"No! and so you see, Bijou, it would be for nothing at all that you would commit the very worst of all follies--marrying an old man."
"An old man! it's queer, he does not seem to me at all like an old man--M. de Clagny! I should certainly prefer marrying a younger man and one whom I should like in every respect, but now--"
Jeanne put her arm round Bijou and, resting her hand on her friend's shoulder, kissed her as she said:
"You must just wait for him in peace, the one 'whom you would like in every respect!' You have plenty of time!"
"No, I have quite decided! Whatever you do now will be useless, for, in spite of what you say, when once the cause of your little misunderstanding has vanished, the misunderstanding will vanish in the same way. There now, kiss me again, and tell me that you love me."
"Well!" said Jean de Blaye, who now appeared with M. Spiegel, "is everyone ready; are we going to rehearse?"
For the last few days he had been in a nervous, excitable state, feeling the need of anything that would take him out of himself, and doing his utmost all the time to keep himself from thinking. "Yes," answered Denyse very calmly, wiping her eyes quickly, "we are ready; we were only waiting for you." And then, in a very gracious, natural way, she held out her hand to M. Spiegel, who took it, saying at the same time:
"You are not too tired, mademoiselle, after such a late night?" And then, glancing involuntarily at Mademoiselle Dubuisson's rather sallow-looking face, he added: "Why, you are looking fresher even than yesterday."
Jeanne came nearer to Bijou, and, as they moved away together, she said, pointing to the professor, and with a look of intense grief in her gentle eyes:
"You see your remedy would not do; he is incurable."
The little play was performed before a large audience of guests, who were highly amused. Bijou was so pretty in her costume as Hebe, she looked so pure and maidenly and so sweet, that, when the piece was finished, and she wanted to go and put on her ball-dress, everyone begged her to remain just as she was. As she was going away into a side-room to escape the compliments of the various guests, M. de Rueille stopped her, and said, in a sarcastic tone:
