"Where have you hidden yourself? I have been expecting to see you ever since I came to Paris; but I could not discover where you lod--od--odged."
"My lodgings are in the Rue Bonaparte, numero --," returned Maurice, abruptly; "but I am seldom at home."
"You will allow me to take my chance of finding you?" asked M. de Bois, forcibly struck by his friend's altered appearance. "Or," he added, "you will come to see me instead? I am at the Hotel Meurice at present."
"Thank you," said Maurice, absently, and glancing around him at the passers-by as he spoke. "Good-morning."
M. de Bois would not be shaken off thus unceremoniously. He was too much distressed by the evident mental condition of the viscount. He turned and walked beside him, though conscious that Maurice looked annoyed.
"When we parted, did you go to Scotland, as you pro--o--po--sed?" inquired Gaston.
"Yes; but Lady Vivian was in London. I sought her there. She knew nothing of my cousin. I returned to Paris; for I am sure Madeleine is here."
"Here?" almost gasped M. de Bois, stopping suddenly.
Maurice walked on without even noticing the strange confusion that arrested his companion's steps.
The latter recovered himself and rejoined him, asking, in as unconcerned a tone as he could command, "What has caused you to think so?"
"I am certain of it;--her passport was taken out for England, but it has not been _viséd_ in Paris. She must be here still, and I know that I shall find her. I have walked the streets day after day, hoping to meet her, and I tell you I shall--I must!"
M. de Bois, whose equanimity had only been disturbed for a moment, shook his head sorrowfully, saying, "I fear _not_; it does not seem likely."
"To me it _does_. Fifty times I have thought I caught sight of her, but she disappeared before I could make my way through some crowd to the spot where she was standing. This will not last forever,--ere long we shall meet face to face."
"I hope so! I heartily hope so! I would give all I possess, though that is little enough, to have it so!"
These words were spoken with such generous warmth, that Maurice was moved. He had not before noticed the change in his Breton neighbor,--a change the precise opposite to the one which had taken place in himself, yet quite as remarkable.