She sat in a little nook made by magnolias that overhung the sea, and saw the sun shine on her dove of pearls, and wondered if she would dare to wear it; would the Duchess approve of it? There was only one thing which disturbed her, it was his recommendation to silence; there had been a look in his eyes, too, when he had said, 'You are very handsome, _fillette_,' which haunted her with a vague uneasiness. She was too utterly innocent to be alarmed by it, but a certain instinct in her shrank from the remembrance of that regard. It was the first look of sensual admiration which had been ever given her, and though he had added 'Of course you must tell Cri-Cri,' he had said it grudgingly, as though he would willingly, if he could have ventured to do so, have bidden her keep his gift a secret from his wife.
'Are you counting your jewels, Mademoiselle de Valogne?' said the voice of Othmar. 'Leave that until you are thirty years older and need their aid.'
Without any thought of her he had been strolling on the rocks above the little harbour which belonged equally to S. Pharamond and to Millo. He had been bathing and swimming, and was returning to his house, when he caught sight of her seated beneath the magnolias.
Yseulte coloured, and rose to her feet, dropping the medallion in her surprise as his voice startled her from her meditation. Othmar picked it up and returned it to her.
'What a happy trinket to hold your thoughts so long,' he said as he did so. 'I have been watching you for a quarter of an hour, and you have never ceased to look at that most fortunate jewel.'
'My cousin, the Duc de Vannes, gave it to me a moment ago,' she answered him, vexed that he should suppose she could care so much for any trifle.
'De Vannes!' echoed Othmar in some surprise; 'I did not know he had so much good taste in the selection either of his gifts or their recipients. It is a very pretty medallion,' he added, noticing her look of distress and of bewilderment. 'The dove is admirably done; I hope it will be an emblem of the peace which will always remain with you.'
She did not speak; the quick sensitiveness of her instincts made her feel the satire of his felicitations, and become conscious that for some reason or another he disapproved the gift which she had received.