She did all these things more readily than Agatha did, for her spirits were lighter.  Not that Agatha was unhappy, or inattentive to her father; but she was quieter than Marie and of a more contemplative mood.  She also had dark hair, but it was a dark brown, and she wore it braided close to her forehead.  Her complexion was clear and bright, her forehead was white, and the colour in her cheeks, when she had colour there, was that of the clearest carnation.  She was considerably taller than Marie, but her figure was exquisitely perfect, and her gait was that of a queen.  She was the Rose of Poitou, the beauty and queen of the whole district.  She was all but worshipped by the peasantry around her; if they admired her beauty much, they much more strongly appreciated her virtues, her charity, her considerate kindness, her want of selfishness, her devotion to her friends and neighbours, and lastly, her strong feeling of loyalty, her love for the king while he lived, and her passionate regret for him since he had perished on the scaffold.  In this she inherited all the feelings of her father, and it was greatly her attachment to the throne and to the name of the King, which led to so high a pitch the enthusiasm of the peasantry in behalf of the royalists.

Many wishes, surmises and anticipations had arisen as to who was to carry off this rich prize; who should be the happy husband of Agatha Larochejaquelin; but her friends had hitherto been anxious in vain; she still went “in maiden meditation fancy free.”  Not that she was without professed admirers; but they had none of them yet touched her heart.  Many thought that she would be the bride of her brother’s friend, Adolphe Denot; for he was more at the chateau than any one else, was very handsome, and had a good property.  Adolphe was moreover seen to be very attentive to Mademoiselle Agatha; and thrown so much with her as he was, how could he fail of being in love with her.

This belief much disturbed the comfort of Agatha’s humble friends, for Adolphe Denot was not popular among them:  there was a haughtiness in his manner to the poor, to which their own lords and masters had never accustomed them.  He was supercilious and proud in his bearing towards them, and had none of the cheering, frank look and tone of their own dear young M. Henri.  They need not, however, have been alarmed, for Agatha Larochejaquelin was not at all disposed to take Adolphe Denot as her lord; she was passionately attached to her brother, and for his sake she had been kind, attentive, nay, almost affectionate to his friend; she and Adolphe had been much together since they were children.  He had been absent from Durbelliere for about a year, during which time, he had ceased to be a boy, and on his return to the chateau had taken on himself the airs, if not the manners of a man.  Agatha’s manner to him was not altered, it was still friendly and affectionate, and Adolphe, with his usual vanity, misinterpreted it; he flattered himself that the beautiful girl loved him, and he soon persuaded himself that he was devotedly attached to her.