ed to believe, as
did his aunt and all the world, that she conscientiously performed her
difficult duties, and that she found in the eclat of her life and the
gratification of her pride a sufficient compensation for the sacrifice
of her youth, her heart, and her beauty; but certain souvenirs of the
past, joined to certain peculiarities, which he fancied he remarked in
the Marquise, induced him to distrust.

There were times, when recalling all that he had once witnessed--the
abysses and the flame at the bottom of that heart--he was tempted to
suspect the existence of many storms under all this calm exterior, and
perhaps some wickedness. It is true she never was with him precisely as
she was before the world. The character of their relations was marked by
a peculiar tone. It was precisely that tone of covert irony adopted by
two persons who desired neither to remember nor to forget. This tone,
softened in the language of Camors by his worldly tact and his respect,
was much more pointed, and had much more of bitterness on the side of
the young woman.

He even fancied, at times, that he discovered a shade of coquetry under
this treatment; and this provocation, vague as it was, coming from
this beautiful, cold, and inscrutable creature, seemed to him a game
fearfully mysterious, that at once attracted and disturbed him.

This was the state of things when the Count came, according to custom,
to pass the first days of September at the chateau of Campvallon, and
met there Madame de Tecle and her daughter. The visit was a painful one,
this year, for Madame de Tecle. Her confidence deserted her, and serious
concern took its place. She had, it is true, fixed in her mind, as
the last point of her hopes, the moment when her daughter should have
reached twenty years of age; and Marie was only eighteen.

But she already had had several offers, and several times public rumor
had already declared her to be betrothed.

Now, Camors could not have been ignorant of the rumors circulating in
the neighborhood, and yet he did not speak. His countenance did not
change. He was coldly affectionate to Madame de Tecle, but toward Marie,
in spite of her beautiful blue eyes, like her mother's, and her
curly hair, he preserved a frozen indifference. For Camors had other
anxieties, of which Madame de Tecle knew nothing. The manner of Madame
Campvallon toward him had assumed a more marked character of aggressive
raillery. A defensive attitude is n