were you not?"
said the Princess, holding out a hand, which the Duchess kissed with
affectionate respect.

"Yes, dear mother; I was at home all the time. And," she added, as she
turned to greet the Vidame and the Marquis, "I wished that all Paris
should think that I was with M. de Montriveau."

The Duke flung up his hands, struck them together in despair, and folded
his arms.

"Then, cannot you see what will come of this mad freak?" he asked at
last.

But the aged Princess had suddenly risen, and stood looking steadily
at the Duchess, the younger woman flushed, and her eyes fell. Mme de
Chauvry gently drew her closer, and said, "My little angel, let me kiss
you!"

She kissed her niece very affectionately on the forehead, and continued
smiling, while she held her hand in a tight clasp.

"We are not under the Valois now, dear child. You have compromised your
husband and your position. Still, we will arrange to make everything
right."

"But, dear aunt, I do not wish to make it right at all. It is my wish
that all Paris should say that I was with M. de Montriveau this morning.
If you destroy that belief, however ill grounded it may be, you will do
me a singular disservice."

"Do you really wish to ruin yourself, child, and to grieve your family?"

"My family, father, unintentionally condemned me to irreparable
misfortune when they sacrificed me to family considerations. You may,
perhaps, blame me for seeking alleviations, but you will certainly feel
for me."

"After all the endless pains you take to settle your daughters
suitably!" muttered M. de Navarreins, addressing the Vidame.

The Princess shook a stray grain of snuff from her skirts. "My dear
little girl," she said, "be happy, if you can. We are not talking of
troubling your felicity, but of reconciling it with social usages. We
all of us here assembled know that marriage is a defective institution
tempered by love. But when you take a lover, is there any need to make
your bed in the Place du Carrousel? See now, just be a bit reasonable,
and hear what we have to say."

"I am listening."

"Mme la Duchesse," began the Duc de Grandlieu, "if it were any part of
an uncle's duty to look after his nieces, he ought to have a position;
society would owe him honours and rewards and a salary, exactly as if
he were in the King's service. So I am not here to talk about my nephew,
but of your own interests. Let us look ahead a little. If you persist in
making a