At length places were found, and they commenced dinner. Again Madeline was confused and abashed, not by the public gaze this time, but by the assiduous attentions of her husband and Madame de Fontenay. They treated her if she were some princess, who condescended when she smiled upon them and did them honour when she spoke. The girl was more troubled than ever, but she no longer tried to solve the strange problem. She received the homage of her husband with becoming gentleness, and ate her dinner as contentedly as she could under the circumstances. Dinner over, Monsieur Belleisle rose, offered Madeline his arm, and, with much bustle and turmoil, conducted her from the room--the pallid widow following. Again she felt herself the centre of attraction, and, feeling less abashed, she held up her head with becoming grace and confidence, and swept her bright eyes along the ranks of flushed, admiring faces. ‘My dear Madeline,’ said Monsieur Belleisle to her that night, ‘it is not always a rich wife who brings happiness to a man. I married a treasure when I married _you, chérie_.’ To the widow he said, when the two were closeted alone-- ‘What say you to our plan now, Madame?’ ‘What I said before. The girl has beauty enough to send Paris mad, if she remains in the hands of a careful master.’ CHAPTER XIV.--DARKER DAYS. That one exciting evening over, Madeline’s life in the place became even more monotonous than it had been before. Every morning she was taken out, either by Monsieur Belleisle or Madame de Fontenay; but her walks were made in sequestered places, not amongst the gay throng of tourists who daily dipped themselves into the sea. Her evenings were spent quietly at home. But she was always met with the promise that the dulness of her present life was transitory, that there were brighter days in store. That some mysterious work was going on Madeline knew from the strange behaviour of her husband and the widow. Sometimes he himself would disappear for several days together, leaving his wife in the care of Madame; then the lady would disappear, and for several days Madeline would be left alone with her husband; then, just as she was congratulating herself upon the relief, the widow would return--looking more benign than ever--and adding to Madeline’s wonder by endless secret interviews with Belleisle.