"Astonished, did I hear you say?
Astonished, Monsieur Trudaine, that the attentions of a young gentleman, possessed of all the graces and accomplishments of a highly-bred Frenchman, should be favorably received by a young lady! Astonished that such a dancer, such a singer, such a talker, such a notoriously fascinating ladies' man as Monsieur Danville, should, by dint of respectful assiduity, succeed in making some impression on the heart of Mademoiselle Rose! Oh, Monsieur Trudaine, venerated Monsieur Trudaine, this is almost too much to credit!" Lomaque's eyes grew weaker than ever, and winked incessantly as he uttered this apostrophe.

At the end, he threw up his hands again, and blinked inquiringly all round him, in mute appeal to universal nature.
"When, in the course of time, matters were further advanced," continued Trudaine, without paying any attention to the interruption; "when the offer of marriage was made, and when I knew that Rose had in her own heart accepted it, I objected, and I did not conceal my objections--" "Heavens!" interposed Lomaque again, clasping his hands this time with a look of bewilderment; "what objections, what possible objections to a man young and well-bred, with an immense fortune and an uncompromised character?
I have heard of these objections; I know they have made bad blood; and I ask myself again and again, what can they be ?" "God knows I have often tried to dismiss them from my mind as fanciful and absurd," said Trudaine, "and I have always failed.

It is impossible, in your presence, that I can describe in detail what my own impressions have been, from the first, of the master whom you serve.

Let it be enough if I confide to you that I cannot, even now, persuade myself of the sincerity of his attachment to my sister, and that I feel--in spite of myself, in spite of my earnest desire to put the most implicit confidence in Rose's choice--a distrust of his character and temper, which now, on the eve of the marriage, amounts to positive terror.

Long secret suffering, doubt, and suspense, wring this confession from me, Monsieur Lomaque, almost unawares, in defiance of caution, in defiance of all the conventionalities of society.