"Yes, I am certain that she is more instructed than she wishes to appear;
and if so, we shall not have a more dangerous enemy."

"Such has always been my opinion. Thus it is six month: since I advised
you to take in all cases the measures which you have adopted, in order to
provoke, on her part, that demand of emancipation, the consequences of
which now render quite easy that which would have been impossible without
it."

"At last," said the princess, with an expression of joy, hateful and
bitter, "this indomitable spirit will be broken. I am at length about to
be avenged of the many insolent sarcasms which I have been compelled to
swallow, lest I should awaken her suspicions. I! I to have borne so much
till now! for this Adrienne has made it her business (imprudent as she
is!) to irritate me against herself!"

"Whosoever offends you, offends me; you know it," said D'Aigrigny, "my
hatreds are yours."

"And you yourself!" said the princess, "how many times have you been the
butt of her poignant irony!"

"My instincts seldom deceive me. I am certain that this young girl may
become a dangerous enemy for us," said the marquis, with a voice
painfully broken into short monosyllables.

"And, therefore, it is necessary that she may be rendered incapable of
exciting further fear," responded Madame de Saint-Dizier, fixedly
regarding the marquis.