As calmly as he could he hurried through the lobbies and the rotunda of
the State House. The crowds were thinning. The band had gone. The women
had scattered to prepare for the ball of the evening. Among the few that
were left he could not find her.
He went back to his committee-room and pondered until dusk fell.
One matter presented itself to his mood as a duty. He called a carriage
and was driven to the Presson home.
Madeleine came down in answer to his card. But as she entered the
reception-room her father followed at her heels, beginning threats as he
came in.
"Father," she said, quietly, "I have just listened to you. You need not
fear that I do not understand myself and my duty. I ask you to retire."
He stood there a moment, still muttering his wrathful protest, but in
the end her dignity mastered him. He went away.
What she did next amazed the young man who stood there waiting. She came
to him and patted his cheek.
"My poor boy," she said, softly, and drew him down beside her on a
couch.
For a moment the words he had come prepared to say deserted him.
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