"Certainly not," he replied, laughing. "What should I do there? The role
of men of action does not begin until the orators have concluded."

He spoke so energetically, in spite of his jesting tone, that Mlle. de
Courtornieu was fascinated. She saw before her, she believed, a man
who, as her father had said, would rise to the highest position in the
political world.

Unfortunately, her admiration was disturbed by a ring of the great bell
that always announces visitors.

She trembled, let go her hold on Martial's arm, and said, very
earnestly:

"Ah, no matter. I wish very much to know what is going on up there. If
I ask my father, he will laugh at my curiosity, while you, Monsieur, if
you are present at the conference, you will tell me all."

A wish thus expressed was a command. The marquis bowed and obeyed.

"She dismisses me," he said to himself as he ascended the staircase,
"nothing could be more evident; and that without much ceremony. Why the
devil does she wish to get rid of me?"

Why? Because a single peal of the bell announced a visitor for Mlle.
Blanche; because she was expecting a visit from her friend; and
because she wished at any cost to prevent a meeting between Martial and
Marie-Anne.

She did not love him, and yet an agony of jealousy was torturing her.