Chapter 57 - Page 2

Maximilian?"

"No one, but you appeared to be so. From the manner in which
you walked and talked together, one would have thought you
were two school-girls telling your secrets to each other."

"We were having a confidential conversation," returned
Valentine; "she was owning to me her repugnance to the
marriage with M. de Morcerf; and I, on the other hand, was
confessing to her how wretched it made me to think of
marrying M. d'Epinay."

"Dear Valentine!"

"That will account to you for the unreserved manner which
you observed between me and Eugenie, as in speaking of the
man whom I could not love, my thoughts involuntarily
reverted to him on whom my affections were fixed."

"Ah, how good you are to say so, Valentine! You possess a
quality which can never belong to Mademoiselle Danglars. It
is that indefinable charm which is to a woman what perfume
is to the flower and flavor to the fruit, for the beauty of
either is not the only quality we seek."

"It is your love which makes you look upon everything in
that light."

"No, Valentine, I assure you such is not the case. I was
observing you both when you were walking in the garden, and,
on my honor, without at all wishing to depreciate the beauty
of Mademoiselle Danglars, I cannot understand how any man
can really love her."

"The fact is, Maximilian, that I was there, and my presence
had the effect of rendering you unjust in your comparison."

"No; but tell me -- it is a question of simple curiosity,
and which was suggested by certain ideas passing in my mind
relative to Mademoiselle Danglars" --

"I dare say it is something disparaging which you are going
to say. It only proves how little indulgence we may expect
from your sex," interrupted Valentine.

"You cannot, at least, deny that you are very harsh judges
of each other."

"If we are so, it is because we generally judge under the
influence of excitement. But return to your question."

"Does Mademoiselle Danglars object to this marriage with M.
de Morcerf on account of loving another?"

"I told you I was not on terms of strict intimacy with
Eugenie."

"Yes, but girls tell each other secrets without being
particularly intimate; own, now, that you did question her
on the subject. Ah, I see you are smiling."

"If you are already aware of the conversation that passed,
the wooden partition which interposed between us and you has
proved but a slight security."

"Come, what did she say?"

"She told me that she loved no one," said Valentine; "that
she disliked the idea of being married; that she would
infinitely prefer leading an independent and unfettered
life; and that she