"I have some news for you," he said, forcing himself to assume an untroubled and even cheerful countenance. "We were about to sign, when Uncle Antoine appeared like a god from the clouds at the Opera. He lost his temper and had a row with the dowager, who, up to that time, had been acting in concert with him against Madame d'Estrelle; but he has repented of his folly, he proposes to give you a magnificent indemnity; he takes this opportunity to make amends for all the wrong he has done, and he does it handsomely, I must say; so be grateful to him for it, also for his intention to deal handsomely with Madame d'Estrelle. He will probably leave her twice as much as the dowager intended to leave her; so she thought that it was her duty to show her gratitude by yielding at once to a whim he had of turning her out of the hôtel----" "She has gone!" cried Julien, turning pale. "Gone! gone! she is going to pass a few days in the country; what is there so surprising in that?" "Ah! Marcel," said Madame Thierry, "you see, you don't know----" "I do not wish to know anything outside of the serious matters which require all my attention," Marcel replied with decision. "I have heard to-day many foolish remarks, offensive insinuations and impertinent comments. I prefer to believe none of them and to remember none of them. The name of Madame Julie d'Estrelle is sacred to me; but I have advised her to disappear for a few days." "To disappear?" echoed Julien, still in dire distress. "_Parbleu!_ one would think we were in Madrid and that she had been immuned for life in a convent cell! What is the cause of this tragic mood? I simply urged her to pretend to be dead for a week or two, long enough to settle her affairs and find out where she stands. Let us keep quiet and show neither anxiety nor displeasure on account of her absence. Let us not stir up the marchioness's evil designs, which Monsieur Antoine's intervention has blocked to some extent for the moment. Above all, let us make sure that Julie does not lose the rich old fellow's protection and esteem. This is no time to puzzle over the man's strange logic; the devil could not explain it. The thing to do is to make the most of it, and no one of us three must think of himself or of anything but Madame d'Estrelle's future."