"
Madame du Gua replied to the last words, which were said half aside,
with a rather unceremonious bow that betrayed her annoyance at the
beauty of the new-comer. Then she said, in a low voice, to her son:
"'Perilous times,' 'devotion,' 'madame,' 'servant'! that is not
Mademoiselle de Verneuil; it is some girl sent here by Fouche."
The guests were about to sit down when Mademoiselle de Verneuil
noticed Corentin, who was still employed in a close scrutiny of the
mother and son, who were showing some annoyance at his glances.
"Citizen," she said to him, "you are no doubt too well bred to dog my
steps. The Republic, when it sent my parents to the scaffold, did not
magnanimously provide me with a guardian. Though you have, from
extreme and chivalric gallantry accompanied me against my will to this
place" (she sighed), "I am quite resolved not to allow your protecting
care to become a burden to you. I am safe now, and you can leave me."
She gave him a fixed and contemptuous look. Corentin understood her;
he repressed the smile which almost curled the corners of his wily
lips as he bowed to her respectfully.
"Citoyenne," he said, "it is always an honor to obey you. Beauty is
the only queen a Republican can serve."
Mademoiselle de Verneuil's eyes, as she watched him depart, shone with
such natural pleasure, she looked at Francine with a smile of
intelligence which betrayed so much real satisfaction, that Madame du
Gua, who grew prudent as she grew jealous, felt disposed to relinquish
the suspicions which Mademoiselle de Verneuil's great beauty had
forced into her mind.
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