"
"Honest?" echoed Rose, sadly, "honest?--ah, Louis! I know you are
thinking disparagingly of Charles's convictions, when you speak
so of his mother's."
Trudaine smiled and shook his head; but she took no notice of the
gesture of denial--only stood looking earnestly and wistfully
into his face. Her eyes began to fill; she suddenly threw her
arms round his neck, and whispered to him: "Oh, Louis, Louis! how
I wish I could teach you to see Charles with my eyes!"
He felt her tears on his cheek as she spoke, and tried to
reassure her.
"You shall teach me, Rose--you shall, indeed. Come, come, we must
keep up our spirits, or how are you to look your best to-morrow?"
He unclasped her arms, and led her gently to a chair. At the same
moment there was a knock at the door, and Rose's maid appeared,
anxious to consult her mistress on some of the preparations for
the wedding ceremony. No interruption could have been more
welcome just at that time. It obliged Rose to think of present
trifles, and it gave her brother an excuse for retiring to his
study.
He sat down by his desk, doubting and heavy-hearted, and placed
the letter from the Academy of Sciences open before him.
Passing over all the complimentary expressions which it
contained, his eye rested only on these lines at the end: "During
the first three years of your professorship, you will be required
to reside in or near Paris nine months out of the year, for the
purpose of delivering lectures and superintending experiments
from time to time in the laboratories.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153