he
other to the State. It would be difficult to find a nobler landscape.

CHAPTER XXVII. A GIRL'S REVENGE

Modeste's arrival at Rosembray made a certain sensation in the avenue
when the carriage with the liveries of France came in sight, accompanied
by the grand equerry, the colonel, Canalis, and La Briere on
horseback, preceded by an outrider in full dress, and followed by six
servants,--among whom were the Negroes and the mulatto,--and the britzka
of the colonel for the two waiting-women and the luggage. The carriage
was drawn by four horses, ridden by postilions dressed with an elegance
specially commanded by the grand equerry, who was often better served
than the king himself. As Modeste, dazzled by the magnificence of the
great lords, entered and beheld this lesser Versailles, she suddenly
remembered her approaching interview with the celebrated duchesses, and
began to fear that she might seem awkward, or provincial, or parvenue;
in fact, she lost her self-possession, and heartily repented having
wished for a hunt.

Fortunately, however, as the carriage drew up, Modeste saw an old man,
in a blond wig frizzed into little curls, whose calm, plump, smooth face
wore a fatherly smile and an expression of monastic cheerfulness which
the half-veiled glance of the eye rendered almost noble. This was the
Duc de Verneuil, master of Rosembray. The duchess, a woman of extreme
piety, the only daughter of a rich and deceased chief-justice, spare
and erect, and the mother of four children, resembled Madame
Latournelle,--if the imagination can go so far as to adorn the notary's
wife with the graces of a bearing that was truly abbatial.

"Ah, good morning, dear Hortense!" said Mademoiselle d'Herouville,
kissing the duchess with the sympathy that united their haughty
natures; "let me present to you and to the dear duke our little angel,
Mademoiselle de La Bastie."

"We have heard so much of you, mademoiselle," said the duchess, "that we
were in haste to receive you."

"And regret the time lost," added the Duc de Verneuil, with courteous
admiration.

"Monsieur le Comte de La Bastie," said the grand equerry, taking the
colonel by the arm and presenting him to the duke and duchess, with an
air of respect in his tone and gesture.

"I am glad to welcome you, Monsieur le comte!" said Monsieur de
Verneuil. "You possess more than one treasure," he added, looking at
Modeste.

The duchess took Modeste under her arm and led h