y exchanged a few words.

"At the house in the Passage des Eaux," said he.

"No, it is impossible--I have explained to you, and you swore to me--"

"Well, wherever you like, so that I may see you! In your own house
--this evening. Shall I call?"

The idea was repellant to her. But she could only refuse with a sign,
for fear again came upon her as she observed the two ladies and
Malignon returning. Madame Deberle had taken the young man away under
pretext of showing him some clumps of violets which were in full
blossom notwithstanding the cold weather. Hastening her steps, she
entered the pavilion before the others, her face illumined by a smile.

"It's all arranged," she exclaimed.

"What's all arranged?" asked Helene, who was still trembling with
excitement and had forgotten everything.

"Oh, that marriage! What a riddance! Pauline was getting a bit of a
nuisance. However, the young man has seen her and thinks her charming!
To-morrow we're all going to dine with papa. I could have embraced
Malignon for his good news!"

With the utmost self-possession Henri had contrived to put some
distance between Helene and himself. He also expressed his sense of
Malignon's favor, and seemed to share his wife's delight at the
prospect of seeing their little sister settled at last. Then he turned
to Helene, and informed her that she was dropping one of her gloves.
She thanked him. They could hear Pauline laughing and joking in the
garden. She was leaning towards Malignon, murmuring broken sentences
in his ear, and bursting into loud laughter as he gave her whispered
answers. No doubt he was chatting to her confidentially about her
future husband. Standing near the open door of the pavilion, Helene
meanwhile inhaled the cold air with delight.

It was at this moment that in the bedroom up above a silence fell on
Jeanne and Monsieur Rambaud, whom the intense heat of the fire filled
with languor. The child woke up from the long-continued pause with a
sudden suggestion which seemed to be the outcome of her dreamy fit:

"Would you like to go into the kitchen? We'll see if we can get a
glimpse of mamma!"

"Very well; let us go," replied Monsieur Rambaud.

Jeanne felt stronger that day, and reaching the kitchen without any
assistance pressed her face against a windowpane. Monsieur Rambaud
also gazed into the garden. The trees were bare of foliage, and
through the large transparent windows of the Japanese pavilion they
could mak