There was little after that to make me anxious, for our army merely
went through a course of triumphs, taking one city after another in
rapid succession. I remained at Mezieres, and M. de Bellaise
sometimes was able to spend a few days with me, much, I fear, to the
derision of his fellow-soldiers, who could not understand a man's
choosing such a form of recreation. We had been walking under the
fine trees in the PLACE on a beautiful summer evening, and were
mounting the stairs on our return home, when we heard a voice
demanding of the hostess whether this were the lodging of Captain de
Bellaise.
I feared that it was a summons from the camp, but as the stranger
came forward I saw that he was a very young man in the dress of a
groom, booted, spurred, and covered with dust and dried splashes of
mud, though his voice and pronunciation were those of a gentleman.
'Do you bring tidings from M. le Marquis?' inquired my husband, who
had recognized our livery.
'Ah! I have deceived you likewise, and no wonder, for I should not
have known you, Philippe,' cried the new comer.
'Armand d'Aubepine! Impossible! I thought your child was a girl,'
exclaimed my husband.
'And am I to waste my life and grow old ingloriously on that
account?' demanded the youth, who had by this time come up to our
rooms.
'Welcome, then, my brother,' said my husband a little gravely, as I
thought. 'My love,' he added, turning to me, 'let me present to you
my brother-in-law, the Chevalier d'Aubepine.
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