Besides the four of the house--Blaise, Denis, Ambroise,
and Rose--there were Gaston and Lucie, the two elder children of the
Seguins, who had abstained, however, from bringing their other
daughter--little Andree. Then, too, both Reine and Maurice were present.
And the latter now, indeed, seemed to be all right upon his legs, though
his square face with its heavy jaw still remained somewhat pale. His
mother watched him running about, and felt so happy and so vain at the
realization of her dream that she became quite amiable even towards these
poor relatives the Froments, whose retirement into the country seemed to
her like an incomprehensible downfall, which forever thrust them out of
her social sphere.
"Ah! well," resumed Beauchene, "I've only one boy, but he's a sturdy
fellow, I warrant it; isn't he, Mathieu?"
These words had scarcely passed his lips when he must have regretted
them. His eyelids quivered and a little chill came over him as his glance
met that of his former designer. For in the latter's clear eyes he
beheld, as it were, a vision of that other son, Norine's ill-fated child,
who had been cast into the unknown.
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