Love at Dawn

8.What's His Secret?

The girl rested her hands on the railing of the tiny balcony, attempting to calm her troubled heart with the cool evening air.

As expected, the sound of steady footsteps approached her from behind.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned the man behind her without turning around.

"Edith, I'm glad to see you again. You've grown so much," he replied sincerely.

She could no longer contain her anger. "Are you really going to pretend that nothing happened? Brush off your betrayal of our friendship?"

"I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye." Andre lowered his gaze. "I didn't realise it would affect you this much."

Edith turned to face him, shouting, "Because you only thought of me as a naive child easy to fool, didn't you? In your eyes the debates we had in the past were just a game to tease a kid! Otherwise, you wouldn't have said those flippant words at the dining table just now!"

"No, I never thought that way!" he urgently said.

"Then explain to me properly. Where have you disappeared all these years?" She glared at him with disaffection.

"I had to go back to my hometown to see someone important," he explained.

"Someone important! I bet it's your sweetheart!" she sneered.

"No, it's not a woman." He shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Not a woman! Can it be a man, then?" she exclaimed again.

Andre sighed resignedly, placing his hand on his forehead, "You've misunderstood. It's my relative. I went to send him off on his final journey."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed, but immediately frowned again, "But what does that have to do with your vanishing without a trace?"

He paused in hesitation."There is something complicated in it. Please forgive me, I can't say right now. Give me some time, I'll tell you later."

"Fine," she replied, still irked, "fine, it's settled! But you must be responsible for causing my idol to disappear all of a sudden!"

"Idol?" His brow crinkled as he blinked at her.

"Yes, when I read those words of Citizen Quenet, the image that appeared in my mind was a man of the most virtue! If I had known he was a perfidious crook, I would have never adored him from the beginning," she pouted in a fit of pique, turning her head away.

Andre couldn't help but smile, "Then I will do my best to live up to his image. But now, we should return to the dining table. Your family is getting worried."

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Several days later, one evening, Edith was assisting Lucile Desmoulins in revising the manuscripts for publication when she was unexpectedly asked, "Would you like to meet Madame Roland?"

"Citizeness Roland! Can I really go to her salon?" exclaimed Edith with delight.

Till they entered the drawing room of her idol, the young girl was still feeling kind of mellow.

Madame Roland approached them with confident and graceful strides.

To be honest, this "uncrowned queen of the Girondins" was not as exquisitely beautiful as Edith had seen in the pictorials, but more charming in her every move.

Madame Roland was buxom, her forehead full, looked resolute with her rich brown eyebrows and hair, yet a reassuring smile always lifted the corner of her mouth.