the probable excitement which his
arrival would case in Havre, and which would of course echo up to the
Mignons. Therefore, in his role of a man needing rest, he did not leave
the house. La Briere went twice to walk past the Chalet, though always
with a sense of despair, for he feared to displease Modeste, and the
future seemed to him dark with clouds. The two friends came down to
dinner on Monday dressed for the momentous visit. La Briere wore the
same clothes he had so carefully selected for the famous Sunday; but
he now felt like the satellite of planet, and resigned himself to
the uncertainties of his situation. Canalis, on the other hand, had
carefully attended to his black coat, his orders, and all those little
drawing-room elegancies, which his intimacy with the Duchesse de
Chaulieu and the fashionable world of the faubourg had brought to
perfection. He had gone into the minutiae of dandyism, while poor La
Briere was about to present himself with the negligence of a man without
hope. Germain, as he waited at dinner could not help smiling to himself
at the contrast. After the second course, however, the valet came in
with a diplomatic, that is to say, uneasy air.

"Does Monsieur le baron know," he said to Canalis in a low voice, "that
Monsieur the grand equerry is coming to Graville to get cured of the
same illness which has brought Monsieur de La Briere and Monsieur le
baron to the sea-shore?"

"What, the little Duc d'Herouville?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"Is he coming for Mademoiselle de La Bastie?" asked La Briere, coloring.

"So it appears, monsieur."

"We are cheated!" cried Canalis looking at La Briere.

"Ah!" retorted Ernest quickly, "that is the first time you have said,
'we' since we left Paris: it has been 'I' all along."

"You understood me," cried Canalis, with a burst of laughter. "But
we are not in a position to struggle against a ducal coronet, nor the
duke's title, nor against the waste lands which the Council of State
have just granted, on my report, to the house of Herouville."

"His grace," said La Briere, with a spice of malice that was
nevertheless serious, "will furnish you with compensation in the person
of his sister."

At this instant, the Comte de La Bastie was announced; the two young men
rose at once, and La Briere hastened forward to present Canalis.

"I wished to return the visit that you paid me in Paris," said the count
to the young lawyer, "and I knew that by coming here I