Chapter XVI.
Manon was quietly reading when I entered the room; and I could not help admiring the singular character of the girl as displayed in this unconscious touch. So far from being startled, or showing the least timidity when
she saw me, she merely betrayed such slight symptoms
of surprise as are involuntarily called forth by the sudden appearance of a person supposed to be far away.
"Ah! It is you, my love!" she exclaimed, as she came forward to embrace me with her accustomed tenderness. "How rash you are! Who would have expected to see you to-day, and here, of all places?"
I freed myself from her arms, and instead of responding
