“Can mademoiselle have forgotten it is the day of the great dinner?”
“Great dinner? What do you mean by such nonsense, Fanny? Why, whom are we to have at our table of so much importance? Nobody is invited that I have not known a long time: our neighbor, M. Daumier, with his wife and daughter, Dr. Ollivier, and M. Dupaigne. Really, it would be singular for me to receive them with any ceremony.”
“Mademoiselle has not named all the guests.”
“Whom have I forgotten?”
“M. Louis Beauvais.”
“Ah! that is true. I overlooked him. But his coming will not change my intention to remain as I am.”
These words were uttered in a tone of perfect indifference. Fanny was overjoyed, but careful not to manifest it. Then, as she continued to busy herself about her mistress, she began to reflect. “She does not care for him,” she said to herself. “There is nothing to fear for the moment, then. But who knows how it may be by-and-by?... I must at once find out if, under favorable circumstances, she might not conceive an affection for him, and try to prevent such a misfortune. I will take the other side to find out the truth.”
“A charming young man, this M. Louis, and quite worthy of interest,” said she, without appearing to attach any importance to her words.
“What do you find so charming in him?”