"Now, I hope you will reserve all your powers of charming for my
daughter. No more flirting, eh? She loves you; she would be jealous,
and you would get into hot water with me! Let Micheline's life be happy,
without a cloud-blue, always blue sky!"

"That will be easy," said Serge. "To be unhappy I should have to seek
misfortune; and I certainly shall not do that."

He began to laugh.

"Besides, your good friends who criticised so when you gave me
Micheline's hand would be only too pleased. I will not give them the
pleasure of posing as prophets and saying, 'We knew it would be so!'"

"You must forgive them," replied Madame Desvarennes. "You have made
enemies. Without speaking of projects which I had formed, I may say that
my daughter has had offers from the best folks in Paris; from first-rate
firms! Our circle was rather indignant.

"People said: 'Oh, Madame Desvarennes wanted her daughter to be a
Princess. We shall see how it will turn out. Her son-in-law will spend
her money and spurn her.' The gossip of disappointed people. Give them
the lie; manage that we shall all live together, and we shall be right
against the world."

"Do you hope it will be so?"

"I am sure of it," answered the mistress, affectionately pressing the
hand of her future son-in-law.