"My dear Pierquin," he said, "perhaps you have something to say to
me." He took his arm to lead him to the garden, adding, "Come and see
my tulips."
Madame Claes looked at her husband as he left the room, unable to
repress the joy she felt in seeing him once more so young, so affable,
so truly himself. She rose, took her daughter round the waist and
kissed her, exclaiming:--
"My dear Marguerite, my darling child! I love you better than ever
to-day."
"It is long since I have seen my father so kind," answered the young
girl.
Lemulquinier announced dinner. To prevent Pierquin from offering her
his arm, Madame Claes took that of her husband and led the way into
the next room, the whole family following.
The dining-room, whose ceiling was supported by beams and decorated
with paintings cleaned and restored every year, was furnished with
tall oaken side-boards and buffets, on whose shelves stood many a
curious piece of family china. The walls were hung with violet
leather, on which designs of game and other hunting objects were
stamped in gold. Carefully arranged here and there above the shelves,
shone the brilliant plumage of strange birds, and the lustre of rare
shells. The chairs, which evidently had not been changed since the
beginning of the sixteenth century, showed the square shape with
twisted columns and the low back covered with a fringed stuff, common
to that period, and glorified by Raphael in his picture of the Madonna
della Sedia.
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