The following day, after breakfast, Mlle.Moriaz was walking alone on the terrace.The weather was delightfully mild.She was bare-headed, and had opened her white silk umbrella to protect herself from the sun; for Samuel Brohl had been a true prophet--there was sunshine.She looked up at the sky, where no trace was left of the wind-storm of the preceding evening, and it seemed to her that she never had seen the sky so blue.She looked at her flower-beds, and the flowers that she saw were perhaps not there.She looked at the orchard, growing on the slope that bordered the terrace, and she admired the foliage of the apple-trees, over which Autumn, with liberal hand, had scattered gold and purple; the grass there was as high as her knee, and was fragrant and glossy.Above the apple-trees she saw the spire of the church at Cormeilles; it seemed to amuse itself watching the flying clouds.It was a high-festival day.The bells were ringing out a full peal; they spoke to this happy girl of that far-off, mysterious land which we remember, without ever having seen it.Their silvery voices were answered by the cheerful cackling of the hens.She at once understood that a joyful event was occurring in the poultry-yard, as well as in the belfry; that below, as well as above, an arrival was being celebrated.But what pleased her more than all the rest was the little deep-set gateway with its ivy-hung arch at the end of the orchard.It was through this gate that he would come.
She walked several times around the terrace.The gravel was elastic, and rebounded under her step.Never had Mlle.Moriaz felt so light:
life, the present, the future, weighed no heavier on her brow than a bird in the hand that holds it and feels it tremble.Her heart fluttered like a bird; like a bird it had wings, and only asked to fly.She believed that there was happiness everywhere; there seemed to be joy diffused through the air, in the wind, in every sound, and in all silences.She gazed smilingly on the vast landscape that was spread out before her eyes, and the sparkling Seine sent back her smile.
Some one came to announce that a lady, a stranger, had called, who wished to speak with her.Immediately thereupon the stranger appeared, and Mlle.Moriaz was most disagreeably surprised to find herself in the presence of the Princess Gulof, whom she would willingly never have seen again."This is an unpleasant visit," she thought, as she asked her guest to be seated on a rustic bench."What can this woman want with me?""It was M.Moriaz whom I desired to speak with," began the princess.
"I am told that he is out.I shall leave in a few hours for Calais; Icannot await his return, and I have, therefore, decided to address myself to you, mademoiselle.I have come here to render you one of those little services that one woman owes to another; but, first of all, I would like to be assured that I may rely on your absolute discretion; I do not desire to appear in this affair.""In what affair, madame?"
"One of no little consequence; it concerns your marriage.""You are extremely kind to concern yourself with my marriage; but I do not understand----""You will understand in a few moments.So you promise me----""I promise nothing, madame, before I understand."The princess looked in amazement at Mlle.Moriaz.She had anticipated talking with a dove; she found that the dove had a less accommodating temper and a much stiffer neck than she had believed.She hesitated for a moment whether she would not at once end the interview; she decided, however, to proceed:
