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Rh silence and now she was feeling so anxious, that she accepted her father's proposal without repugnance.

This time they were dealing with the house. There were urgent repairs to be made and useful ameliorations. As they went round, the architect pointed out the weak spots. A whole plan of restoration formed itself in his head.

The days passed. The masons were soon at work. Rose hardly left Leonor's side.

They had news of M. Hervart more than once through the newspapers, for his rearrangements at the Louvre had drawn upon him the epigrams of the press; but he himself remained silent.

In the circumstances M. Des Boys had resolved to say nothing, to leave time to do its work. Later on, when no dangerous memories of her past love remained in Rose's heart, when she should be married, he would conﬁde her the truth, with a smile.

One day Leonor let fall, from the top of a ladder, a pocketbook from which a flood of papers—sketches, bills, letters, picture postcards—escaped. Rose picked them up, without giving them more than the discreetest