"There! didn't I say that all he needed was a good little wife,"
exclaimed Mamma Delobelle, rising and throwing her arms about his neck.

Desiree'had not the strength to utter a word. She bent still lower over
her work, and as Frantz's eyes were fixed exclusively upon his happiness,
as Mamma Delobelle did nothing but look at the clock to see whether her
great man would return soon, no one noticed the lame girl's emotion, nor
her pallor, nor the convulsive trembling of the little bird that lay in
her hands with its head thrown back, like a bird with its death-wound.




CHAPTER IV

THE GLOW-WORMS OF SAVIGNY


"SAVIGNY-SUR-ORGE.

"DEAR SMONIE:--We were sitting at table yesterday in the great dining-room
which you remember, with the door wide open leading to the terrace, where
the flowers are all in bloom. I was a little bored. Dear grandpapa had
been cross all the morning, and poor mamma dared not say a word, being
afraid of those frowning eyebrows which have always laid down the law for
her. I was thinking what a pity it was to be so entirely alone, in the
middle of the summer, in such a lovely spot, and that I should be very
glad, now that I have left the convent, and am destined to pass whole
seasons in the country, to have as in the old day, some one to run about