"
XII.
On hearing M. de Valorsay's name, Mademoiselle Marguerite and the
magistrate exchanged glances full of wondering conjecture. The
girl was undecided what course to pursue; but the magistrate put
an end to her perplexity. "Ask the marquis to come up," he said
to the servant.
The footman left the room; and, as soon as he had disappeared,
Mademoiselle Marguerite exclaimed: "What, monsieur! after all I
have told you, you still wish me to receive him?"
"It is absolutely necessary that you should do so. You must know
what he wishes and what hope brings him here. Calm yourself, and
submit to necessity."
In a sort of bewilderment, the girl hastily arranged her
disordered dress, and caught up her wavy hair which had fallen
over her shoulders. "Ah! monsieur," she remarked, "don't you
understand that he still believes me to be the count's heiress? In
his eyes, I am still surrounded by the glamor of the millions
which are mine no longer."
"Hush! here he comes!"
The Marquis de Valorsay was indeed upon the threshold, and a
moment later he entered the room. He was clad with the exquisite
taste of those intelligent gentlemen to whom the color of a pair
of trousers is a momentous matter, and whose ambition is satisfied
if they are regarded as a sovereign authority respecting the cut
of a waistcoat. As a rule, his expression of face merely denoted
supreme contentment with himself and indifference as to others,
but now, strange to say, he looked grave and almost solemn.
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