A well-appointed victoria was waiting below with a
superb-looking coachman motionless on the box-seat. This sight put a
finishing touch to the excitement of the Moranges. When Seraphine had
installed the little girl beside her, they laughed aloud.
"How pretty she looks! How happy she must feel!"
Reine must have been conscious that they were looking at her, for she
raised her head, smiled and bowed. And Seraphine did the same, while the
horse broke into a trot and turned the corner of the avenue. Then came a
final explosion--
"Look at her!" repeated Valerie; "she is so candid! At twelve years old
she is still as innocent as a child in her cradle. You know that I trust
her to nobody. Wouldn't one think her a little duchess who has always had
a carriage of her own?"
Then Morange reverted to his dream of fortune. "Well," said he, "I hope
that she _will_ have a carriage when we marry her off. Just let me get
into the Credit National and you will see all your desires fulfilled."
And turning towards Mathieu he added, "There are three of us, and, as I
have said before, that is quite enough for a man to provide for,
especially as money is so hard to earn.
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