come."
Alfred led Edouard under the trees, which were some forty yards from the White House. There they crouched in the darkest spot, and waited in silence until the door opposite them was opened. A quarter of an hour passed in this painful suspense; Edouard was frantic with impatience and jealousy; but the desire to acquire proofs of Isaure’s treachery gave him strength to resist the violent impulses of his heart. Suddenly they heard a slight noise; it did not come from the White House, however, but from behind the young men.