The Argosy — page 85: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

! ! } 92 Divided. was a myth and nothing else. It is not all quite as it should be, © then, in their little arrangements? Incompatibility of temper? Storms in a tea-cup? Or is it something more serious?” ‘¢ Nothing—nothing,” said Monsieur Lenard hastily. ‘‘ Nothing, iet me assure you, Comte. A mere temporary coolness, which my niece’s short absence will, I doubt not, completely cure. As for her -—you may take my word for it—a better girl does not exist. A trifle hasty and wild perhaps. But then, what will you have? She is a woman. They are none of them angels, eh, M. le Comte? But, for my part, I hold that those who bark most bite least.” Certainly she did not suffer from home-sickness, or appear desirous of Monsieur de Kériadec’s company. She was as bright and merry as in her girlhood, with a smile and a laugh for all, and as eager about her professional duties as ever. ‘What a pity there is a Monsieur de Kériadec in the background,” was the thought of many. ‘“ Que c’est béte, that a bird of such gay plumage should be in the possession of some dull, sober-tinted, heavy- witted bourgeois.” None considered the possibility of this same bourgeois revelling in the beauty of the lovely bird that, somehow or other, he had lured into his clumsy grasp; or for one moment thought it likely that it might be Madame de Kériadec who was to blame, if there were differences between herself and her husband. Whatever may have been her private faults or troubles, Madame de Kériadec showed a brave front to the world, with a kind of insou- ciant defiance that repelled any attempt at pity or sympathy from those who wished to win her friendship; and yet, at the same time, always conducting herself with a simple dignity that kept people at a proper distance, and seemed to place her in a little world of her own, apart from her companions. However, she was not without detractors. Her beauty and popu- larity roused a good deal of jealous criticism. No doubt there were certain ladies who would have hailed the arrival of Monsieur de Kériadec with malicious gratification, especially if he were a person calculated to put his wife to open shame. » On the night that this story opens, Mademoiselle Clothilde, an actress performing in the same piece as Mademoiselle Lenard, and Madame de Fréville, a so-called friend of Denise, felt particularly annoyed by her popularity. In the centre of the room, surrounded by a circle of admirers, chiefly fatuous-countenanced young men with susceptible hearts, who thought they were doing the right thing, stood Mademoiselle Lenard, listening to their inane compliments with that halfmocking smile of hers. All the most desirable young men were at her feet ; even de Caromont, Mademoiselle Clothilde’s newest swain, had deserted over to her side ; and as for Monsieur le Comte d’Edmond, he was making himself a perfect fool over her. ‘She will encourage Monsieur le Comte, voyez vous,” Mademoiselle Eomichbooks.co = 3)