And there was another secret,
too, connected with it, and known only to Artois: the fact that the
child, Vere, possessed the very small but quite definite beginnings,
the seed, as it were, of something that had been denied to the mother,
Hermione.
"Emile, you have come back! I am glad!"
Hermione came into the room with her eager manner and rather slow
gait, holding out both her hands, her hot face and prominent eyes
showing forth with ardor the sincerity of her surprise and pleasure.
"Gaspare told me. I nearly gave him a hug. You know his sly look when
he has something delightful up his sleeve for one! Bless you!"
She shook both his hands.
"And I had come back in such bad spirits! But now--"
She took off her hat and put it on a table.
"Why were you in bad spirits, my friend?"
"I had been with Madame Alliani, seeing something of the intense misery
and wickedness of Naples. I have seen a girl--such a tragedy! What
devils men can be in these Southern places! What hideous things they
will do under the pretence of being driven by love! But--no, don't let
us spoil your arrival.
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