They indulged in the flattering
hope of producing a sensation here as well as at Poitiers, and even
dared to dream of being commanded to appear before the court, and of
being rewarded royally for their exertions to please. Only de Sigognac
was silent and preoccupied, and Isabelle, whose thoughts were all of
him, cast anxious glances at him, and wished that she could charm away
his melancholy. He was seated at the other end of the table, and still
puzzling over the face that he had seen in the kitchen, but he soon
looked towards her, and caught her lovely eyes fixed upon him, with such
an adorable expression of chaste love and angelic tenderness in their
shadowy depths, that all thoughts save of her were at once banished from
his mind. The warmth of the room had flushed her cheeks a little, her
eyes shone like stars, and she looked wonderfully beautiful; the young
Duke of Vallombreuse would have been more madly enamoured of her than
ever if he could have seen her then. As for de Sigognac, he gazed at her
with unfeigned delight, his dark, expressive eyes eloquent of adoring
love and deep reverence. A new sentiment mingled with his passion
now--ever since she had opened her heart to him, and let him see all its
heavenly purity and goodness--which elevated, ennobled, and intensified
it.
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