Page:Ten Years Later 2.djvu/69

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TEN YEARS LATER

TEN" YEARS LATER. 59 tion rose from the English, while a groan of despair escaped from Buckingha'm's lips. Kaoul, who loved, comprehended it all. He fixed upon his friend one of those profound looks which a friend or a mother can alone extend, either as a protector or guardian, over the child or the friend about to stray from the right path. Toward two o'clock in the afternoon the sun shone forth, the wind subsided, the sea became smooth as a crystal mirror, and the fog, which had shrouded the coast, disappeared like a veil withdrawn from before it. The smiling hills of France then appeared to the view, with their numerous white houses, rendered more conspicuous by the bright green of the trees or the clear blue sky. CHAPTER X. THE TENTS. The admiral, as has been seen, had determined to pay no further attention to Buckingham's threatening glances and fits of passion. In fact, from the moment they had left England, he had gradually and quietly accustomed himself to it. De Guiche had not yet in any way remarked the animosity which appeared to influence that young nobleman against him, but he felt instinctively that there could be no sympathy between himself and the favorite of Charles II. The queen-mother, with greater experience and calmer judgment, perceived the exact position of affairs, and, as she discerned its danger, was prepared to meet it, whenever the proper moment should arrive. Quiet had been every- where restored, except in Buckingham's heart; he, in his impatience, addressed himself to the princess, in a low tone of voice: "For heaven's sake, madame, I implore you to hasten your disembarkation. Do you not perceive how that inso- lent Duke of Norfolk is killing me with his attentions and devotions to you?" Henrietta heard this remark; she smiled, and without turning her head toward him, but giving only to the tone of her voice that inflection of gentle reproach and languid impertinence which coquetry so well knows how to assume, she murmured: "I have already told you, my lord, that you must have taken leave of your senses. '^