was still a little angry with him, or at least pretended to be so; and being used to have always a declared lover, gave me the preference. I was obliged to sit always by her side, to carry her gloves and her fan, and to follow her every where as her esquire. Even when somebody talked to me at a small distance from her, she inquired, with the greatest simplicity, "where may the Marquis be?" This induced me to flatter myself to be secretly beloved by her, though she never suffered me to speak of my passion. She neither acted the prude, nor was reserved, but behaved like an offended wife that is going to lose her husband, and importuned already with proposals of a second marriage. The Count soon observed that she seemed to be very partial to me, and frequently squeezed my hand by stealth with averted looks. Yet my proud heart soon conceived a presumption upon her favour, which unexpectedly made me sensible of my mistake.
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