Modeste looked as though she were at
the theatre, in an attitude of enthusiasm for an actor,--very much
like that of Ernest toward herself; for though the secretary knew all
these high-sounding phrases by heart, he listened through the eyes, as
it were, of the young girl, and grew more and more madly in love with
her. To this true lover, Modeste was eclipsing all the Modestes he had
created as he read her letters and answered them.
This visit, the length of which was predetermined by Canalis, careful
not to allow his admirers a chance to get surfeited, ended by an
invitation to dinner on the following Monday.
"We shall not be at the Chalet," said the Comte de La Bastie. "Dumay
will have sole possession of it. I return to the villa, having bought
it back under a deed of redemption within six months, which I have
to-day signed with Monsieur Vilquin."
"I hope," said Dumay, "that Vilquin will not be able to return to you
the sum you have just lent him, and that the villa will remain yours."
"It is an abode in keeping with your fortune," said Canalis.
"You mean the fortune that I am supposed to have," replied Charles
Mignon, hastily.
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