She would follow, she said, as soon as his passing had ceased to be
observed.
Then she looked at him as though she expected some sign of renewed
love. But no such sign was vouchsafed to her. Now that she thirsted
for the touch of his lip upon her check, it was denied to her. He
did as she bade him; he went down, slowly loitering, by himself; and
in about half an hour she followed him, and unobserved crept to her
chamber.
Again we will pass over what took place between the mother and the
son; but late in that evening, after the guests had gone to bed,
Marie received a message, desiring her to wait on Madame Bauche in a
small salon which looked out from one end of the house. It was
intended as a private sitting-room should any special stranger arrive
who required such accommodation, and therefore was but seldom used.
Here she found La Mere Bauche sitting in an arm-chair behind a small
table on which stood two candles; and on a sofa against the wall sat
Adolphe. The capitaine was not in the room.
"Shut the door, Marie, and come in and sit down," said Madame Bauche.
It was easy to understand from the tone of her voice that she was
angry and stern, in an unbending mood, and resolved to carry out to
the very letter all the threats conveyed by those terrible
spectacles.
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