"Sit down, my dear child," interrupted the mistress. "If I tell you
these things, it is because I have the proofs that they are untrue.
Otherwise, I would not have given myself the trouble to talk to you about
them. I would have shown you the door and there would have been an end
of it. Certainly, you are not an angel; but the peccadillos which you
have been guilty of are those which one forgives in a son, and which in a
son-in-law makes some mothers smile. You are a Prince, you are handsome,
and you have been loved. You were then a bachelor; and it was your own
affair. But now, you are going to be, in about ten days, the husband of
my daughter, and it is necessary for us to make certain arrangements.
Therefore, I waited to see you, to speak of your wife, of yourself, and
of me."

What Madame Desvarennes had just said relieved Serge of a great weight.
He felt so happy that he resolved to do everything in his power to please
the mother of his betrothed.

"Speak, Madame," he exclaimed. "I am listening to you with attention and
confidence. I am sure that from you I can only expect goodness and
sense."

The mistress smiled.

"Oh, I know you have a gilt tongue, my handsome friend, but I don't pay
myself with words, and I, am not easy to be wheedled."

"Faith," said Serge, "I won't deceive you. I will try to please you with
all my heart."