He was highly cultivated, he had a keen brain, and a
face, mobile as his own nature, which won the goodwill of others. The
promise of passion and tenderness in the bright eyes was fulfilled by
an essentially kindly heart. The resolution which he made as he
entered the house at Courcelles was in keeping with his frank nature
and ardent imagination. But, bold has he was with love, his heart beat
violently when he had crossed the great court, laid out like an
English garden, and the man-servant, who had taken his name to the
Vicomtesse, returned to say that she would receive him.
"M. le Baron de Nueil."
Gaston came in slowly, but with sufficient ease of manner; and it is a
more difficult thing, be it said, to enter a room where there is but
one woman, than a room that holds a score.
A great fire was burning on the hearth in spite of the mild weather,
and by the soft light of the candles in the sconces he saw a young
woman sitting on a high-backed /bergere/ in the angle by the hearth.
The seat was so low that she could move her head freely; every turn of
it was full of grace and delicate charm, whether she bent, leaning
forward, or raised and held it erect, slowly and languidly, as though
it were a heavy burden, so low that she could cross her feet and let
them appear, or draw them back under the folds of a long black dress.
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