"What, uncle! You who are usually so sober!"

"Pooh!" he said. "A man may surely indulge himself a little once a
year!..."

"Aunt will give you a scolding!"

"Your aunt has one of her sick headaches and is not coming down. Besides,"
he added, gruffly, "it is not her business ... and still less is it yours,
my dear child."

Prince Renine came up to Hortense. He was a young man, very smartly
dressed, with a narrow and rather pale face, whose eyes held by turns
the gentlest and the harshest, the most friendly and the most satirical
expression. He bowed to her, kissed her hand and said:

"May I remind you of your kind promise, dear madame?"

"My promise?"

"Yes, we agreed that we should repeat our delightful excursion of yesterday
and try to go over that old boarded-up place the look of which made us so
curious. It seems to be known as the Domaine de Halingre."

She answered a little curtly:

"I'm extremely sorry, monsieur, but it would be rather far and I'm feeling
a little done up. I shall go for a canter in the park and come indoors
again."