"From that I saw that Janille hated him; but whenever she happens to say a word against him, my father warmly defends him. What is there between them? Almost nothing, perhaps. A puerile sensitiveness, a dispute about hunting, so Jean Jappeloup declares. If that were certain, wouldn't it be possible to reconcile them? My father dreams of Monsieur de Boisguilbault too, and sometimes, when he dozes in his chair after supper, he mutters his name in a tone of profound distress. Monsieur Emile, I appeal to your generosity and prudence to induce Monsieur de Boisguilbault to speak, if possible. I have always intended to grasp the first opportunity that presented itself to reconcile two men who have been so closely attached to each other, and if Jean had been fully taken back into the marquis's favor, I should have hoped great things from his boldness and his natural shrewdness. But he too is the victim of a strange caprice on Monsieur de Boisguilbault's part, and I can think of nobody but you who can help me." "You cannot doubt that will be my most constant endeavor henceforth," said Emile, with fervor. And as he heard Janille returning, her little clogs clattering on the flagstones, he stood on a chair as if to adjust the clock, but really to hide the blissful confusion born of Gilberte's confidence. Gilberte also was moved. She had made a great effort to summon courage to open her heart to a young man whom she hardly knew; and she was not so childish or so countrified that she did not realize that she had gone beyond conventional propriety. The loyal creature was distressed at the thought that she had a secret from Janille; but she took comfort in the purity of her intentions, and it was impossible to believe Emile capable of taking advantage of her. For the first time in her life the instinctive craft of her sex guided her action when the housekeeper returned. She felt that her face was on fire, and she stooped to pick up a needle which she had purposely dropped. Thus Janille's penetration was routed by two children who were far from adroit in all other respects, and they set forth gayly to explore the subterranean regions. The passage directly beneath the square pavilion led to a steep staircase which descended to a terrifying depth in the solid rock. Janille went first, at a deliberate gait, with the composure due to her frequent exercise of the functions of _cicerone_ with visitors. Emile followed her, to feel the way for Gilberte, who was neither awkward nor timid, but for whose safety Janille was constantly alarmed. "Take care, my dear," she said at every step. "Hold her if she falls, Monsieur Emile. Mademoiselle is absent-minded like her dear father: it runs in the family. They're a pair of children who would have killed themselves a hundred times over if I had not always had my eye on them."