"Dearest father!" she said softly. "I am glad--for your sake!"
He folded her in his arms, too deeply moved to speak, and then as he
felt her trembling, he led her to a chair and beckoned to Cyrillon
Vergniaud who had stood apart, watching the little scene in silence.
"Come and talk to this dear girl!" he said. "She is not at all a
good hostess to-day! She ought to entertain the bride and bridegroom
here,--but it seems as if she needed to be entertained herself!" And
then, as Cyrillon obeyed him, and drew near the idol of his thoughts
with such hesitating reverence as might befit a pilgrim approaching
the shrine of a beloved saint, he turned away and was just about to
speak to the Princesse D'Agramont when a servant entered and said
hurriedly--
"Monsignor Gherardi desires to see Cardinal Bonpre!"
There was a dead pause. The group of friends looked at one another
in embarrassment. Angela rose from her chair trembling and glanced
instinctively at her picture--and for a moment no one seemed quite
certain what should be done next. The Princesse D'Agramont was the
first to recover her self-possession.
"Angela must not be here," she said. "She is not strong enough to
stand a scene. And no doubt Gherardi has come to make one! We will
leave him to you, Mr.
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