His cheeks burnt like fire, and he would have found words to

apologize, but she cut him short by saying, hastily and low, 'Not a

word, Monsieur! Let us go through it at once. No one shall make

game of us.' He hardly durst look at her again; but as he went through his own

elaborate paces he knew that the little creature opposite was

swimming, bending, turning, bounding with the fluttering fierceness

of an angry little bird, and that the superb eyes were casting

flashes on him that seemed to carry him back to days of early

boyhood.

Once he caught a mortified, pleading, wistful glance that made him

feel as if he had inflicted a cruel injury by his thoughtless gaze,

and he resolved to plead the sense of recognition in excuse; but no

sooner was the performance over than she prevented all conversation

by saying, 'Lead me back at once to the Queen, sir; she is about to

retire.' They were already so near that there was no time to say

anything; he could only hold as lightly as possible the tiny

fingers that he felt burning and quivering in his hand, and then,

after bringing her to the side of the chair of state, he was forced

to release her with the mere whisper of 'Pardon, Mademoiselle;' and

the request was not replied to, save by the additional stateliness

of her curtsey.

It was already late, and the party was breaking up; but his head

and heart were still in a whirl when he found himself seated in the

ambassadorial coach, hearing Lady Walsingham's well-pleased

rehearsal of all the compliments she had received on the

distinguished appearance of both her young guests. Sidney, as the

betrothed of her daughter, was property of her own; but she also

exulted in the praises of the young Lord de Ribaumont, as proving

the excellence of the masters whom she had recommended to remove

the rustic clownishness of which he had been accused.

'Nay,' said Sir Francis; 'whoever called him too clownish for court

spake with design.'

The brief sentence added to Berenger's confused sense of being in a

mist of false play. Could his kinsman be bent on keeping him from

court? Could Narcisse be jealous of him? Mademoiselle de

Ribaumont was evidently inclined to seek him, and her cousin might

easily think her lands safer in his absence. He would have been

willing to hold aloof as much as his uncle and cousin could wish,

save for an angry dislike to being duped and cajoled; and,

moreover, a strong curiosity to hear and see more of that little

passionate bird, fresh from the convent cage. Her gesture and her

eyes irresistibly carried him back to old times, though whether to

an angry blackbird in the yew-tree alleys at Leurre, or to the

eager face that had warned him to save his father, he could not

remember with any distinctness. At any rate, he was surprised to

find himself thinking so little in comparison about the splendid

beauty and winning manners of his discarded spouse, though he quite

believed that, now her captive was beyond her grasp, she was

disposed to catch at him again, and try to retain him, or, as his

titillated vanity might whisper, his personal graces might make her

regret the family resolution which she had obeyed.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024