'And am I to waste my life and grow old ingloriously on that
account?' demanded the youth, who had by this time come up to our
rooms.

'Welcome, then, my brother,' said my husband a little gravely, as I
thought. 'My love,' he added, turning to me, 'let me present to you
my brother-in-law, the Chevalier d'Aubepine.'

With infinite grace the Chevalier put a knee to the ground, and
kissed my hand.

'Madame will be good enough to excuse my present appearance,' he
said, 'in consideration of its being the only means by which I could
put myself on the path of honour.'

'It is then an evasion?' said my husband gravely.

'My dear Viscount, do not give yourself the airs of a patriarch.
They do not suit with your one-and-twenty years, even though you are
the model of husbands. Tell me, where is your hero?'

'The Duke? He is before Thionville.'

'I shall be at his feet in another day. Tell me how goes the war.
What cities are falling before our arms?'

He asked of victories; M. de Bellaise asked of his sister. 'Oh!
well, well, what do I know?' he answered lightly, as if the matter
were beneath his consideration; and when I inquired about his child,
he actually made a grimace, and indeed he had barely seen her, for