thou'--'Flor, it
was all very pleasant; and one there was most pleasant--'

"His eyes were sparkling, and he looked at me in a kind of shy pretty
way I had never seen in him before--he even blushed a little.

"'Come come;' I said, 'Master Ernest, you make me curious--was it one
of the young ladies who had been invited, or one of the townspeople's
daughters?'

"'I am not going to betray myself any farther, Flor;' he said; 'but she
was very pretty and very wise, and talked so pleasantly, I only wish we
were going to have another ball to-night!'

"'Why, that sounds quite alarming, Master Ernest,' I said, and
laughed--'to stay up all night dancing and go riding all the morning,
and then to want more dancing! Our gracious count will be quite
pleased! And is this really to be your last word, and all your faithful
Flor is to be allowed to hear?'

"'My very last word, Flor; it is my own secret, and I mean to keep it.'

"'I must get hold of Mr. Leclerc, then;' I said, he will be able to
tell me who you danced with oftenest.'

"'Try him, Flor:' cried the naughty boy; and laughed; 'all my
partners were the same to him; only--"jeunes Allemandes, jolies
bourgeoises!"--he looked after my pas, and never minded where my eyes
went; besides, he played ecarte all the evening with the director of
the saltworks. Ah! Flor, I never thought there could be such sweet eyes
in the world; I used to think that your two were the sweetest!'

"You see, sir, this was what I got for all my pains and my anxiety!

"But this merry mood of his did not last. Next day he grew quiet and
thoughtful, avoided all my questions, and shut himself up in his room
at an unusually early hour; and then I heard him playing the flute for
ever so long after. He could not get this girl out of his head--I saw
that. At first he had felt no more than a pleasant smart, as it were,
and could joke about it; but the fever followed. He could not hold out
four-and-twenty hours, but he ordered his horse and rode out alone,
returning at night quite cast down. It was plain that he had not seen
his flame, and had been too shy to find her out and pay her a visit.
And so he rode to X several times over, with more or less good luck.
One night, when his heart was full, he could not refrain from telling
me his adventure, as I was lighting him upstairs to bed. His face was
radiant; but Good Lord! to any other man, it would not have been worth
the telling; Count Henry would only have