The Mysterious Disappearance of the Chevalier Valmont

The baroness went over the dark circles under her eyes with a brush. The conversation in the garden had stirred up too many painful memories, and she had hardly slept a wink the previous night. Now she feared that the viscountess might notice something, and she was not ready to answer the barrage of questions that would inevitably follow. So, she put on her most carefree expression, and hurried downstairs to welcome the early visitor.

go over the dark circles with a brush stir up memorieswink◊hardly sleep a winkpreviousfearbarrage◊barrage of questionsput oncarefree expression

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widowweddingmourn sbout of gratitudesuffer◊ make suffer unequalfortune

“So, where is he?” asked the viscountess, without beating about the bush. “I was told I could find here a certain Knight in Shining Armour, who travels incognito by the name of the Chevalier Valmont. Where are you hiding him, Margaret?”

She looked about the room, as if she really expected to find someone lurking in one of the dark corners.