"Really, Ernestine, you amaze me. You speak of M. de Senneterre and his family as if you knew them." "Well, I may as well admit, my dear Herminie," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, unable to resist her desire to allay her friend's fears and to encourage her to hope, "that, knowing how unhappy you were, I managed to make some inquiries about the Senneterre family through my relative." "But how?" "She knows one of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's servants." "Your relative does?" "Yes, and she discovered in this way that Madame de Senneterre has been mixed up in an unfortunate scheme to bring about a marriage between her son and Mlle. de Beaumesnil, that rich heiress." "Gerald was to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" exclaimed Herminie. "Yes, but he nobly refused. Her immense fortune has no attraction for him, because he loves you,--loves you devotedly, Herminie." "Is this true?" exclaimed the duchess, delightedly. "Are you sure of what you say, Ernestine?" "Perfectly sure." "It is not so much that this disinterestedness on Gerald's part astonishes me," said Herminie, "as that--" "That you are proud of this new proof of his love. Am I not right?" "Yes, yes," exclaimed the duchess, her hopes reviving in spite of herself. "But once more, I can not help asking if you are perfectly sure of what you say? My poor child, you are so anxious to see me happy that I am afraid you have lent too ready an ear to these reports, for servants' gossip, you know, is proverbially unreliable. Do you know whether Gerald has ever met Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" "Once or twice, I think my relative told me. But why do you ask that question, Herminie?" "Because it seems to me that I shall feel very uncomfortable to-morrow, knowing that there has been some talk of a marriage between Gerald and Mlle. de Beaumesnil." "Why, what is to happen to-morrow, Herminie?" "I am to give Mlle. de Beaumesnil her first music lesson." "To-morrow?" exclaimed Ernestine, without concealing her surprise. "Read this letter, my dear," replied the duchess. "It is from that gentleman, the hunchback, you remember, that you once met here." "M. de Maillefort probably had his reasons for not warning me of his intentions," Ernestine said to herself, as she perused the missive. "I am glad that he is hastening the denouement, however, for my powers of dissimulation are nearly exhausted. What a relief it will be to confess all!" As she returned the letter, Ernestine asked: "What difference does it make to you, Herminie, if there has been some talk of a marriage between M. de Senneterre and Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" "I do not know, but I somehow feel that it places me in a false, almost painful position towards that young lady, and if I had not promised M. de Maillefort--" "What would you do?" "I would abandon this visit, which now causes me a sort of vague uneasiness."