Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/26

26 was hidden power that still abode with him, or whether it was only the majestic ruins of what once had been, one could not tell by looking at him. Every feature showed his consciousness of noble lineage; and the disgust he manifested at anything democratic was equally innate with him; for to his mind it had been just such popular fanaticism that had made France bleed and Europe restless for a quarter of a century, and had dispossessed him of his rightful inheritance.

He now sat in his office (three o'clock in the afternoon) writing chemical formul on a sheet of paper that lay before him. Now and then he would go to the bookshelves, finger a volume for a few moments, and then return to the formul. Still somewhat agitated with indignation at what had happened a few hours before, at the departure of the town company of soldiers, he was trying to dissipate the feeling by applying himself to his science, which in the years gone by had pleasantly absorbed many of his hours that might otherwise have been wretched. Not infrequently, when thus at work, he would