There they all are indeed, incomprehensibly wasting their time
still in looking at nothing! Yes," continued Monsieur Justin,
lifting his eyes wearily, and staring hard, first up the river at
Rouen, then down the river at the setting sun; "yes, plague take
them! looking at nothing, absolutely and positively at nothing,
all this while."
Here Monsieur Justin yawned again, and, returning to the garden,
sat himself down in an arbor and resignedly went to sleep.
If the valet had ventured near the five persons whom he had been
apostrophizing from a distance, and if he had been possessed of
some little refinement of observation, he could hardly have
failed to remark that the bride and bridegroom of the morrow, and
their companions on either side, were all, in a greater or less
degree, under the influence of some secret restraint, which
affected their conversation, their gestures, and even the
expression of their faces. Madame Danville--a handsome,
richly-dressed old lady, with very bright eyes, and a quick,
suspicious manner--looked composedly and happily enough, as long
as her attention was fixed on her son. But when she turned from
him toward the bride, a hardly perceptible uneasiness passed over
her face--an uneasiness which only deepened to positive distrust
and dissatisfaction whenever she looked toward Mademoiselle
Trudaine's brother. In the same way, her son, who was all smiles
and happiness while he was speaking with his future wife, altered
visibly in manner and look exactly as his mother altered,
whenever the presence of Monsieur Trudaine specially impressed
itself on his attention.
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