Bijou, on saying good-bye to Madame de Nezel, held out her little hand, and looked straight into her eyes with such an expression of innocent curiosity that the young widow turned away, quite confused by the persistency of the young girl's gaze. It seemed to her as though this child had discovered the secret of her life, and the bare idea of this caused her intense misery. Bijou's charm, however, was so great, and her power of attraction so strong, that Madame de Nezel, at the bottom of her heart, felt nothing but affection for the lovely little creature who had so unconsciously stolen her happiness from her. * * * * * "Oh, dear!" exclaimed Denyse gaily, when she went back into the drawing-room, where only M. de Clagny and the family now remained, "it is half-past twelve, you know; they all seemed like fixtures, and I thought they were never going to leave us!" "The La Balue family are not very handsome," remarked the abbe. "Oh, they are not so bad," protested the young girl; "it is only a question of getting used to them, that's all!" "Young Balue is horrible!" said Madame de Bracieux. "And then, too, there is something snaky about him. When you shake hands with him, it is like touching an eel." "And the daughter, too!" put in Pierrot. "Ugh, she has such little pig's eyes! and Louis, too, has little eyes!" "They are very nice, though, all the same," said Bijou, in a conciliatory tone. "And they come of very good family," added Madame de Bracieux; "they are descended from La Balue, from the Cardinal, the real--" "Oh, well," put in Bijou gently, "it would, perhaps, be better for Gisele not to have descended from the iron cage, but to have larger eyes; however, as it cannot be helped--" M. de Clagny laughed, as he turned round to look about for his hat, which he had put down somewhere in the room. "One needs to have a certain amount of assurance," he said, "in making one's exit from here, for one feels how one will be pulled to pieces." "You need not be afraid," said Bijou, "we shall not pull you to pieces, although you could stand it very well. I promise you, though, that you shall not be pulled to pieces. Will you take my word for it?" "Yes, I will take your word," answered the count, as he took the little hands, which were held out to him, and pressed them affectionately in his. VIII. "ARE you going for a ride, Bijou?" called out Pierrot, leaning out of the window. Denyse, who was just crossing the courtyard, pointed to her riding-habit. "Well, you can be sure that in this heat I should not entertain myself by walking about in a cloth dress if I were not going to ride." "Where are you going?" "Why?" "So that we can come and meet you--we two--M. Giraud and I,--at eleven o'clock!" Just behind Pierrot the tutor's head was to be seen.