The other woman had not risen. She seemed, on the contrary, to
cling closer to the divan, hiding her face in the cushions. Her hair was
also loose; it was admirably fair. General D'Hubert recognized it with
staggering emotion. Mademoiselle de Valmassigue! Adele! In distress!
He became greatly alarmed, and got rid of his sister's hug definitely.
Madame Leonie then extended her shapely bare arm out of her peignoir,
pointing dramatically at the divan. "This poor, terrified child has
rushed here from home, on foot, two miles--running all the way."
"What on earth has happened?" asked General D'Hubert in a low, agitated
voice.
But Madame Leonie was speaking loudly. "She rang the great bell at
the gate and roused all the household--we were all asleep yet. You may
imagine what a terrible shock. . . . Adele, my dear child, sit up."
General D'Hubert's expression was not that of a man who "imagines" with
facility. He did, however, fish out of the chaos of surmises the notion
that his prospective mother-in-law had died suddenly, but only to
dismiss it at once.
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