"Oh! how good you are, and how happy I am! But, never fear, my friend; I will try to arrange it so that the time won't seem too long to you. In the first place, it is a lovely spot, the whole neighborhood is charming; you would think that you were a hundred leagues from the capital. However, it is no desert, for there are several pretty estates in the neighborhood; but I don't care much for visiting neighbors, myself, especially in the country; for when you have once allowed your neighbors to call, they are always at your door, and that gets to be horribly tiresome. But wait till you see my house--it's an immense place, like a little château. The garden is very large and well shaded; there's a lake in which I have the right to fish--only there are no fish in it. There's a billiard room, and all sorts of games. And then, when you are bored beyond endurance, or when you have any business in Paris, we are so near--you can be here in an hour." "I am at your orders, Frédérique. Let us start! let us start as soon as possible! I look forward with delight to living in the country with you." Madame Dauberny pressed my hand with all her strength and kissed me on the forehead. "Listen! listen!--Oh! mon Dieu! here I am beginning to address you familiarly again, as I used to." "Oh! I am very willing." "No, no! I won't do it! Listen, my friend: you must tell Mignonne that you are going to pass some time in the country; that is a perfectly natural thing for you to do; ask her to continue to come to your rooms as usual, to superintend your household; you might even give her to understand that you rely on her friendship to look carefully after your interests. She will be flattered by that mark of confidence. You need not tell her how long you expect to be away--nor whom you are going to visit. You are not accountable to her, after all. But, my friend, you mustn't come to Paris too often to see her; for that would destroy the effect of your sojourn in the country." "I understand that perfectly." "Then we must hope that absence--common sense---- That young woman will realize sooner or later that she does wrong to love you with love." "Surely she will! And then, if another man calls to see her, now and then----" "Ah, yes! That's the very thing! Perhaps he will succeed in winning her love!" I stared at Frédérique in amazement, for I had never mentioned Ballangier's passion for Mignonne to her. She blushed and began to arrange her hair; that was her usual resource when she did not want to be examined. "Who do you think may succeed in winning Mignonne's love, pray?" "Why, the man who is paying court to her--that young man who comes to see you sometimes." "How do you know that, Frédérique?" "Wonderful cleverness on my part! Did I not meet him one day when he was going to see you?" "And you guessed that he was in love with Mignonne, simply from seeing him come to my rooms?" "He has changed greatly, and to his advantage, that young man."