“Yes, that is what madame says, poor soul!  She knows how much she owes you,” replied Mariette.  “She said she had judged you unjustly for many years——­”

“Indeed!” said Lisbeth.  “And did she say anything else?”

“No, mademoiselle.  If you wish to please her, talk to her about Monsieur le Baron; she envies you your happiness in seeing him every day.”

“Is she alone?”

“I beg pardon, no; the Marshal is with her.  He comes every day, and she always tells him she saw monsieur in the morning, but that he comes in very late at night.”

“And is there a good dinner to-day?”

Mariette hesitated; she could not meet Lisbeth’s eye.  The drawing-room door opened, and Marshal Hulot rushed out in such haste that he bowed to Lisbeth without looking at her, and dropped a paper.  Lisbeth picked it up and ran after him downstairs, for it was vain to hail a deaf man; but she managed not to overtake the Marshal, and as she came up again she furtively read the following lines written in pencil:—­

“MY DEAR BROTHER,—­My husband has given me the money for my quarter’s expenses; but my daughter Hortense was in such need of it, that I lent her the whole sum, which was scarcely enough to set her straight.  Could you lend me a few hundred francs?  For I cannot ask Hector for more; if he were to blame me, I could not bear it.”

“My word!” thought Lisbeth, “she must be in extremities to bend her pride to such a degree!”

Lisbeth went in.  She saw tears in Adeline’s eyes, and threw her arms round her neck.

“Adeline, my dearest, I know all,” cried Cousin Betty.  “Here, the Marshal dropped this paper—­he was in such a state of mind, and running like a greyhound.—­Has that dreadful Hector given you no money since——?”

“He gives it me quite regularly,” replied the Baroness, “but Hortense needed it, and—­”

“And you had not enough to pay for dinner to-night,” said Lisbeth, interrupting her.  “Now I understand why Mariette looked so confused when I said something about the soup.  You really are childish, Adeline; come, take my savings.”

“Thank you, my kind cousin,” said Adeline, wiping away a tear.  “This little difficulty is only temporary, and I have provided for the future.  My expenses henceforth will be no more than two thousand four hundred francs a year, rent inclusive, and I shall have the money.  —­Above all, Betty, not a word to Hector.  Is he well?”

“As strong as the Pont Neuf, and as gay as a lark; he thinks of nothing but his charmer Valerie.”

Madame Hulot looked out at a tall silver-fir in front of the window, and Lisbeth could not see her cousin’s eyes to read their expression.

“Did you mention that it was the day when we all dine together here?”