"But he waved to you.
That I saw."
The Countess had a thought which slowly flooded her face with crimson.
Madame St. Lo saw the change, saw the tender light which on a sudden
softened the other's eyes; and the same thought occurred to her. And
having a mind to punish her companion for her reticence--for she did not
doubt that the girl knew more than she acknowledged--she proposed that
they should return and find Badelon, and learn if he had seen the man.
"Why?" Madame Tavannes asked. And she stood stubbornly, her head high.
"Why should we?"
"To clear it up," the elder woman answered mischievously. "But perhaps,
it were better to tell your husband and let his men search the coppice."
The colour left the Countess's face as quickly as it had come. For a
moment she was tongue-tied. Then--
"Have we not had enough of seeking and being sought?" she cried, more
bitterly than befitted the occasion. "Why should we hunt him? I am not
timid, and he did me no harm. I beg, Madame, that you will do me the
favour of being silent on the matter."
"Oh, if you insist? But what a pother--"
"I did not see him, and he did not see me," Madame de Tavannes answered
vehemently. "I fail, therefore, to understand why we should harass him,
whoever he be. Besides, M.
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