"Oh, what a beautiful head!" said the youth to his mother, who frowned
heavily.
Annoyance, and many other sentiments, aroused and struggled with, did
certainly bring fresh beauties to the young woman's face. Francine,
Madame du Gua, and her son had all risen from their seats.
Mademoiselle de Verneuil hastily advanced and stood between them and
the commandant, who smiled amusedly; then she rapidly unfastened the
frogged fastenings of her jacket. Acting with that blindness which
often seizes women when their self-love is threatened and they are
anxious to show their power, as a child is impatient to play with a
toy that has just been given to it, she took from her bosom a paper
and presented it to Hulot.
"Read that," she said, with a sarcastic laugh.
Then she turned to the young man and gave him, in the excitement of
her triumph, a look in which mischief was mingled with an expression
of love. Their brows cleared, joy flushed each agitated face, and a
thousand contradictory thoughts rose in their hearts. Madame du Gua
noted in that one look far more of love than of pity in Mademoiselle
de Verneuil's intervention; and she was right. The handsome creature
blushed beneath the other woman's gaze, understanding its meaning, and
dropped her eyelids; then, as if aware of some threatening accusation,
she raised her head proudly and defied all eyes.
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