CHAPTER V.A CRITICAL INTERVIEW.
Madame Desvarennes had been driven to the Hotel du Louvre without losing a minute.

She most wanted to know in what state of mind her daughter's betrothed had arrived in Paris.

Had the letter, which brutally told him the truth, roused him and tightened the springs of his will?
Was he ready for the struggle?
If she found him confident and bold, she had only to settle with him as to the common plan of action which must bring about the eviction of the audacious candidate who wished to marry Micheline.

If she found him discouraged and doubtful of himself, she had decided to animate him with her ardor against Serge Panine.
She prepared these arguments on the way, and, boiling with impatience, outstripped in thought the fleet horse which was drawing her past the long railings of the Tuileries toward the Hotel du Louvre.

Wrapped in her meditations she did not see Pierre.