Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 3).djvu/85

Rh make him weight; but with all that he outstripped Ariel and Barbare, against whom he ran, by at least three whole lengths."

"And was it not found out at last to whom the horse and jockey belonged?"

"No!"

"You say that the horse was entered under the name of Yampa?"

"Exactly; that was the title."

"Then," answered Albert, "I am better informed than you are, and know who the owner of that horse was!"

"Silence there!" cried the whole collective force of the parterre.

And this time the tone in which the command was such that the two young men perceived, for the first time, that the mandate was addressed to them.

They turned for an instant as though demanding some one person who would take upon himself the responsibility of what they deemed excessive impertinence; but as no one responded to the challenge, the friends turned again to the stage.

At this moment the door of the minister's box opened, and Madame Danglars, accompanied by her daughter, entered, escorted by Lucien Debray.

"Ha, ha!" said Chateau-Renaud, "here come some friends of yours, viscount! What are you looking at there I don't you see they are trying to catch your eye?"

Albert turned round just in time to receive a gracious wave of the fan from Madame la Baronne; as for Mademoiselle Eugenie, she scarcely vouchsafed to turn her large black eyes even to the orchestra.

"I tell you what, my dear fellow," said Chateau-Renaud, "I cannot imagine what objection you can possibly have to Mademoiselle Danglars that is, setting aside her inferior rank, which, by the way, I don't think you care very much about. Now, barring all that, I mean to say she is a deuced fine girl."

"Handsome, certainly," replied Albert, "but my taste, I confess, inclines to a softer, gentler, and more feminine style."

"Bless my heart!" exclaimed Chateau-Renaud, who, because he had seen his thirtieth summer, assumed a paternal air with his more youthful friend; "you young people are never satisfied; why, your parents have chosen you a bride who might serve as the model of the 'Hunting Diana,' and yet you are not content."

"No; I should have liked something more in the manner of the Yenus of Milo or Capua; but this chase-loving Diana, continually surrounded by her nymphs, gives me a sort of alarm, lest she should some day entail on me the fate of Action."