,
glittered in the golden sheen of the morning. The earth seemed
new-born; life and joy seemed new created. Francezka looked toward the
chateau and waved her hands to Gaston, on his way to the stables. He
turned and came toward her. I could not but remark how comely a man he
was. He had never been a beautiful creature, like poor silly
Bellegarde, but a good figure of a man, with regular and well-marked
features, full of grace and intelligence. In a minute or two he had
joined us. I had not before noticed the behavior of Gaston and the dog
to each other, but now I observed that when Gaston approached, Bold
exhibited an active dislike toward his former master.

His bristles rose, he showed his teeth, and in spite of Francezka's
command, and even entreaty, he trotted off and would not return. I
have always been sensitive to the dislike of dogs, believing them to
be better judges of character than men are. But Gaston Cheverny did
not seem to mind Bold's disaffection; he was satisfied with
Francezka's constancy.

We remained a pleasant hour in the Italian garden. Gaston was, as he
had been from the first, kind and courteous to me; pressed me to
return in the autumn for the wolf hunting, which is one of the great
sports of the region, and thanked me again for what I had been enabled
to do for Francezka in his absence. When we returned to the chateau
the sun was high, but Count Saxe had not yet left his room. He had
then acquired the habit of lying late abed, except when he was in the
field. Then he never slept at all, so his enemies said.

Madame Riano had threatened to accompany us back to Paris, but we
were not sure whether she would go or not. Paris dragged her one way,
the hope of meeting the Bishop of Louvain and triumphing over him,
dragged her the other. But we saw her great traveling chaise hauled
out of the coach house and her people busy, so we were not surprised
when she met us and announced that she, with her maids and her _maitre
d'hotel_, was ready to start with us. I allowed Beauvais to
communicate this intelligence to Count Saxe, not liking to be the
bearer of bad news, and I heard my master swearing furiously in his
bedroom. But when he appeared in traveling dress, at ten o'clock, he
was smiling and polite as usual, and expressed great joy at being
allowed to journey in Madame Riano's suite. Count Saxe was a prudent
as well as a courageous man, and he never belittled his antagonists,
least of all Madame R