ants is to be truly loved; and if
he alters his course of life, it will be to the benefit of his talent."

Dinah's coachman hurried up breathlessly to say that the diligence had
come in, and they walked on quickly, Madame de la Baudraye between the
two men.

"Good-bye, my children!" said Bianchon, before they got into the town,
"you have my blessing!"

He released Madame de la Baudraye's hand from his arm, and allowed
Lousteau to draw it into his, with a tender look, as he pressed it
to his heart. What a difference to Dinah! Etienne's arm thrilled
her deeply. Bianchon's had not stirred her in the least. She and the
journalist exchanged one of those glowing looks that are more than an
avowal.

"Only provincial women wear muslin gowns in these days," thought
Lousteau to himself, "the only stuff which shows every crease. This
woman, who has chosen me for her lover, will make a fuss over her frock!
If she had but put on a foulard skirt, I should be happy.--What is the
meaning of these difficulties----"

While Lousteau was wondering whether Dinah had put on a muslin gown on
purpose to protect herself by an insuperable obstacle, Bianchon, with
the help of the coachman, was seeing his luggage piled on the diligence.
Finally, he came to take leave of Dinah, who was excessively friendly
with him.

"Go home, Madame la Baronne, leave me here--Gatien will be coming," he
added in an undertone. "It is getting late," said he aloud. "Good-bye!"

"Good-bye--great man!" cried Lousteau, shaking hands with Bianchon.

When the journalist and Madame de la Baudraye, side by side in the
rickety old chaise, had recrossed the Loire, they both were unready to
speak. In these circumstances, the first words that break the silence
are full of terrible meaning.

"Do you know how much I love you?" said the journalist point blank.

Victory might gratify Lousteau, but defeat could cause him no grief.
This indifference was the secret of his audacity. He took Madame de la
Baudraye's hand as he spoke these decisive words, and pressed it in both
his; but Dinah gently released it.

"Yes, I am as good as an actress or a _grisette_," she said in a voice
that trembled, though she spoke lightly. "But can you suppose that a
woman who, in spite of her absurdities, has some intelligence, will have
reserved the best treasures of her heart for a man who will regard her
merely as a transient pleasure?--I am not surprised to hear from your
lips the words