"And now I have told you," continued Manon, "how it all came about. I am concealing nothing from you, either as to what I did, or as to what I intended to do. The young girl came; I thought her pretty; and as I had no doubt that my absence would distress you, most sincerely did I hope that she might serve to divert your melancholy for awhile; the constancy I expect from you being that of the heart alone.
"I should have been only too glad to send Marcel to you, had I been able to do so; but it was impossible for
me to secure an opportunity of instructing him as to what I wished you to be told."
She brought her story to an end by telling me how embarrassed G——— M——— had been on receiving the note from M. de T———.
"He hesitated for some time," she said, "as to whether he ought to leave me, and went away assuring me that he would return very shortly. That is the reason why I cannot help feeling uneasy at your being here, and was so surprised when you came into the room."
I heard her tale very patiently, much as there was in it that was calculated to wound and mortify me; for her intention of being unfaithful to me was so clear that she
