So strange are the sudden effects of a new passion, that she regarded
almost with contempt this unbounded confidence reposed in her.

She replied to his jest with a forced calmness, as if her mind were
really as free and undisturbed as it had been before Clameran's visit.

So intoxicated had been her sensations while with Raoul, that in her joy
she was incapable of desiring anything else, of dreaming of aught save
the renewal of these delightful emotions.

No longer was she a devoted wife, an affectionate mother to this
household which looked up to her as though she were a superior being.
She took no interest in the two sons who were a short while since her
chief pride and joy. They had always been petted and indulged in every
way; they had a father, they were rich; whist the other, the other! oh,
how much reparation was due to him!

She almost regarded her family as responsible for Raoul's sufferings, so
blinded was she in her devotion to her martyr, as she called him.

Her folly was complete. No remorse for the past, no apprehensions for
the future, disturbed the satisfied present. To her the future was
to-morrow; eternity was the sixteen hours which must elapse before
another interview.

She seemed to think that Gaston's death absolved the past, and changed
the present.

Her sole regret was her marriage. Free, with no family ties, she could
have consecrated herself exclusively to Raoul. How gladly would she have
sacrificed her affluence to enjoy poverty with him!

She felt no fear that her husband and sons would suspect the thoughts
which absorbed her mind; but she dreaded her niece.

She imagined that Madeleine looked at her strangely on her return from
the Hotel du Louvre. She must suspect something; but did she suspect the
truth?

For several days she asked embarrassing questions, as to where her aunt
went, and with whom she had been during these long absences from home.

This disquietude and seeming curiosity changed the affection which Mme.
Fauvel had hitherto felt for her adopted daughter into positive dislike.

She regretted having placed over herself a vigilant spy from whom she
could not escape. She pondered what means she could take to avoid the
penetrating watchfulness of a girl who was accustomed to read in her
face every thought that crossed her mind.

With unspeakable satisfaction she solved the difficulty in a way which
she thought would please all parties.

During the last two years