Accordingly, when the party met at the
dinner-table the poet saw a cloud on the brow of his idol; he knew
that Mademoiselle d'Herouville's malignity allowed him to lose no
time, and he resolved to offer himself as a husband at the first
moment when he could find himself alone with Modeste.
Overhearing a few acid though polite remarks exchanged between the
poet and the two noble ladies, Gobenheim nudged Butscha with his
elbow, and said in an undertone, motioning towards the poet and the
grand equerry,--
"They'll demolish one another!"
"Canalis has genius enough to demolish himself all alone," answered
the dwarf.
CHAPTER XXII
A RIDDLE GUESSED
During the dinner, which was magnificent and admirably well served,
the duke obtained a signal advantage over Canalis. Modeste, who had
received her habit and other equestrian equipments the night before,
spoke of taking rides about the country. A turn of the conversation
led her to express the wish to see a hunt with hounds, a pleasure she
had never yet enjoyed. The duke at once proposed to arrange a hunt in
one of the crown forests, which lay a few leagues from Havre.
Pages:
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348