"A thousand thanks, mademoiselle," replied the poor mother, though she longed to accept her daughter's offer so she might keep her with her as long as possible. "I will ring for some one. I am loath to give you so much trouble."
"It is no trouble to me, madame. I will gladly get the necessary materials if you will tell me where to find them."
"Over there, on that table near the piano, mademoiselle. I must also ask you to have the goodness to light a candle,--the light from the lamp is not enough. But really I am trespassing entirely too much upon your good nature," added Madame de Beaumesnil, as her daughter lighted a candle and brought the necessary writing materials to the bedside.
The countess having taken a sheet of paper and laid it upon a blotting-case placed upon her knees, accepted a pen from the hand of Herminie, who was holding the candle in the other.
Madame de Beaumesnil tried to write a few words, but her extreme weakness, together with her failing sight, compelled her to desist from her efforts; the pen dropped from her trembling fingers, and, sinking back upon her pillows, the countess said to Herminie, with a forced smile:
"I am not as strong as I thought, so I shall be obliged to accept your kind offer, mademoiselle."
"Madame la comtesse has been in bed so long that she should not be surprised to find herself a little weak," responded Herminie, anxious to reassure Madame de Beaumesnil and herself as well.
"You are right, mademoiselle. It was very foolish in me to try to write.
I will dictate to you, if you have no objections."
Herminie had not felt at liberty to remove her hat, and the countess, from whom the brim concealed a part of her child's face, said, with some embarrassment:
"If you would take off your hat, mademoiselle, you would find it more convenient to write, I think."
Herminie removed her hat, and the countess, who was fairly devouring the girl with her eyes, had an opportunity to admire at her ease, with true maternal pride, the charming face and golden tresses of her child.
"I am at your service now, madame la comtesse," said Herminie, seating herself at a table.
"Then will you kindly write this." And the countess proceeded to dictate as follows:
"Madame de Beaumesnil would be greatly obliged to M. le Marquis de Maillefort if he would come to her house as soon as possible, even should that be at a late hour of the night.
"Madame de Beaumesnil, being very weak, is obliged to have recourse to the hand of another person in order to write to M. de Maillefort, to whom she reiterates the assurance of her very highest regard."
As Madame de Beaumesnil dictated this note she was assailed by one of those puerile, but no less poignant, fears that only a mother can understand.
Delighted by the refinement of manner and language she noticed in her daughter, and aware that she was a musical artiste of a high order, the countess asked herself, with a mother's jealous solicitude, if Herminie's education was all it should be, and if her child's great musical talent might not have been cultivated at the expense of other and less showy accomplishments.
And strange as it may seem,--so important are the merest trifles to a mother's pride,--at that moment, and in spite of all her grave anxieties, Madame de Beaumesnil was saying to herself:
"What if my daughter did not spell well? What if her handwriting should prove execrable?"
This fear was so keen that for a minute or two the countess dared not ask Herminie to show her the letter she had written, but, finally, unable to endure the suspense any longer, she asked:
"Have you finished, mademoiselle?"
"Yes, madame la comtesse."
"Then will you have the goodness to hand me the letter so--so I can see if M. de Maillefort's name is spelled correctly. I neglected to tell you how it was spelled," added the countess, unable to invent any better excuse for her curiosity.
Herminie placed the letter in Madame de Beaumesnil's hand. And how proud and delighted that lady was when she saw that the spelling was not only absolutely perfect, but that the chirography was both graceful and distinguished.
"Wonderful! I never saw more beautiful writing!" exclaimed Madame de Beaumesnil, hastily.
Then, fearing her companion would notice her emotion, she added, more calmly:
"Will you kindly address the letter now, mademoiselle, to--
"_M. le Marquis de Maillefort,_ _"No. 45 Rue des Martyrs._"
Madame de Beaumesnil then summoned a trusty maid who waited upon her exclusively, and as soon as she came in, said to her:
"Madame Dupont, you will take a carriage and deliver this letter yourself to the person to whom it is addressed. In case M. de Maillefort is not at home, you are to wait for him."
"But what if madame la comtesse should need anything during my absence?"
said the maid, evidently much surprised at this order.
"Attend to my commission," replied Madame de Beaumesnil. "Mademoiselle here will, I am sure, be kind enough to perform any service I may require."
Herminie bowed her assent.
The countess proceeded to repeat her instructions to her attendant, and while she was thus engaged, Herminie feeling comparatively safe from observation, gazed at Madame de Beaumesnil with a world of love and anxiety in her eyes, saying to herself the while, with touching resignation:
"I dare not gaze at her except by stealth, and yet she is my mother. Ah, may she never suspect that I know the unhappy secret of my birth."
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRIVATE INTERVIEW.
It was with an expression of almost triumphant satisfaction that Mme. de Beaumesnil watched her maid depart.
The poor mother felt sure now of at least an hour alone with her daughter.
Thanks to this happiness, a faint flush overspread her pallid cheeks, her dim eyes began to sparkle with a feverish light, and the intense prostration gave place to an unnatural excitement, for the countess was making an almost superhuman effort to profit by this opportunity to talk with her daughter alone.
The door had scarcely closed upon the attendant when Madame de Beaumesnil said:
"Mademoiselle, will you have the goodness to pour into a cup five or six spoonfuls of that cordial there on the mantel?"
"But, madame, you forget that the physician ordered you to take this medicine only in small doses," protested Herminie, anxiously. "At least, it seems to me I heard him give those directions yesterday."
"Yes, but I am feeling much better now, and this potion will do me a wonderful amount of good, I think--will give me new strength, in fact."
"Madame la comtesse is really feeling better?" asked Herminie, divided between a desire to believe Madame de Beaumesnil and a fear of seeing her deceived as to the gravity of her situation.
"You can scarcely credit the improvement I speak of, perhaps. The sad rites you witnessed a few minutes ago frightened you, I suppose, and very naturally. But it was only a precaution on my part, for the consciousness of having fulfilled my religious duties, and of being ready to appear before God, gives me a serenity of soul to which the improved condition of which I speak is doubtless due, at least in some measure. I feel sure, too, that the cordial I asked you for just now, but which you refuse to give me," added Madame de Beaumesnil, smiling, "would do me a great deal of good, and enable me to listen once again to one of the songs which have so often assuaged my sufferings."
"As madame insists, I will give her the cordial," said Herminie.