"`Willingly,' said Nanette. And then after putting the rest of the soup they had had on to the fire again to heat for Pierre, and fetching some bread and a couple of eggs to beat up into an omelette--he must have a good breakfast before starting, she said--she sat down and told him all she could think of. She described the house, the rooms occupied by Edmee and her mother, the one or two among the servants she thought better off than the others, though the only one she seemed to have any real confidence in was Marguerite Ribou. "`And even she,' said Pierre, `she has more reason to wish for revenge than any of them--are you sure we can trust her?' "`She has no ill-will, nothing but good feelings to our ladies,' said Nanette, thoughtfully. `But beyond that--as to the Sarinet family, certainly I am sure she is bitter past words. And that Victorine may have influenced her! Of her I need not tell you to beware.' "`Then if all is still as usual with them when I get there,' said Pierre, `how should I proceed? It would not be wise to say I came from Valmont to see the Countess.' "`No,' said Nanette, `for if the Marquis were still there he might hear of it, and he would suspect his sister was again making some plan without telling him, which he would only oppose--he is so obstinate. No, I think you had better ask for Marguerite, and judge for yourself. But Pierre, I have faint hopes,' and Nanette's face grew very grave, `very small hope that you will find things as they were in the Rue de Lille. Had they still been so I feel sure the Countess would have written--and, indeed, I do not think she would have remained there all this time without making some other effort to get away.' "`She may have written,' said Pierre; `letters miscarry so in these days.' "`If she dared write I am sure she will have done so,' said Nanette, `unless,' and the young woman shuddered. `No, do not let us think the worst; only it is sometimes impossible not to remember all I heard there. But again, if the Countess is in disguise somewhere, you see she would not dare to write for fear her letter might be traced, and would betray who she was.' "`Should I know Mademoiselle Edmee, again if I saw her, do you think?' asked Pierre. "`Oh yes, I think so; she has grown tall, of course, but still she has the same face. Indeed, she is still very like the dear little picture. My lady never has it out of her sight. It hangs in her room in Paris just as it did here.' "`Many a time my mother and I have wished they had left it at the Chateau,' said Pierre with a smile; `it would have been some consolation.' "`Ah, yes; that I understand,' said Nanette. "But then Pierre started up. "`I must be off,' he said. `I mean to get over a good piece of ground before the day is old.' "`But you are not going on foot? You have some money with you, surely?' said Madame Delmar anxiously.