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36 THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL
An incident which to some extent affected our destiny
was the sudden departure of the Baroness and her httle
daughter to the country. It was in the beginning of
August. For reasons of health she had chosen Mariafred,
a small village on the Lake of Malar, where at the moment
the little cousin happened to be staying with her parents.
This hurried departure on the day after her home-
coming struck me as very extraordinary ; but, as it was
none of my business, I made no comment. Three days
passed, then the Baron wrote asking me to call. He ap-
peared to be restless, very nervous and strange. He told
me that the Baroness would be back almost immediately.
" Indeed !" I exclaimed, more astonished than I cared
to show.
" Yes ! . . . her nerves are upset, the climate doesn’t
suit her. She has written me an unintelligible letter
which frightens me. I have never been able to under-
stand her whims . . . she gets all sorts of fantastic ideas
into her head. Just at present she imagines that you
are angry with her!
"
"I! "
"It’s too absurd! " he continued, "but don’t take
any notice of it when she returns ; she’s ashamed of her
moods ; she’s proud, and if she thought you disapproved
of her, she would only commit fresh follies."
’"It has come at last," I said to myself; "the catas-
trophe is imminent !
’ ’
And from that moment my
thoughts were bent on flight, for I had no desire to figure
as the hero of a romance of passion.
I refused the next invitation, making excuses which
were badly invented and wrongly understood. The result
was a call from the Baron ; he asked me what I meant by
my unfriendly conduct ? I did not know what explanation
to give, and he took advantage of my embarrassment and
exacted a promise from me to join them in an excursion.
I found the Baroness looking ill and worn out ; only
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