'And then I could not go with you two men,' said the girl, laughing gaily.
'Oh!' exclaimed the young man, opening his great eyes very wide, 'that is awkward, I never thought of that.'
'And do you not think it a little awkward sitting here waiting for Madeleine?' asked Gabrielle.
'No,' answered Nicholas, promptly; 'certainly not, why should it be so?'
'The gardens are very full,' said Gabrielle; 'had we not better walk about now, and look for Madeleine, instead of sitting here any longer hand in hand?'
'Very well,' answered Nicholas, rising, but not relinquishing the hand. Gabrielle, however, snatched it from him, and then rested it on his arm.
'Look,' said Nicholas, 'the soldiers are yonder, drawn up at the entrance of the Champs Elysées.'
'I have heard the discharge of fire-arms,' said Gabrielle, 'but not in that direction.'
'Alphonse!' exclaimed Nicholas to a friend who was passing, 'can you tell me what is going on? I was with the mob that marched from the Palais Royal to the Place Vendôme, and was there dispersed, which gave me the opportunity of escaping; it was no fault of mine that I was in the riot.'
'Nicholas, my brave!' said the young man accosted, 'you want zeal. But, to be sure, you are a foreigner. In your own country you would be a patriot.'