"
It was joy that made M. Wilkie speechless now. "And when will you
give me these documents?" he faltered, after a short pause.
"You shall have them before you leave this house; but first of all
I must talk with you."
XV.
Agitated and excited though he was, M. Wilkie had not once ceased
to think of M. de Coralth and the Marquis de Valorsay. What would
they do in such a position, and how should he act to conform
himself to the probable example of these models of deportment?
Manifestly he ought to assume that stolid and insolent air of
boredom which is considered a sure indication of birth and
breeding. Convinced of this, and seized with a laudable desire to
emulate such distinguished examples, he had perched himself upon a
trunk, where he still sat with his legs crossed. He now pretended
to suppress a yawn, as he growled, "What! some more long phrases--
and another melodramatic display?"
Absorbed in the memories she had invoked, Madame d'Argeles paid no
heed to Wilkie's impertinence. "Yes, I must talk with you," she
said, "and more for your sake than for my own. I must tell you
who I am, and through what strange vicissitudes I have passed.
You know what family I belong to. I will tell you, however--for
you may be ignorant of the fact--that our house is the equal of
any in France in lineage, splendor of alliance, and fortune.
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