However, among these men, all noticeable for their
studied elegance of attire and manner, and all of them known to M.
de Valorsay, there moved numerous others of very different
appearance. Their waistcoats were less open, and their clothes
did not fit them as perfectly; on the other hand, there was
something else than a look of idiotic self-complacency on their
faces. "Who can these people be?" whispered the marquis to M. de
Coralth. "They look like lawyers or magistrates." But although he
said this he did not really believe it, and it was without the
slightest feeling of anxiety that he strolled from group to group,
shaking hands with his friends and introducing M. Wilkie.
A strange rumor was in circulation among the guests. Many of them
declared--where could they have heard such a thing?--that in
consequence of a quarrel with her husband, Madame Trigault had
left Paris the evening before. They even went so far as to repeat
her parting words to the Baron: "You will never see me again," she
had said. "You are amply avenged. Farewell!" However, the best
informed among the guests, the folks who were thoroughly
acquainted with all the scandals of the day, declared the story
false, and said that if the baroness had really fled, handsome
Viscount de Coralth would not appear so calm and smiling.
The report WAS true, however. But M.
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