“You are my prisoner, monsieur, and I shall not grant your request.  The arrival of the Prince de Monbert is a piece of good fortune.  My husband and I will not be ungrateful to the good genius that brought you here.  We shall keep you.”

“One moment, madame,” said I, stopping in front of the chateau; “I accept the happiness of being retained by you; but will you be good enough to name the persons I am to meet here?”

“They are all friends of M. de Monbert.”

“Friends are the very people I dread, madame.”

“But they are all women.”

“Women I dread most of all.”

“Ah! monsieur, it is quite evident that you have been among savages for ten years.”

“Savages are the only beings I am not afraid of!”

“Alas! monsieur, I have nothing in that line to offer you.  This evening I can show you some neighbors who resemble the tribes of the Tortoise of the Great Serpent—­these are the only natives I can dispose of.  At present you will only see my husband, two ladies who are almost widows, and a young lady” ... here Mad. de Lorgeville was seized with a new fit of laughter ... finally she continued:  “A young lady whose name you will know later.”

“I know it already, madame.”

“Perhaps you do ... to-morrow our company will be increased by two persons, my brother.” ...

“The handsome Leon!”

“Ah you know him!...  My brother Leon and his wife.” ...

I started so violently that I dropped Mad. de Lorgeville’s arm—­she looked frightened, and I said in a painfully constrained voice: 

“And his wife....  Mad. de Varezes?...  Ah!  I did not know that M. de Varezes was married.”

“My brother was married a month ago,” said Mad.  Lorgeville.  “He married Mlle. de Bligny.”

“Are you certain of that, madame?”

This question was asked in a voice and accompanied by an expression of countenance that would have made a painter or musician desperate, even were they Rossini or Delacroix.

Mad. de Lorgeville, alarmed a second time by my excited manner, looked at me with commiseration, as if she thought me crazy!  Certainly neither my face nor manner indicated sanity.

“You ask if I am sure my brother is married!” said Mad. de Lorgeville with petrified astonishment.  “You are surely jesting?”

“Yes, madame, yes,” said I, with an exuberance of gayety, “it is a joke....  I understand it all ...  I comprehend everything ... that is to say—­I understand nothing ... but your brother, the excellent Leon de Varezes, is married—­that is all I wanted to know....  What a very handsome young man he is!...  I suppose, madame, that you opened my note without reading the address ... or did Mlle. de Chateaudun send you here to meet me?”