“Ah! you hesitate. You do not dare do it? Well, you are wrong. I mean to
hand him your letter, and I shall call him.”
There was no need for it; for at the same moment the count entered,
followed by austere, grim Mrs. Brian. As he perceived his wife and his
daughter, his face lighted up immediately; and he exclaimed,--
“What? You are here, both of you, and chatting amicably like two
charming sisters? My Henrietta has come back to her senses, I trust.”
They were both silent; and, seeing how they looked at each other with
fierce glances, he went on in a tone of great bitterness--
“But no, it is not so! I am not so fortunate. What is the matter? What
has happened?”