Great heavens! all would be
lost if it came to the knowledge of any one. I will send for
them, or come myself." And, feeling the extent of her obligation,
she added, "But I will not go without introducing myself--I am
Mademoiselle Marguerite de Chalusse." And, thereupon, she went
off, leaving the photographer surprised at the adventure and
dazzled by his strange visitor's beauty.
Rather more than an hour had elapsed since Marguerite left M. de
Fondege's house. "How time flies!" she murmured, quickening her
pace as much as she could without exciting remark--"how time
flies!" But, hurried as she was, she stopped and spent five
minutes at a shop in the Rue Notre Dame de Lorette where she
purchased some black ribbon and a few other trifles. How else
could she explain and justify her absence, if the servants, who
had probably discovered she had gone out, chanced to speak of it?
But her heart throbbed as if it would burst as she ascended the
General's staircase, and anxiety checked her breathing as she rang
the bell. "What if Madame de Fondege and Madame Leon had
returned, and the abstraction of the letter been discovered!"
Fortunately, Madame de Fondege required more than an hour to
purchase the materials for the elaborate toilette she had dreamt
of. The ladies were still out, and Mademoiselle Marguerite found
everything in the same condition as she had left it.
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