A singular change has taken place within
her, and I do not see how it is that none of you have perceived it."
"In the name of all that's honorable--" cried the lieutenant.
"Don't interrupt me, Dumay. For the last two months Modeste has taken
as much care of her personal appearance as if she expected to meet a
lover. She has grown extremely fastidious about her shoes; she wants
to set off her pretty feet; she scolds Madame Gobet, the shoemaker. It
is the same thing with her milliner. Some days my poor darling is
absorbed in thought, evidently expectant, as if waiting for some one.
Her voice has curt tones when she answers a question, as though she
were interrupted in the current of her thoughts and secret
expectations. Then, if this awaited lover has come--"
"Good heavens!"
"Sit down, Dumay," said the blind woman. "Well, then Modeste is gay.
Oh! she is not gay to your sight; you cannot catch these gradations;
they are too delicate for eyes that see only the outside of nature.
Her gaiety is betrayed to me by the tones of her voice, by certain
accents which I alone can catch and understand.
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