been the absolute mistress, answerable to no one, you would have resumed your proper place at Domfront, the Logis would have become what it used to be ..."
A gleam flashed through Mme. de la Vaudraye's eyes, but she restrained herself. The same inflexible will contracted her face into a hard and stiff mask. Coldly, she said:
"I am exceedingly sorry that all these fine plans cannot be realized, but it is not my fault. ... Make enquiries. ... Who knows? ... Perhaps you will succeed in finding out the indispensable truth."
Gilberte, in her despair, was nearly flinging her arms round her neck and saying:
"Stay here, please. ... Be to me the mother whom I have lost. ... I will love you like a daughter ..."
But Guillaume prevented her:
"Why humiliate yourself, Gilbert? ... If my mother will not consent ..."
"Well?"
