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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6af535 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67731 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67731) diff --git a/old/67731-0.txt b/old/67731-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d55e309..0000000 --- a/old/67731-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15597 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Courier of Fortune, by Arthur W. -Marchmont - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A Courier of Fortune - -Author: Arthur W. Marchmont - -Release Date: March 28, 2022 [eBook #67731] - -Language: English - -Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COURIER OF FORTUNE *** - - - - - -A COURIER OF FORTUNE - - -[Illustration: “GERARD, GERARD,” CRIED GABRIELLE IN DIRE ALARM] - - - - - _A Courier - of Fortune_ - - _By ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT_ - - _Author of “By Wit of Woman,” “The Queen’s Advocate,” - “By Snare of Love,” “In The Name of a - Woman,” “When I Was Czar,” etc., etc._ - - [Illustration] - - _A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers_ - _NEW YORK_ - - - - - _Copyright, 1904, by_ - ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT - - _Copyright, 1904, by_ - FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY - - - - -TO - -RALPH STUART, ESQ. - - -MY DEAR MR. STUART: I dedicate this book to you as a memento of our -delightful hours of travel and work together in writing the play--“A -Courier of Fortune”--founded upon this story. The circumstances of our -joint literary work were as unusual to me as they were fascinating; -for, although the play was commenced in London, the last “curtain” was -not written until my wife and I had crossed the Atlantic and journeyed -with you on a tour of over ten thousand miles of railway travelling, -through so many of the marvels of this wonderful Continent. St. Louis; -Denver; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; the Pacific Seaboard north -to Puget Sound; the fertile Palouse Country; Washington, Idaho, and -Montana--those wealthy States of boundless promise and marvellous -scenic contrasts; the cities of the Lakes, Duluth and Superior; -then the young giant twins, St. Paul and Minneapolis; and by way of -Milwaukee and Chicago to New York. A tour of momentous interest and a -collaboration of close-knit sympathy, cementing a friendship which, I -assure you, is one of the pleasantest things of my life. - - Yours ever, - ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE “TIGER OF MORVAIX” 1 - - II. THE MAISON DE MALINCOURT 10 - - III. SINISTER HINTS 21 - - IV. THE DUKE’S PROPOSAL 33 - - V. THE TIGER’S CLAWS 43 - - VI. “I AM KNOWN AS GERARD DE COBALT” 56 - - VII. AT MALINCOURT 68 - - VIII. THE PLOT THICKENS 81 - - IX. WHAT DENYS KNEW 94 - - X. THE ACCUSATION 107 - - XI. THE DUKE’S SENTENCE 118 - - XII. GABRIELLE’S FRIEND 130 - - XIII. DISCOVERY 145 - - XIV. “I AM NOT GERARD DE COBALT” 156 - - XV. A PRISONER 168 - - XVI. PASCAL AND THE SPY 180 - - XVII. GABRIELLE PLEADS 190 - - XVIII. IN THE “TIGER’S DEN” 201 - - XIX. A LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE 214 - - XX. A DASH FOR THE WALLS 226 - - XXI. AT MALINCOURT AGAIN 237 - - XXII. PASCAL PLAYS SPY 248 - - XXIII. LUCETTE AS DECOY 259 - - XXIV. SUSPENSE 272 - - XXV. A RUSE 284 - - XXVI. AT THE CITY GATES 295 - - XXVII. HUNTED 308 - - XXVIII. A RISING AND ITS SEQUEL 322 - - XXIX. IN THE HALL OF AUDIENCE 333 - - XXX. THE TROOPS MARCH 349 - - - - -A COURIER OF FORTUNE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE “TIGER OF MORVAIX” - - -The hot noontide sun was pouring down into the market place of Morvaix -and in the shadow cast by the great Cross of St. Jean in the centre, -a handsome but very soberly dressed cavalier was sheltering from -the fierce July heat and closely observing the townspeople as they -clustered here and there to engage in eager animated discussion. Every -now and then he cast sweeping impatient glances in all directions in -evident search of some one whose delay irritated him. - -It was plain even to a stranger’s eyes that the townsfolk were -greatly excited, and that the reason which had drawn the people -from their houses was both urgent and disturbing. All classes were -present--burghers, merchants, shopkeepers, workmen, ’prentices, down -to the poorest of the labourers and peasants. Men, women and children -alike were gathered there; the men set-faced and bitter, the women -sad and anxious. Discontent, anger, fear and sorrow were the emotions -evinced among all save the many soldiers who moved among the excited -knots, with leers for the women and oaths for the men, and jibes and -ribald laughter one to another. - -The young cavalier’s face darkened as he listened, and more than once -he started as if he would interfere, but checked himself. His keen, -quick blue eyes were everywhere; and presently catching sight of two -closely-cowled monks clad in the black habit of their order, who showed -at a secluded corner of the square, he left his shelter and went toward -them quickly but cautiously. - -As he reached them one gave him a monkish greeting and the other a -military salute. - -“I half feared you had forgotten the appointment,” he said, in a tone -of authority; “and you are certainly forgetting your part, Pascal. -Monks don’t salute like soldiers.” - -“Don’t I know it?” was the reply, laughingly spoken. “I haven’t trained -all our tough fellows in the monkish drill for nothing. I’ll tell my -beads against Dubois here for a stoup of wine”; and taking in hand the -rosary which hung conspicuously at his side, he commenced to mumble a -string of nonsense words, and laughed again. - -“Peace, man, peace!” said the other monk, much older in years. “You’ll -be overheard and ruin all.” - -“Tush! they’ll only think it’s my priestly Latin.” - -“I fear I ought to have left you in Paris, Pascal,” said the cavalier. -“I was warned your unruly tongue would play the mischief with a scheme -that calls for tact and silence.” - -“Nay, my lord----” - -“Not, my lord, here. I am not Gerard de Bourbon for a few days. I have -borrowed the name of that dicing scoundrel, Raoul de Cobalt, and am -Gerard de Cobalt. Remember that, and watch your words until you have -learnt that lesson.” - -“I shall not forget. This holy man here, Dubois, will keep me in -order,” answered Pascal with a smile. - -“Tell me the news, Dubois.” - -“All has gone as you wished. The men have all arrived; and yesterday I -sought an interview with the Governor and did all as you had directed.” - -“He swallowed the bait?” - -“Readily. I told him that the Cardinal Archbishop had sent him a -hundred fighting men for his troops, and craved permission for the -hundred begging friars to remain in the city until the pilgrimage -southward could be resumed.” - -“Good.” - -“I brought the monks in,” interposed Pascal. “A hundred tough -stalwarts, every man as sober as a begging friar should be; all telling -their beads with unctuous unanimity, uttering ‘Pax Vobiscum’ with -fervid zeal, and praying as only Bourbons can pray--for a fight.” - -“Have a care, brother,” cried Dubois quickly, as a knot of the -townsfolk passed. - -“Have I not always care, holy brother?” cried Pascal, taking his rosary -in hand again and mumbling his Paternoster in tones loud enough to -reach the passers’ ears. “A fine achievement, M. de Cobalt, but it will -not last.” - -“What mean you?” asked Gerard quickly. - -“Soldiers are soldiers, and it takes more than a monk’s gabardine to -change them. When pretty girls come buzzing round, craving ‘A blessing, -holy father,’ and looking so sweet and piteous, it’s not in nature, -at least in soldiers’ nature, not to kiss ’em. Cherry lips lifted in -supplication are strong enemies of this new discipline. I know it -myself.” - -“For shame, Pascal!” cried Dubois sternly. “Are we to betray everything -for a pair of laughing eyes?” - -“Anything can happen when there’s a shapely nose, a kissable mouth, and -two soft cheeks to complete the face. Let there be haste, I say, or, -Bourbons or no Bourbons, those lips will get kissed; and then there may -be the devil to pay.” - -“There is reason in his madcap words, Dubois,” said Gerard after a -pause. - -“Aye, even a fool can tell the truth,” laughed Pascal. - -“But we must wait till I have proofs. When the news of this governor’s -evil doings came to my father’s ears he sent me to learn the truth; and -while bidding me act as I would, enjoined me to do nothing until I had -clear proofs. A Bourbon does not act on mere rumours.” - -“Proofs!” broke in Pascal with a swift change to earnestness. “In the -devil’s name, what better proof of the man’s deeds could you find than -that which is writ large on the wretched, starving faces of the people? -Look at them--faces that the devil grins to see when he would tempt men -and women to sin.” - -“I came in during the night only, and have seen little or nothing yet,” -said Gerard. “What is the meaning of this gathering?” - -“This devil spawn of a governor has a new ordinance to proclaim, a new -tyranny to enact,” said Pascal. “He will tax afresh to half its value -every ounce of foodstuff that comes into the city. As if the poor -wretches were not already half-starving. And this tax will finish them. -Look at them and say if the Governor is not justly dubbed the Tiger of -Morvaix? They are waiting his coming now with the heralds. Of a truth I -would as lief dwell in hell as in Morvaix under Bourbon sway though it -be in name, and Bourbon as I am to the core.” - -“We have had other and weightier matters to occupy us than the troubles -of a small province so remote,” said Gerard, with a frown at Pascal’s -words. “But if the tale of wrongs be warranted, the Governor, Duke de -Rochelle though he be, will answer to me for them.” - -“By all reports he will answer to no man but himself.” - -“Enough, Pascal,” said Gerard, with a wave of the hand. “There appear -to be over many soldiers, Dubois.” - -“And report says theirs are the only mouths that take enough food,” -broke in Pascal. “Your fighting man must be fed, of course; but when it -comes to feeding him with the food for which all others starve, it is -first cousin to cannibalism.” - -“The number of the soldiery has surprised me,” said Dubois seriously. -“They are far too many for our small band to do much. It is well your -cousin’s army lies so close to Cambrai. This governor will fight hard.” - -“If his soldiers are loyal to him, it argues in his favour,” replied -Gerard thoughtfully. “We know to what lengths the burghers of a town -may be driven by their jealousy of us soldiers. We must wait.” - -“And if we wait but a little while there will be no grievances left. -Those who have them will be dead,” cried Pascal with a shrug of the -shoulders. - -“I need no taunts of yours, Pascal, to stir me to do great Bourbon’s -will,” answered Gerard with some sternness. - -“I meant no taunt, and spoke only my mind as friend to friend,” said -Pascal. - -“The Governor is coming now,” put in Dubois. - -“We had better not be seen longer together. Where shall I find you at -need?” - -“The Duke has lodged Pascal and myself in his castle,” answered Dubois, -and the two were turning away when Gerard exclaimed, in a tone of -excitement-- - -“See, Dubois, see, that man riding by the side of the Governor. Do you -recognize him?” - -“It is that villain, de Proballe.” - -“The old rat, so it is,” declared Pascal. “If there is devil’s work to -be done in Morvaix he’ll be in it. Paris was too hot for him. I thought -he was in hell by now. By the saints, he is long overdue.” - -Gerard did not wait to hear the conclusion of the speech, but mingling -with the crowd watched the proceedings with close interest. - -It was a very strong force of soldiery, both horse and foot, that -gathered in the market place round the statue, large enough to brush -away like so many flies the crowd of citizens, who fell back hushed and -awe-stricken before the muskets and halberds which were used with much -wilful violence. - -The Governor of the city, the Duke Charles de Rochelle, seated on his -charger, a magnificent coal black Flemish animal, drew up in the centre -of the cleared space, and gazed with amused contemptuousness upon the -shrinking burghers. - -He made a striking centre-piece. Short and slight of figure, yet -suggesting suppleness and strength, his fifty years sat lightly on him. -His fair hair had scarce a touch of grey, and his pointed auburn beard -and flowing moustache might have belonged to a man twenty years his -junior. His features, strong and regular, would have been handsome but -for the small close-set grey eyes, whose cold, hawk-like glitter was -rendered additionally repulsive by a strong cast. - -“The eyes of a wild beast,” thought Gerard, who had been watching him -intently. “Well named the Tiger.” - -At a signal from the Governor, the herald stepped forward amid a -blare of trumpets and read the proclamation. The people listened in -dead silence; but at the close, loud murmurs broke out which even the -presence of the soldiery could not wholly check. - -“It means starvation to us,” cried one lusty voice, and a powerful -fellow, a smith, wielding the heavy hammer of his trade, broke through -the ring of the soldiers and made as if to approach the Governor. - -“What dog is this that dares to bay?” It was the Duke who spoke. - -“I am no dog, my lord, but a burgher of Morvaix, and I do but speak -what all here know,” answered the smith sturdily. - -The Duke fixed his keen eyes on the man’s face, and without a word -signed to some of those about him. Three soldiers sprang toward the -smith, who faced them fearlessly, and lifted his hammer. - -“I have done no wrong. No man shall touch me,” he said threateningly. - -“Down with the rebel dog,” cried the Duke; and at the words the -soldiers, who had hesitated, rushed upon the smith. Two went down with -broken heads from blows of the terrible hammer; but the third got his -halberd in, and as the man lay on the ground some others dashed forward -and one of them thrust home to his heart. - -“So perish all rebels,” cried the Governor, in a ringing tone to the -crowd; and at the threat and the sight of the smith’s blood the people -shrank together and cowered. - -The Duke smiled coldly on the crowd, and without another word signed -for the procession to reform and march on, the people shrinking and -cowering in silence from the troops as they passed. - -Gerard’s hot blood had fired at the scene, and he stood looking -after the Governor with a heart hot with indignant anger at the foul -injustice he had witnessed. - -His two followers in monkish garb crossed to him and as the three -whispered together, they were startled by the sound of a woman’s -wailing. It was the dead man’s wife. She had heard the news and came -rushing upon the scene in wild disordered distress, carrying her babe -in her arms. - -As she was nearing the body, a girl attended by a page, whose attire -evidenced his mistress’ high station, met her and with tender -solicitude offered such consolation as was possible. - -Gerard’s gaze, attracted by the girl’s beauty, followed the couple as -together they approached the body, which had now been lifted by some -of the sympathizing townsfolk; and then with a cry of anger he dashed -hotly toward them, followed by his companions. - -There was indeed cause for his anger. Several of the brutal soldiers -had rushed upon the men carrying the corpse, and with oaths and blows -and threats of the Duke’s anger, seized the body from them and flung it -on the ground. - -The girl, courageously placing herself between the soldiers and the -frightened townsfolk, had turned upon the former and ordered them away; -but the bullies, strong in the protection of their tyrant master and -presuming on their license to deal as they would with the people, first -jeered at her coarsely and then thrust her roughly aside while one of -them ran and kicked the corpse with wanton brutality. - -It was the attack on the girl which drove Gerard to interfere. He was -by her side in an instant, flung the man who had touched her to the -ground, and with eyes flashing and hand on his sword, dared the men to -interfere further. - -The soldiers were still present in the square in great force, however, -and attracted by the tumult many came rallying to the side of their -comrades. At the same time, inspirited by Gerard’s daring, a great -crowd of the townsfolk closed up behind him; and it seemed impossible -that a conflict could be avoided. - -There was a moment of hesitation, however, while the two opposing -bodies glared angrily at one another, and Pascal with ready wit seized -it to step between them, and with uplifted crucifix threatened the -soldiers with the ban of Holy Church if they attempted further violence -to either dead or living. - -While he was haranguing them in loud and vehement tones, a number -of men in monkish dress appeared almost as if by magic, and pushing -through the citizens ranged themselves at his side, thus giving an -impressive background to his exhortation. - -The soldiers, abashed by this strange opposition, hung back in doubt, -and the citizens having in the meanwhile borne the dead body away, the -trouble ended in nothing more serious than muttered threats and oaths -from the soldiers and stern remonstrances from the monks. - -When the soldiers had drawn off, Gerard turned to seek the girl the -attack on whom had provoked him to interfere, but she had vanished. - -With an eagerness which brought a smile to Pascal’s face, Gerard -plied those about him with questions regarding her, and learnt that -she was Mademoiselle de Malincourt, and had gone away to comfort -the trouble-stricken woman whose husband had been the victim of the -morning’s tragedy. - -“You did shrewdly, Pascal,” said Dubois, when the two were alone. - -“Our good fellows won’t thank me, for, like myself, their fingers were -tingling to be at some of the rascals’ throats. Where’s the young lord, -Gerard?” - -“Gone in search of----” Pascal’s laugh interposed to finish the -sentence. - -“Aye, aye. We can understand. There’s a woman in the thing now, of -course. And we shall hear more of her, or I am a monk indeed, and no -soldier, which God forfend.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MAISON DE MALINCOURT - - -Some two or three hours after the scene in the market place a girl -sat at her spinning wheel on the terrace of the Maison de Malincourt, -opposite the head of the stately flight of steps leading down to the -wide gardens. She had placed her wheel in an angle of the southern -turret so that she could ply her task in comfort, protected from the -rays of the July sun. - -She was Lucette de Boisdegarde, the foster sister and close friend of -Mademoiselle de Malincourt, for whose coming she was now waiting with -as much patience as her quick vivacious temperament permitted. - -Her industry was only fitful. At times her shapely little foot pressed -with insistent vigour upon the treadle and the wheel flew round -rapidly, as if keeping pace with the thoughts that drew her dark pretty -face into a frown of petulance and made her large eyes flash with -gathering purpose. But the wheel was often still and she would sit -back, idly fingering the threads of gleaming flax and thinking, while -her gaze would roam over the blaze of lovely flowers in the garden, -or stray away to the red roofs of the city which showed through the -skirting trees beyond, or rest curiously on the vacant seat at her side -on the cushions of which lay some needlework. - -She was in one of these preoccupied moods when her sharp ear caught -the sound of a footstep. In a moment she set the treadle of her wheel -whirling swiftly, while she crooned to herself the air of a ballad of -the time, and appeared too deeply engrossed in her work and song to -have eyes or ears for anything else. - -Yet young Denys St. Jean was worth looking at. Well-built he was, -soldierly in bearing and self-reliant in mien, with a fair frank honest -face, though now grave with thought and purpose, as he turned the -corner of the Maison at a slow deliberate pace. - -Seeing Lucette he started and his face brightened; and he smiled as he -perceived her absorption in her task was overacted. He hesitated just -an instant as if about to speak to her, but with a slight frown checked -the inclination, walked on a few paces, lingered again, and then -stopped. - -Lucette meanwhile was treading her wheel vigorously and singing sweetly -to herself-- - - There was once a maiden in Arcady, - Whose lover so feal and true - Came riding forth from the sullen north - Her sweet white hand to woo. - -During the verse Denys stood with his back to the singer, his arms -folded in an attitude suggestive of antagonism; but once or twice, when -he half-turned toward her, the smile on his lips and the light in his -eyes told of very different feelings. - -When the song ceased he maintained his attitude of indifference, -keeping his back to her and his arms still folded, waiting for her to -speak; but when she gave no sign that she knew of his presence, he -turned and stole up behind her softly, with a smile of expectation, and -bent over her. - -Her industry and absorption appeared to increase, however, and her -foot pressed the treadle, the wheel flew round, and her white fingers -flashed hither and thither, tending the flax, gathering the thread, -adjusting this and smoothing that, while all the while she crooned the -old ballad. - -Her patience beat him at length. - -“You know I’m here,” he whispered. - -“Ah, Antoine, I knew your tread.” - -“Antoine!” exclaimed Denys with an angry start, “what do you mean by -that, Lucette?” - -The wheel stopped and she looked round, her face a pretty mask of -coquettish surprise and her eyes beaming with mischief. - -“So, it is not Antoine!” with just a suggestion of disappointment in -the tone, a little shrug of the shapely shoulders, and a pout. “Only -you. I thought you were gone for ever.” - -“You will drive me away, if you treat me like this. What did you mean -about knowing Antoine’s tread?” - -For a second she let her roguish eyes rest on his, and then she smiled. - -“His feet are so big and so clumsy,” she said, and turned again to her -wheel. - -“Do you mean you meet him so often you can recognize them?” - -“Recognize them! Mon Dieu, they are not feet to forget when once seen,” -she cried lightly. - -“You can’t pass it off like that, Lucette. Were you expecting him here -this afternoon? Is that what you mean?” He was still angry and his tone -very earnest. - -“I didn’t expect _you_, Monsieur Catechist.” - -“And you meant to amuse yourself with him in my absence?” - -She turned and made a pretty grimace of dismay and spread out her hands. - -“Is it an hour since you said you would never speak to me again? What -then does it matter to you? Would you play the dog in the manger?” - -“Will you answer my question?” - -“Why do you come back at all when all is at an end between us? You said -so.” - -“Don’t you know why I come back?” The tone was full of feeling; but -Lucette merely shrugged her shoulders. - -“To see if you had made me miserable, I suppose? You have not;” and -she burst again into her song, when Denys caught her by the wrist, and -looked intently into her face. - -“Do you mean you don’t care, Lucette?” - -“I care not to have my arm bruised with your great clumsy hands. -Antoine would never----” - -“To hell with your Antoine!” he burst in vehemently. “You play with -me as a cat with a bird;” and throwing her hand from him he turned -and strode away. He got no farther than the corner of the house, and -looking back saw her leaning against the wall nursing her arm as if in -pain. “Forgive me, Lucette,” he cried remorsefully, hastening back. “I -am a brute; you fire my blood when you make me jealous. If you love -Antoine de Cavannes better than me, say so now, and let me go. But -don’t torture me.” - -She stood nursing her arm and looking up at him. - -“Torture _you_, is it? Torture _you_?” and she held her arm up in -reproach. - -“You have only to say the word, and I’ll never trouble you again. It -can’t be both Antoine and me. Choose!” - -“Choose!” she repeated, mocking his serious tone. Then with a laugh -and a change to coquettish hesitation: “Hot-tempered, handsome Denys -or splay-footed, ugly Antoine, eh? It can’t be both of you, eh? And -if----” She paused teasingly. - -“In God’s name, can’t you be serious?” - -“When I am, I’ll choose neither of you, but just bury myself in a -nunnery. So good-bye, my lord surly-face;” and she burst into a laugh. - -“You mean that good-bye?” - -“When did I wish you anything but good?” - -“You’ll drive me away from you and from Morvaix,” he said angrily. - -“Oh, you’ll soon be back again.” - -“You think you can play with me as you will.” - -“Stupid! As if I cared where you go! But you can’t leave Gabrielle. -You can be many nasty things, but at least you can’t be untrue to your -trust.” - -His angry features relaxed somewhat at this. - -“I wish I could read your heart.” - -“So does Antoine.” - -Angered again at this, a hot retort was stayed on his lips as Gabrielle -de Malincourt stepped out of one of the tall windows of the terrace -close to them. - -“Ah, my good Denys, and, of course, Lucette,” she said with a smile. - -“It should be the other order, mademoiselle, I fear,” he answered. -“Lucette, and of course, Denys. It is Denys who is ‘of course.’” - -Gabrielle glanced at them both and understood. - -“Quarrelling again! Lucette, Lucette. You treat him villainously. But -never mind, Denys. I know what’s in her heart whatever her lips may -say.” - -“Gabrielle, I----” began Lucette in protest, when Gabrielle interposed. - -“Yes, yes, I know what you would say. But I am not Denys. When the sea -is very calm some people like to rock a boat to make pretence; but when -the storm comes in reality it’s all very different. Wait till there -comes a bit of a storm, Denys, and you’ll see the truth. If Lucette had -been I just now in the market place and you had been at hand, you would -have seen to whom she would have turned.” - -“Has anything chanced, mademoiselle?” asked Denys quickly. - -“That which made me wish for you, good Denys. I had visited poor old -Jacques Boulanger and was returning through the market place just when -the heralds had proclaimed this new and shameful ordinance of the -Governor’s--a tax so cruel that it makes my blood boil. A terrible -thing occurred. Babillon, the smith, sprang forward to protest, and the -Governor, holding him for a rebel, had him done to death there on the -spot by his brutal soldiers.” - -“How horrible!” exclaimed Lucette. - -“But you, mademoiselle?” asked Denys. - -“I had just heard the news when his wife came rushing through the -place like one distraught, and I was seeking to comfort her in her -anguish when the soldiers--oh, they are fiends, those men!--attacked -the citizens who had lifted the smith’s body to bear it home, flung -the dead on the ground, and when, burning with indignation, I ordered -them to desist, they turned on me, one of them thrust me violently -aside, and would have done I know not what next, had not a cavalier, a -stranger, rushed up to help me.” - -“Would I had been there, mademoiselle!” exclaimed Denys angrily. “Would -you know the fellow again?” - -“Do you mean the stranger cavalier?” asked Lucette, with a light of -mischief in her eyes. - -“Nay, Lucette, do not jest,” said Gabrielle earnestly. “The man was -punished for his act, Denys. The cavalier struck him to the ground and -faced the whole of them fearlessly; and I dreaded for a moment that -a conflict would follow, for there are not many in Morvaix who would -see me harmed. But a monk intervened then and the danger was averted. -Babillon’s body was carried away, and I went with the wretched woman -whom I have but now left, all desolate, broken and whelmed by her -sorrow. These are ill days indeed for Morvaix.” - -“But the men who maltreated you, mademoiselle, can be found, nay, must -be found and punished,” cried Denys warmly. - -“It is of no matter now, Denys. It is over; beside the cruel wrongs -done to the people, my little hurt is nothing. These soldiers, -moreover, are but hirelings, and do no more than hirelings’ work. But -there is one quest--you must find the cavalier who served me.” - -Lucette looked up. - -“You learnt his name, Gabrielle?” she asked quickly. - -“Nay, for I left the place with Babillon’s wife--wife alas! no more, -but widow, poor soul.” - -“The cavalier, Gabrielle, was he handsome as well as brave?” asked -Lucette after a pause. - -A faint tinge of colour tinted Gabrielle’s cheeks as she answered. - -“In truth, I scarce had time to see, Lucette; but he seemed in all -respects a manly man, a figure of distinction truly. Tall and knightly -in mien; his face unbearded and full of strength, yet kindly and -courteous; fair in colouring; and his blue eyes, keen and flashing fire -as he faced the soldiery, were gentle and solicitous when viewing my -plight; his voice resolute with the tone of one accustomed to command; -yet tuned to gentle accents, as it seemed to me. I much mistake me if -he be not a knight of loftier station than his sober brown attire would -seem to bespeak him. A most gallant gentleman and a brave heart.” - -“You saw much, cousin, it seems, although you had no time, as you say;” -and Lucette, with a smile to herself, turned to her spinning wheel. - -“I will seek him out, mademoiselle,” said Denys, “and no doubt shall -find him. Shall I give him any message?” - -“I could not even stay to thank him, and would wish to do so. Let him -know as much.” - -“Before I go, there is a grave matter on which I would speak with you.” - -“Not now, Denys, but afterward. He must not think Gabrielle de -Malincourt ungrateful. I beg you hasten at once in quest of him.” - -“I will go,” he answered, and turning toward Lucette, said nervously: -“Lucette, I----” - -“We can finish our quarrel when you return,” she interposed. “I may -forgive you if you do Gabrielle’s service quickly.” Her tone was one of -indifference, but he read the smile in her eyes and went with a light -quick step upon his errand. - -Gabrielle had dropped into the vacant seat by Lucette and now leant -back thinking, her lips slightly parted and her eyes dreamy. - -“He was a handsome man, coz, this cavalier of yours?” Gabrielle started -at the question and then met her friend’s half-quizzing look calmly. - -“I have never seen a nobler, Lucette. I hope our good Denys will find -him. Why do you plague that good fellow so sorely?” - -“Nay, it is he plagues me. He is always quarrelling.” - -“_You_ are always finding cause to make him, you mean?” - -“He is a man, and must be kept in his place;” and Lucette shrugged her -shoulders. - -“By bickering and teasing and wrangling? Does it please you?” - -“There is always the making up again;” and Lucette laughed roguishly. - -“Beware how you try him too much. He is sterling mettle.” She paused -and suppressed a sigh as she added: “How happy you should be!” - -Lucette glanced across at her and her manner changed. - -“You are thinking again, Gabrielle. You are not sad?” - -“Yes, I was thinking. I ought not to be sad, to-day of all days; and -yet----” The rest of the sentence was an unmistakable sigh, deep and -sincere. - -“He may prove a gallant cavalier, Gabrielle, your Gerard; as gallant -maybe as your hero of the market place. Don’t look like that, dear.” - -“I am afraid, Lucette, horribly afraid. You cannot tell how it is with -me. I am perhaps overwrought by this terrible scene in the market -place, and--oh, I know not what I feel;” and with a shudder she covered -her face with her hands. - -“It will all come right, dear,” whispered Lucette gently, after a -pause; but the words seemed to jar upon Gabrielle, who lowered her -hands, and with a look of irritation replied almost petulantly. - -“You judge from your own little outlook. You tease Denys and force a -sham quarrel, knowing he will make it up and all will come right, as -you say. But how would it be with you if you were in my place, given -to a man you had not seen since you were a child; betrothed to one you -know nothing about, and who may turn out to be--oh, what am I saying?” - -“I should hate him before he came to claim me, Gabrielle,” said Lucette -vigorously, tearing at the flax she held in her fingers. “Claim me!” -she added, incensed by her own word. “I would make him feel that the -claiming was no easy task. Oh, I should hate him! But you need not wed -him. You are the mistress of Malincourt.” - -“You do not understand, Lucette.” The girl looked up in genuine -surprise at the change in Gabrielle’s tone, suddenly calm, proud and -cold. “It is my duty to my family. My parents ordered it so, and it is -not for me to disobey. I owe it to my house.” - -“I can’t understand you, Gabrielle. At one moment you are a girl with -all a girl’s heart and feelings, and the next, you are the grand dame, -cold, passionless, proud--just the embodied spirit of the traditions of -your house.” - -“Were you a Malincourt you would understand. I have to live my life and -must perforce be content.” - -“But pride makes an ill substitute for love in a marriage, Gabrielle. -And your motive is pride. If this M. Gerard de Cobalt, this distant -kinsman and unseen betrothed, should turn out to be a hideous depraved -wretch----” - -“Peace, Lucette; you do but plague me. M. de Cobalt will be here to-day -or to-morrow; and you will remember he is my affianced husband.” - -“I am sorry my reckless tongue wounds you, Gabrielle. I love you so -dearly;” and Lucette bent across and kissed her tenderly. “Pray God it -may all be well with you. Forgive me.” - -“There is nothing to forgive, dear,” answered Gabrielle sweetly. “You -are right. I have two natures; and if the girl in me rebels sometimes, -it is kinder to check than to encourage rebellion. To-day, somehow, it -is harder than usual to check it. I shall be glad when M. de Cobalt -comes. My uncle gives me good account of him, and speaks of him as -brave and gallant.” - -“Does M. de Proballe know him?” - -“No, he has never seen him--at least not for many years; but he has -heard much of him, and from what he says all should be well.” - -“From what he says,” commented Lucette, with a little frown of disdain. - -“You trouble me, Lucette, with these reflections on my uncle. You do -not like him, and so would have me share your feeling. We’ll say no -more;” and with a sigh she leant back to think. - -Lucette, seeing her mood, resumed her work and set her wheel speeding -busily on; but chancing to glance round a moment later she stopped -abruptly with an exclamation of surprise which attracted Gabrielle’s -attention. - -A man was standing close behind Gabrielle’s chair in an attitude of -excessive humility. He bowed low and spread out his hands as she turned -to him, while an expressive curl of contempt drew down the corners of -Lucette’s mouth. - -“What is it? Why did you not say you were here?” asked Gabrielle -sharply. - -“I feared to interrupt miladi, and was awaiting your permission to -speak my errand.” His voice was soft and his manner deferential. - -“What is it? Speak.” - -“My master, the Baron de Proballe, desires to know if it is convenient -for him to wait upon you, miladi?” - -“My uncle? Certainly. Where is he?” - -“At present in his apartments, miladi.” - -“Tell him I will see him at once.” - -“I am miladi’s most humble servant,” was the reply with another deep -bow, as he went. - -“What a loathsome snake is that Master Dauban,” exclaimed Lucette, -looking after him. - -“My uncle says he is a very honest fellow and as faithful as a man can -be.” - -“I should need a higher character than that,” said Lucette with another -very expressive shrug. - -“The Baron de Proballe is my uncle, Lucette,” replied Gabrielle in a -tone of reproach, as she rose to go into the house. And Lucette, by -way of reply, turned her head away with a toss and made a grimace to -herself as she bent over her wheel. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SINISTER HINTS - - -Scarcely had Gabrielle left the terrace before Lucette’s wheel stopped -and she began to think instead of work. Little frowns and smiles chased -each other alternately across her dark expressive face, and here even -pearly teeth showed ever and again between the full, mobile lips. - -“Has the day’s adventure changed everything?” she mused. “He seems to -have been very handsome, this gallant cavalier. I wonder. It would be a -hard fight. I know how her pride can stand like a fortress; and I know -how love can pull and pull and pull. Don’t I know it?” and she smiled -and sighed in turn. “Poor Gabrielle! What a struggle! Heart whispers, -‘I love him’; pride answers, ‘My pledge is given.’ Ah me! he will have -to be a manly man, as she says, if he will win her. But she will have -a traitor in the fortress after all, if she really love him. Ah me! I -know how it would end with me. But Gabrielle--well, she is Gabrielle.” - -At that moment a frown chased away the smiles, for Master Dauban, the -man she had dubbed a snake, came out from the Maison and approached her. - -He was one of those creatures on whom nature sets the outward marks -of his inward character. His whole appearance and manner suggested -slyness and secretiveness. His light brown shifty eyes were deep set in -his sallow face, his cheeks smooth and round, and his lips thin and -straight; while his voice, unctuous and oily, and his glances, always -quick and restlessly furtive, no less than the fawning gestures of his -hands and his soft tread proclaimed him a born spy. At least so Lucette -thought, and she hated him accordingly, as she hated all things mean -and base. - -But his feeling for her was very far removed from hatred, and as he -came up now his glance was full of admiration. - -“I am the happiest of men to find you alone, Mistress Lucette.” - -“I am not the happiest of women to find you anywhere--near me, Master -Dauban,” she retorted. - -“You are as cruel to me as you are beautiful.” - -“And you are as handsome as you are honest,” she cried with a shrug. He -winced. - -“Why do you always wrong me so?” - -“In calling you honest, you mean?” - -“You are in truth a sweet rose, Mistress Lucette, but the thorns of -your wit are sharp and draw blood.” - -“They are meant to prevent snails and slugs from crawling too near me, -Master Dauban.” - -“I take all you say in good part.” - -“In ‘good part.’ And what good part is there in you, I pray? I have -never seen it.” - -“I can be a firm friend.” - -“To yourself, maybe.” - -“And an ugly enemy, too, at times.” - -Lucette looked him up and down, and her lip curled as she answered with -almost savage contempt-- - -“Who has fallen so low as to fear you, Master Dauban? Have you been -trounced by some scullion of the kitchen? You should beware how you -offend any one with hands to strike with.” - -“It is easy to scoff, mistress,” he returned sullenly, stung by her -words. - -“Aye, truly, where you are the object. If you do not like the truth, -go away; you came of your own will and do not stay by mine. In truth, -Malincourt would be none the worse for your going altogether.” - -“I have a strong reason for wishing to stay. You are the reason,” he -said, shooting a glance at her. “Why won’t you let me be your friend?” - -“There is but one act of friendship you could show to me.” - -“What is it?” he asked eagerly. “Try me; try me.” - -“Put a hundred leagues between us and never lessen the distance. It -would indeed be an act of true friendship if you would never let my -eyes rest on your face again.” - -“That is a hard saying. I could not live apart from you,” he declared -with much earnestness. - -“I see no reason in that why you should not go away,” she laughed. “The -world could manage to exist without you; although your master might -miss you.” - -He looked at her cunningly. - -“You do not like my master, I fear, Mistress Lucette.” - -“Ah, has he set you to find out what I think of him?” - -“I could tell you things,” he said slyly, lowering his tone and -glancing about him. - -She paused a moment and her eyes questioned him. She checked the -mocking reply which was on her lips, and asked, as if with an assumed -indifference, covering real curiosity-- - -“What could you tell me?” - -“I have eyes to see, ears to hear, and I know what I know of his -plans--and you would like to know, too.” - -Lucette started and bent her head over her wheel that her face might -not be seen by his ferrety eyes. She resolved to get it from him. - - * * * * * - -“Bah! Am I a fool, Master Dauban, that you would fill my ears with -lies about a good man? You say truly, the Baron de Proballe is in no -favour of mine, but at least I know him to be an honest, fair-speaking, -straight-dealing gentleman.” - -The man laughed unctuously, as from the enjoyable vantage point of -superior knowledge. - -“I know what I know,” he said cunningly. - -“You know no ill of him, and I will hear none. He is Mademoiselle -Gabrielle’s uncle and protecting friend, and a good man.” Lucette’s -tone was full of reproachful indignation. - -“Yes, he is miladi’s uncle, and a good man.” He laughed again with the -same unctuous suggestion of intense enjoyment. “And all you people here -in Malincourt are so sharp and clever--so sharp and clever--as clever -as he is good.” - -“We are sharp enough to know an honest man when we see him, and clever -enough not to listen to the tales of a maligner, Master Dauban,” -retorted Lucette with an appearance of great warmth. Her anger so -delighted the man that he threw himself into the seat near her and -laughed till his sides shook. - -“What fools women are!” - -“They are a match for a man’s brilliant wits any time,” cried Lucette -very sharply. “Go away and leave me in peace.” - -“A match for us! ho, ho! a match,” he laughed. Presently he grew -serious, leaned forward and said in a lone tone: “You love miladi; you -think my master a good man, eh? What would you give to know what I -know?” - -“I wouldn’t know all the wickedness you know for a duke’s ransom,” -declared Lucette sharply. “I should have to hang myself if I did, in -sheer self-shame.” - -“Pouf! women are worse than men; and you’re no better than the rest, -I’d be sworn. But you’re such a pretty spitfire and say such waspish -things; that’s what I like in you. But for all your sharp tongue you -are as blind as a three-day kitten, and can’t tell milk from vinegar -when it’s under your very nose. You can’t even smell it;” and he -laughed again. - -“Better a blind kitten than a wideawake rat with a keen scent for -garbage, Master Dauban,” she retorted with a shrug of her shoulders. - -“Rats can find other things than garbage, Mistress Lucette. Shall I ask -you a question?” He paused, and then with an accent of great cunning, -asked--“Why do you think my good master is so interested in this -marriage of miladi with M. de Cobalt?” - -Lucette laughed airily. - -“That’s easy to answer, of a surety. Because he is the brother of -Mistress Gabrielle’s late mother, and it is a family affair.” - -“There mewed the blind kitten,” he cried with another of his triumphant -laughs. - -“And there squeaked a rat!” - -“Does a good man like to see his niece, a pure woman, mated with a -scoundrel? Does he work and scheme and strive and plot to force it on? -Answer me that, kitten.” - -“Does even a rat seek to bite the hand that feeds it? Answer me that, -rat.” - -“Feeds it? Out on such feeding,” he cried with sudden malevolence. -“Uses it, fools it, kicks it, and throws a few husks to it, keeping all -the grain for himself. I know what I know, I tell you. And you should -know it too if you--but never mind. Go on with your mewing, and when -your gay gallant comes, set him on another pedestal as high as my -noble master’s and fawn on him.” - -“What grudge have you against M. de Cobalt that you would set us -against him?” - -“Grudge? I have no grudge. I have never even set eyes on him. But I -know what I know. And when your eyes get opened, remember to-day.” - -“And why should a rat squeak against a man he has never seen?” - -But he was quick to discern the earnestness which Lucette allowed to -appear in her tone; and he got up and smiled cunningly. - -“I am not a well to be emptied by a woman’s bucket, Mistress Lucette. -You will see, some day.” - -“I don’t believe a word you’ve said,” she replied with a shrug of -indifference. - -“I could say much more if----” he paused. - -“If what?” - -He leered at her cunningly, and bending down close to her shoulder, -whispered-- - -“If you’d give me such a kiss as I saw you give Antoine de Cavannes -in the wood yonder when Denys St. Jean was at Courtal. ‘Splay-footed -Antoine,’ as you called him to-day.” - -Lucette flushed with anger and vexation, genuine enough now, and a -passionate retort rose to her lips, but did not pass them. She had to -fight down her anger in a pause which he mistook for confusion. - -“You have indeed both eyes and ears, Master Dauban,” she answered with -a quick glance of coquetry. “But you will not tell on me?” she added, -as if in dismay and fear of him. - -“I may,” he replied, enjoying her fear. - -“You must not. You must not.” Her accents were those of quick alarm. - -“Do you love either of them?” - -“A poor girl must have friends.” - -“Yet you would drive _me_ away.” - -“Ah, Master Dauban, do you believe all a poor girl says?” and she -sighed and cast a languishing look on him. - -“You hate me and wish never to see me again. You said so.” - -“Must every maiden wear her heart on her sleeve, Master Dauban, for you -handsome gallants to trifle with?” - -“My name is Jacques, by your leave.” - -“’Tis the sweetest of names;” and Lucette sighed and looked down; then -started and dashed a look at him and cried as if in distress--“Go -away, Master Dauban. You make me so--oh, I don’t know how to say it. I -feel--oh, do go away. You make me feel so serious and so--so sad. Ah -me!” - -“You say those things to Denys and Antoine--and others.” - -For answer Lucette fixed her eyes upon him reproachfully and then -sighed again; and her eyes could speak in a language few men could read -unmoved. - -“I knew you were cruel, but--oh, do leave me.” - -His hand sought hers. She let him take it and returned the pressure of -his fingers, which trembled. - -“You have never met _me_ in the wood, Lucette,” he whispered. - -“You have never asked me, Jacques. I never thought----” and she -faltered and broke down. - -“Be there at set of sun this evening.” - -“No, no, I could not; I dare not. I could never do that--but I often -walk there--Jacques.” - -“And this evening?” He was trembling again in his eagerness. - -Her eyes said yes, the pressure of her tell-tale fingers confirmed it, -and the sigh she gave sent him into an ecstasy. - -“I believe you do but play with poor me,” she whispered. - -“I swear on my soul I am in earnest. I love you, Lucette, I----” - -“Hush, not now, not now;” and she snatched her hand quickly from him as -if in great confusion and picked up her spinning wheel. “I shall count -the minutes till the sun sets--_now_, Jacques,” she cried with a bright -laughing smile, and passed into the house. - -“Blind kittens are we, Master Rat?” she said to herself as she went -to her apartment. “If I do not know all you have to tell me of this -villainy against Gabrielle before the dusk is dark, may I never know a -rogue when I see one.” And then her fears on Gabrielle’s account having -been excited, her quick wits busied themselves with all manner of -fanciful conjectures as to what the vaguely shadowed danger could be; -and her impatience could scarce be held in check until the time arrived -for her meeting with Dauban. - -Meanwhile the interview between Gabrielle and her uncle had taken -place and he had brought her news which for the moment had both deeply -interested and greatly excited her. - -The Baron de Proballe was a man whose aim in life had been to fill -to the brim the cup of self-indulgent pleasures. Handsome, rich, -unscrupulous and talented, he was endowed with most of the vices -except cowardice, and while yet a young man he had soon made himself -a reputation as a profligate among profligates until his excesses had -ruined him. His fortune declined as his reputation grew, and for some -years he had been driven to live upon his wits, which meant trading -upon his skill as a gambler until a particularly disgraceful scandal -had driven him from Paris, bankrupt in pocket and much broken in -health, to seek refuge with his young kinswoman at Morvaix. - -There his evil fame was unknown, and Gabrielle had welcomed him for her -dead mother’s sake; and in the small provincial city he had passed two -hateful years, brooding upon the pleasures which were now denied to him -and devising means to rehabilitate his shattered fortunes and recover -some of his lost health. - -Outwardly he had hitherto shown himself a model of a courteous -gentleman and had lived almost an exemplary life in Morvaix, having -put away from him with iron firmness the dissolute habits and evil -practices of the old life in Paris. The desire for them burnt as -strongly as ever in his blood, and his sole object in resisting it so -strenuously was the hope of regaining such health, fortune and position -as would enable him once more to indulge them freely. - -But there was a flaw in his plans which threatened to ruin everything. -He had ingratiated himself with the Governor, and the Duke, as keen a -gambler as de Proballe himself, had won very heavy sums of money which -could not be paid; and he had in this way obtained a hold over him -which threatened to have critical consequences to all concerned. - -The Duke had acted with deliberate intention. A man of reckless -life and licentious nature, he had been fascinated by Gabrielle de -Malincourt’s beauty, and he had formed a scheme in regard to her which -made her uncle’s assistance of the utmost value and consequence. - -De Proballe himself, despite his evil past and seared conscience, had -at first refused indignantly to have any hand in the vile matter; but -the Governor, never nice in his methods, had found means to over-ride -this opposition; and then de Proballe sought to justify his act to -himself by forming a counter-scheme against the Governor. - -To further the plan, Gabrielle’s uncle had concocted the story and -fabricated the proofs supporting it, of her parents’ wish that she -should marry a distant kinsman, Gerard de Cobalt, a young reprobate -whose life had been if anything more disgraceful than that of de -Proballe himself. His culminating act of villainy had been the -treacherous murder of a friend at Cambrai, a town within the Governor’s -province, and for this he was a fugitive from justice. De Cobalt’s -reward for his part in the infamous scheme was to be a pardon for the -affair at Cambrai; and he was to come to Morvaix and marry Gabrielle to -provide a complacent cloak for the Governor’s scheme. - -Gabrielle, suspecting nothing of the intrigue which was in progress -about her, and deceived by her uncle’s consistently considerate and -courteous demeanour to herself, had grown both to trust and like him, -and met him now with a smile. - -He noticed her disquiet and remarked on her troubled looks. - -“It was the scene in the market place,” she said, and told him what had -occurred. - -“I was there and saw it all, Gabrielle. I fear Babillon brought it -upon himself. We live in troubled times, child, and authority must be -maintained. The Duke is hasty in temper, and he thought, I am sure, as -did I and others, that the smith meant to attack him. It is only in -the first moments of an outbreak that it can be quelled; had this gone -further much more blood than the smith’s would have been shed. Remember -that.” - -“He was but protesting,” said Gabrielle. - -“He nearly killed two of the soldiery with his protest, child.” - -“Not until they were ordered to attack him.” - -“Who raises his hand in violence must look for violence in return. I am -not defending the act. Had I been Governor I would have listened first -and punished afterwards, but that is not de Rochelle’s method.” - -“It was a foul murder, and I care not who hears me say it,” exclaimed -Gabrielle vehemently. “And this infamous tax caused it.” - -“It is about that I have news for you. The Duke is considering your -request to him and will wait upon you here at Malincourt, to-morrow. -He is a staunch friend to you, Gabrielle, and your lightest word has -weight with him.” - -“He should need no one’s word to induce him to do justly,” she said. -“He grinds the face of the people with his hideous tyranny.” - -“You have this influence with him and can best use it in the people’s -cause. That is a great thought for you to ponder. You will not do best -for them by incensing it, but rather by leading him to see these things -as you see them.” He watched her very closely as he said this in his -gentlest and most persuasive tone. - -“But I despise him,” she said with a shudder. “I loathe him, indeed.” - -“In this world we cannot choose the means we would, but must use those -which lie to our hands. Yours is a heavy load of responsibility for -such young shoulders to bear, my child. The head of a great house, -alone with none to advise save an unworthy old man who has wearied of -the affairs of the world, and with the cares of an army of suffering -people to plague and oppress you. Let us hope that your marriage will -prove the relief it should. Gerard de Cobalt should be here to-day or -to-morrow. Pray Heaven he carries a steady head on worthy shoulders--as -indeed I hear he does.” - -Gabrielle sighed and lifted and let fall her hand; a half-despairing -gesture suggestive of her distracted thoughts. - -“You should be all smiles, Gabrielle. My dear sister, your mother, and -your father, too, built so much upon this marriage. The Governor also -is profoundly interested in it, and will welcome your husband and give -him an honoured place in his favour and esteem. You two are destined to -do great things for Morvaix.” - -“Please God it may be so,” returned Gabrielle earnestly. “But to take a -husband I have never seen is----” The sentence ended in another gesture -as hopeless as the first. - -“I have made many searching inquiries concerning him, Gabrielle. A -handsome gallant and as brave and fearless as comely.” - -“It may be for the best,” she said lifelessly. - -“It must and will be for the best,” he returned. “To-morrow you will -hear from the Duke how he proposes to honour the man of your choice.” - -“Choice?” echoed Gabrielle, catching at the word. - -“Yes, choice; what else? Whom else in Morvaix would you choose? You -would not choose to disobey your dear mother’s last earthly wish. And -the obligations of a girl placed as you are at the head of a house such -as ours might well have compelled a marriage with a far less welcome -groom. I could tell you of scores of such ill-fated unions. Keep a -light heart, child; for you may face the future fearlessly--a brilliant -future too.” - -“I am foolish and rebellious at times, I know. But I am not unmindful -of my duty to my house,” she said proudly. - -“Spoken like a Malincourt; like my sainted sister’s own child. Keep -that face for the Governor to-morrow, Gabrielle. Smile to him and upon -him, and the rule of Morvaix and all in it will be inspired by your -gentle heart.” - -And with that thought he deemed it judicious to end the interview. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE DUKE’S PROPOSAL - - -There was one very bitter heart in the maison on the following morning. -Jacques Dauban had spent a bad night, groaning over aching bones and -head, brooding over his wrongs and setting his cunning wits to work to -devise a scheme of revenge. - -Very ill results had followed that meeting with Lucette in the -pine-walk. She had kept the tryst and had wheedled out of him a part -of what he knew. He had not told her much; only warned her to do her -utmost to prevent the marriage between Gabrielle and Gerard de Cobalt, -hinting at dark deeds of which he dared not speak, and denouncing -Gerard as both an unscrupulous scoundrel and a tool in the hands of -others greater and more villainous even than he. - -She might have got more from him, but it chanced that Denys St. Jean -had also conceived a fancy for a stroll in the wood, and had come -suddenly upon the pair in close and intimate talk. His quick temper -had fired instantly, and the consequences to Jacques Dauban had been -serious. Denys was strong in the arm, and his cudgel, snatched hastily -from a tree, thick and heavy; and there was scarcely a bone in the -writhing, wriggling spy’s body which did not ache and stab and pain. - -And Lucette had laughed. - -The laugh was the worst of all. It was in his ears all through the -paining hours of the night; maddening him, taunting him, and goading -him almost to a frenzy of wrath and spite. He read it as the proof that -she had fooled him; that she had laid the trap to bring the hot-headed -devil upon him; and had planned his humiliation and beating. - -He would be revenged; and as he twisted and turned and groaned in an -anguish of mind even more than of body, a scheme came to him; and -in the congenial task of working it out and maturing it, his own -sufferings were more than half forgotten. - -His first thought had been to lay in wait for Denys and, catching him -unawares, to thrust a dagger between his ribs swiftly from behind; but -there was too much risk. He might fail to strike true, and then--the -horrible fear of what would happen to himself in such a case killed the -plan at once. - -The next thought was to hire some one in Morvaix to do what he with his -own hand was afraid to attempt, but his cunning made him hesitate to -place himself in any other’s power. And so that idea had in its turn to -be abandoned. - -But out of it had come the scheme which he saw was at once safe and -sure. He would remain in the background all unsuspected even by -Lucette, and might mask his work in any way he wished; and yet Denys -would die as surely as if his was the hand which plunged the dagger -home to his heart. Aye, much more surely. - -He would tell the Baron de Proballe that Denys had in some way got -scent of the scheme which had been laid against Gabrielle and that he -meant to divulge it to her. - -He had some ground to believe this, moreover. Earlier in the day Denys -had put some searching questions to him, had hinted at ugly rumours, -and asked significantly about strange letters which had passed between -de Cobalt and his master. And Dauban knew the latter well enough to be -sure what would happen. The Baron would tell the Duke, and the tiger of -a Governor would find means to silence Denys for ever. - -And when Denys was dead, he would tell Lucette that it was his -hand that secretly had killed him; and that mocking laugh of hers -would change to a gasp of fear of him. That would be something like -a revenge, and he gloated in fancy over the picture of Lucette’s -fear-stricken face when she knew. - -“Let her laugh then, if she can,” he said to himself; and when the hour -came for him to go to his master, he had his tale ready and told it -artfully with a hundred touches which all calculated to appeal to de -Proballe’s imagination and spur his alarm. - -“How know you this, Jacques?” asked de Proballe, when he had heard the -news. - -“I overheard him last night speaking to Mademoiselle Lucette and saying -he had grave news which he must tell miladi at once about M. de Cobalt.” - -“That may not mean what you say.” - -“I fear that it did, m’sieu. The two are lovers, it seems, and like a -woman she was trying to wheedle the facts out of him. He was loath to -tell her and sought to put her off; but she got something from him. -He said M. de Cobalt was a scoundrel--he has a scurrilous tongue this -Denys--and, saving your presence, m’sieu, he said that de Cobalt was -but a tool in the hands of greater scoundrels. Shamed I am that my -lips should have to speak the words, but your lordship must know the -truth--he named you and His Grace the Duke de Rochelle.” - -“In the devil’s name, this is serious then,” exclaimed de Proballe -angrily. “How much does he know?” - -“Indeed, m’sieu, I cannot say. He hinted at an intercepted letter, but -he was called away soon. I can only infer he has made an important -discovery. But the girl was terribly alarmed.” - -“It may ruin everything. Have you breathed a whisper to a soul?” - -“Have I served you all these years to betray you?” and he spread his -hands out and spoke as if in sorrow that such a suspicion should even -be named. “That she suspects something I know to be true indeed.” - -“Tell me. Quick, Jacques, I am uneasy.” - -“Purposefully I put myself in her way, m’sieu. She is a pretty girl -enough and thinks, forsooth, that all men can be wheedled by her -glances. She led round artfully to the subject and plied me with -questions, all inspired, as I could see, by what this Denys had told -her. She did not find me easy to draw, m’sieu,” and he smiled with -deprecating reference to his secrecy. “But ’twas easy to see what was -in her thoughts.” - -“She may also be a source of danger. She may tell Gabrielle,” exclaimed -de Proballe quickly. “By Heaven; the thing must be stopped.” - -But it was not Dauban’s wish to have Lucette harmed, so he made haste -to check this thought. - -“Of herself she knows nothing, m’sieu; all hangs on the man’s story, -and if both of them were removed from Malincourt, might not miladi -herself take fright?” - -“A shrewd thought, Jacques. We must deal with the man alone. Do you -think he can have seen my niece yet?” - -“No, m’sieu, I am sure. I watched him closely. But this morning he may -seek her--nay, he will do so. He said as much.” - -“He must not,” exclaimed de Proballe earnestly. “At any cost that must -be prevented.” - -“It will be difficult, m’sieu, but should not be impossible.” - -“You have a thought, I see. Speak it.” - -“It is not for me to offer counsel to you, m’sieu. But yesterday there -was a cavalier who afforded some assistance to miladi in the market -place. She is anxious to find him, and sent this Denys yesterday in -search of him. If you could have knowledge that the stranger was to -be found, say at some place a few leagues away, it might be possible -to despatch Denys thither in quest of him, and thus enable time and -perchance provide means and opportunity to deal with him. Miladi would -appreciate any effort to find the cavalier, and some of the roads -around Morvaix are not over-safe.” - -“You have a cunning brain, Jacques,” exclaimed de Proballe suddenly, -with a sharp glance at his secretary. “Have you aught against this -Denys?” - -Dauban did not shrink from the scrutiny, but answered deferentially-- - -“If my lord thinks I should place my feelings before my duty to him, I -have served him uselessly all these years.” - -“I don’t think it, Jacques. You too well know on which side your -interest lies, and you know also that I should not be a pleasant man to -betray.” - -“I am naught if not your faithful servant, my lord,” replied Dauban. He -knew he had said enough for his purpose and that his master would adopt -the suggestion he had let fall. The seed he had sown would bear fruit; -and he was astute enough not to appear too anxious and thus reveal his -personal feelings. - -His plan was carried out. De Proballe sent for Denys, and after -inquiring about the guest of the previous day he said he had news -that the cavalier could be found at Beaucamp, an estate some four -leagues west of Morvaix. He expressed his desire to please and surprise -Gabrielle by finding the stranger, and also spoke feelingly about the -honour of the family being concerned to thank the stranger for the -service rendered to its young head, and thus despatched Denys on the -mission before he could get a word with Gabrielle. - -As soon as he had seen him start, he hurried with his news to the -castle, had an earnest interview with the Duke, and returned to -Malincourt without Gabrielle even knowing of his absence. Thus the -train was all laid when at noon the Governor, in accordance with the -arrangement of the previous day, came to wait upon Gabrielle. - -“You have made all arrangements?” was de Proballe’s greeting when they -met for a moment and were going to Gabrielle. - -“I am not likely to fail, m’sieu,” was the drily-spoken reply. “Antoine -de Cavannes and Henri d’Estelle have ridden out, and know me better -than to return with any mission unfulfilled. My men serve me well or do -not serve me long.” - -The next minute he was bowing over Gabrielle’s hand, which he would -have carried to his lips had she not adroitly and with unseeming -intention prevented him. - -“The sun never shines for me, mademoiselle, when I have no chance -to look into your eyes,” he murmured, with glances of bold, almost -aggressive admiration. - -Words and glance were alike detestable to Gabrielle. - -“Your lordship is pleased to flatter, but flattery does not please me,” -she returned with a smile. - -“It is no flattery, but the truth,” he protested, his hand on his -heart. “Your beauty is the fairest thing the earth holds for me.” - -“The good opinion of the husband of my dear friend, the Duchess de -Rochelle, must of course be ever welcome, but I beg you to burden it -with less wealth of language.” - -At the reference to his wife the Duke frowned, as he took a seat near -her. - -“We see too little of you, mademoiselle,” he said next, “and rumour -says you are often to be found in many of the humble houses in Morvaix.” - -“Alas! my lord, there is much distress and poverty among the people, -and Holy Church requires that those who can should minister to them.” - -“Holy Church should do the work more thoroughly. I hold not with this -constant tending and pampering of those whose chief employment seems to -be to breed discontent.” - -“They have unhappily but too much cause for discontent,” said Gabrielle -firmly. “You have considered the petition which I ventured to send to -you?” - -He smiled indulgently. - -“What do you know of these things?” - -“My own eyes have seen their distress, their want, their sufferings. -Men workless and despairing, women hopeless and languishing, children -starving and crying for the food which the parents cannot give them. -We who are rich and have plenty can but scantily measure the pain of -those in want. Even when we see it for ourselves we cannot realize all -its misery; and those of us who never see it cannot even believe in its -existence.” - -“Would you have me don a monk’s garb, then, and turn bread carrier to a -set of worthless wastrels?” asked the Governor half in anger, half in -sardonic humour. - -“Nay, my lord, it is in no such spirit I would approach you. But you -have the power to administer relief which all others lack. I would but -have you recognize the evil and apply the remedy.” - -“You make a beautiful advocate, Mistress Gabrielle, and you, if anyone, -can work your will with me. I would gladly see these things with your -eyes--to please you,” he said with a meaning glance. - -“I am but of small account, and to please me is a very little thing, -and at best a poor motive for doing right.” - -“It would be _my_ only motive, poor or rich. But I fear you understand -the art of government but ill. We must have money to administer the -town. We must have troops, and troops must be paid and fed, fair -advocate.” - -“Why? Is force in the hand of the ruler a surer foundation of rule -than content and prosperity among the ruled?” - -“The world cannot wag without soldiers, mademoiselle, and Morvaix can -only be ruled by force.” - -“Must a populace be starved that the soldiers may be fat? If I seem to -speak boldly, it is because I feel deeply. And if I offend, I crave -your pardon, monsieur.” - -“Nothing you could say or do could ever offend me, Mademoiselle -Gabrielle. With you I am as clay in the hands of the potter.” - -“Nay, if you put it merely on grounds personal to myself, I can urge -nothing,” said Gabrielle, sadly and reluctantly. - -“Yet they are the only grounds that will prevail with me,” he answered. -“The lot of these people is much to you, you say; then you would of a -surety make sacrifices to help them? Is it not so?” - -“I would do anything in my power,” she said warmly. - -“That remains to be proved,” he retorted, smiling as he looked -searchingly at her. “Perhaps I may take that as a challenge and put you -to a test. Your petition here”--he drew it out and opened it. “You urge -me to recall this last ordinance of mine and take off the new imposts -on food.” - -“The people will starve if you do not, monsieur.” - -“Well, let them starve, then. I must have money, and money can only be -raised by such means. But if I were to grant you this favour, make this -sacrifice for you, what sacrifice would you make in your turn, what -favour would you grant me?” - -His eyes were glowing as he turned them upon her while waiting for her -reply. - -“I do not understand your lordship,” said Gabrielle, meeting his glance -with her calm innocent gaze. - -“Or is it that you will not?” he asked insolently. “Supposing I agree -that your influence shall prevail with me and that in the government -of Morvaix you and I shall act together: you inspiring with your lofty -motives, I executing with the powers at my command. If we try it for a -year, two years, three years--any time you like to fix--what would be -my reward?” - -“The rich gratitude of a contented people, the respect of every man in -Morvaix; hope in place of despair, prosperity instead of want, love -where fear now lurks.” - -“Pshaw! I do not seek the love of such canaille, a mouthing mob as -ready to shout ‘Crucify’ as ‘Hosanna!’ What reward would you yourself -grant?” - -“I should for ever bless and admire you.” - -“For ever is a long, indefinite time, and blessings and admiration may -be but cold emotions. What would you _do_?” and he once more fixed his -bold eyes upon her face. - -“Again I say I do not understand what your lordship would have me say.” - -He paused in thought and then laughed abruptly, almost grimly. - -“It is enough,” he exclaimed, with a wave of the hand. “The thought -pleases me, for I would gladly please you; believe that I will grant -your petition----” - -“Oh, I thank you--” she burst in, when he checked her. - -“Wait. I will grant it if you will fall in with my plan, will lend me -your aid in the perilous task of government; will work with me and -inspire me with your sweet counsel; and if you will consider what -favour you will grant me in return. I will have my answer in a week -from now, and until then we speak no more of this. Now I have to offer -you my congratulations upon your approaching marriage, in which I take -deep interest.” - -He rose shortly afterwards, and when Gabrielle held her hand to him he -carried it to his lips. - -“Remember,” he said, retaining her hand and looking up, his face quite -close to hers. “Remember, we have made a compact, and you must make the -offer worthy of my acceptance--or it may mean fresh and heavier imposts -for your favourites in place of lighter ones,” and with that smiling, -half-jesting menace he went away, calling the Baron de Proballe to -attend him. - -Gabrielle stood gazing after him sorely bewildered by what had passed, -distracted by doubts and striving earnestly to fathom the meaning of -the question he had pressed with such insistence. - -When he had gone she went to an inner room, accompanied by Lucette who -had been present at the interview but out of earshot, and had followed -the strange proceedings, watching the Duke intently and reading there -something of the purpose which was hidden from Gabrielle’s unsuspecting -nature. - -Lucette was skilled in reading love in the eyes of men, and with -quaking heart and fearsome curiosity she waited now to hear what words -the Duke had spoken to Gabrielle to inspire the looks which she had -seen him cast upon her. And when she heard them, Lucette felt her -cheeks alternately flame with rage and chill with deadly fear for -Gabrielle’s sake. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE TIGER’S CLAWS - - -Lucette had had her own troubles as well. Never before had such a -mischance occurred as that of the previous evening in the pine-walk; -and the fact that she was merely tricking Dauban in order to wheedle -the truth out of him had not helped her with her lover in the least. - -The thrashing administered to Dauban had relieved some of Denys’ wrath; -but the hard blows for him had been followed by some equally hard -words for Lucette, with many hot and bitter reproaches: none the less -stinging because for once undeserved. And she had not been able to make -peace with him. - -Worst of all, he had ridden away that morning without so much as a word -to her; and she was angry at his obduracy and wounded by his neglect, -and still more angry with herself for caring so much. - -Gabrielle, quick to notice the troubles of those about her, had seen -Lucette’s woe-begone, doleful looks and questioned her before the -Duke’s visit; but now for the moment she was wholly engrossed by the -perplexity in which that visit had left her. - -“What can he want of me, Lucette?” she asked again and again, until -Lucette had a suggestion to make, born of her own belief of the Duke’s -purpose and intended as a warning for Gabrielle. - -“Why not take counsel of the Duchess? She is a true friend of yours, -Gabrielle, and a good woman.” - -“It is a good thought. I will go to her to-day. I would give half my -wealth to do what he proposes--to have a voice even for no more than a -few short years in governing the people. I could do so much good.” - -“Would he keep his word, think you? I do not trust him. Truth and -honour are not counted among his parts.” - -“You are suspicious. Why?” - -“To begin with, he is a man,” and Lucette nodded her head and stamped -her foot petulantly. - -“Not always a quick path to your disfavour, coz,” said Gabrielle with a -smile. “Denys is a man.” - -“Denys has a head of wood,” said Lucette, lapsing into her own wrongs -for a moment. - -“Seeing the infinite uses to which we turn wood, I know not why we -always liken it to stupidity. Whatever our good Denys’ head may be, his -heart is staunch and true.” - -“We are not speaking of Denys but of the Duke, who has neither wooden -head nor staunch heart--unless it be staunch to some cruel and -treacherous purpose for his own game.” - -“I fear there is truth in your words; yet he spoke me fairly.” - -“Any man can do that,” exclaimed Lucette, with almost vicious emphasis. -“But see the Duchess herself, tell her all that passed, and ask her. A -wife should certainly know best how to interpret her husband’s words.” - -The advice was given with so much eagerness that Gabrielle turned and -looked searchingly into her friend’s eyes. - -“Have you made a guess at his purpose and withhold it from me?” She -asked so directly that Lucette winced, fearing that her own fears might -be divined. She took shelter quickly in subterfuge, and lowering her -eyes she dropped her head on Gabrielle’s shoulder and said with a deep -sigh-- - -[Illustration: “WHAT A THING OF APRIL WEATHER, IS THIS LOVE OF YOURS, -LUCETTE”] - -“Oh, Gabrielle, I am not myself; I am the most miserable girl on earth.” - -“What a thing of April weather is this love of yours! Smiles and tears, -sunshine and drifting clouds; ever changing and plaguing, as it seems -to me, coz.” - -“You will know some day, Gabrielle.” - -“I could hope not, indeed. It seems to me the world has sterner work -for some of us women than to be plaguing our wits to please a man or -pleasing ourselves by plaguing him. I would gladly give up all if I -could help my people in Morvaix here. Little did the Duke think how -nearly his offer touched me.” - -“Did you think so sternly yesterday, Gabrielle, after that chance -encounter in the market place?” - -“If my thoughts wandered from my duty for an hour, a night’s reflection -has corrected them,” answered Gabrielle slowly. - -“The night had nothing but bitterness for me,” cried Lucette dismally. -“And to-day Denys has ridden away without a word.” - -“You should not provoke his anger against you so lightly.” - -“There was no cause for it. He would be jealous of another man’s -shadow,” said Lucette with a pout; and then with a quick change of -mood, she cried: “Oh, how selfish I am; but how am I to tell you?” - -“To tell me what?” - -“I don’t know what name to give it, or how to speak of it. I was -talking with Master Dauban, your uncle’s secretary----” - -“So that was the cause of Denys’ anger! Lucette, Lucette!” - -“I hate him; he is a loathsome creature.” - -“Then why talk to him?” - -“He made me talk to him by what he said.” - -“Now of a truth you puzzle me.” - -“It is true. He spoke of some danger threatening Malincourt and you, -and I did but try to get it from him. That was all.” - -“You should not listen to tittle-tattle, coz.” - -“He spoke of your betrothal to this M. de Cobalt--that there was -some sinister meaning in it; that M. de Cobalt was no true man but a -villain; and that others greater than he were concerned to do you harm -through him. What could I do but listen and seek the truth?” - -“You could have bid him hold his tongue for a mischief-making meddler -in concerns that are none of his. Tell me no more of it, Lucette.” - -“But he swore it was true, and that----” - -“Peace, child; I will hear no more.” - -“Gabrielle, you must,” cried Lucette, looking up. “It is true, and you -must find out what it means.” - -“Shall I give my hand to a man not trusting him?” - -“Can you marry him knowing he is not true?” - -“Lucette, you will make me lose patience. Would you have me deign to -fret myself over the worrying of an idle gossip-monger?” - -“Oh, it is terrible.” - -“You are not yourself, child, and are frightened because you have -angered Denys more deeply than usual. Come, let us go out into the -bright sunshine and shake off these fretting fancies. You are always -the slave of passing moods, Lucette,” she said, as they crossed the -terrace and passed down the broad steps into the garden. “But out here -in the sunshine you can most easily recover your spirits.” - -“I am plagued with a fear of--I know not what,” answered Lucette, -sighing dismally. “I wonder where Denys has gone.” - -“He will come back, and as you are always telling me, all will come -right, again.” She smiled but the smile ended in something like a sigh. - -She was indeed sorely perplexed by the course matters were taking, and -although she would not acknowledge it, Lucette’s recital of Dauban’s -warning had moved her considerably. - -It fitted closely with her own feelings in regard to giving herself -to a man she had never seen. Her pride of place and family had alone -induced her to think of accepting the husband whom her mother had -chosen for her; but it was not in human nature to acquiesce without -murmurs and qualms and doubts and hesitation. - -Moreover, the scene in the market place on the previous day had -disturbed her profoundly, despite her stout assertion that the night’s -reflection had restored her. Her couch had been the ground of a fierce -battle between certain wild new-springing emotions and the set and -sober thoughts of duty; and the fight had raged through the whole of a -sleepless night. - -In vain she had told herself over and over again that the stranger -cavalier was nothing to her and could be nothing; that it was treachery -to her dead mother even to let a thought of him force itself upon her; -that it was unworthy, unmaidenly, and cowardly to be moved by the -remembrance that a man had looked kindly into her eyes and that she had -faltered before his glance; and this at the very moment when he to whom -she was betrothed was coming to her. - -She upbraided herself bitterly for her weakness, and rising from her -couch had passed an hour or more on her knees in fervent prayer for -strength to overcome the temptation which she found so alluring, and -for power to subdue these new feelings as subtly sweet as they were -strange and exciting. - -Her heart would not be denied, however, and despite her most resolute -efforts the recollection of the strong handsome face, with the clear -steadfast blue eyes would force itself back upon her again and again -and yet again, despite her most earnest efforts. - -In the morning when her uncle told her that he had heard of the -stranger’s presence at Beaucamp and had despatched Denys in search of -him, she was conscious that her heart fluttered almost wildly for the -moment, and she had been compelled to turn her face away lest some of -the emotion might make itself evident there. - -“He must not think us thankless, uncle,” she had replied, calmly enough -in tone; but in her heart she was driven to hope he would not be found -and that never would she have to undergo the ordeal of meeting him face -to face. What might then happen she did not dare to think. - -But all this emotion she had hidden from even the sharp eyes of her -companion, so that, although for her own secret reasons she was as -eagerly impatient as Lucette herself for Denys’ return, her secret was -locked away under an outward demeanour as calm and self-possessed as -usual. - -Twice she sent to inquire if he had come; pretending, even while -despising herself for the pretence, that it was for Lucette’s sake; and -when noon came and passed and he had not returned, she masked her own -disappointment under a concern for Lucette. - -But he did return at length, despite the Duke’s plans against him. -Unconscious of the danger in which he rode he had by a mere chance -change of direction evaded the two men sent to waylay him, and they had -only ascertained the fact in time to admit of their following him to -Malincourt in hot haste and mortal fear of the Governor’s anger. - -They had wandered into a distant part of the grounds when Gabrielle -caught sight of him pricking fast toward the maison, and she was at -great pains to conceal the start she gave on seeing he was alone. -She told herself that she was glad he brought no one with him; but -a little stinging stab of disappointment deep down in her heart and -an eager, hungry desire to learn the news he brought, told a very -different story. - -Then Lucette caught sight of him. - -“Look, Gabrielle, look. There rides Denys,” she cried excitedly. - -“Where?” asked Gabrielle in a calm tone, feeling like a wicked -hypocrite for her small pretence. - -“There, there. I hope he will not see us,” exclaimed Lucette, pointing -in his direction and making herself as conspicuous as possible. - -“You are showing yourself plainly, Lucette.” - -“Then he will know where not to come, if he is not in a better temper -than this morning.” - -Denys had seen Lucette. Gabrielle saw him turn and look toward them and -then ride on toward the house without making a sign. - -“He might have waved a hand,” said Lucette, pouting and shrugging her -shoulders. “But I will punish him. Let us go away from here.” - -“But just now you implied that he would not come here.” - -“I will not forgive him easily if he does,” said Lucette, with a shake -of the head and a little stamp of the foot. - -“I will leave you to meet him, coz; and take my advice, cease to play -this foolish game with him.” - -“There are two other cavaliers riding this way,” said Lucette suddenly, -“and spurring hard in urgent haste, it would seem.” - -Had they not been so intent in watching these and speaking of Denys, -they would have seen yet another cavalier who stepped for a moment from -a belt of trees, looked eagerly in their direction, and then hurriedly -hid himself. - -Gabrielle, quite unconscious of this, continued to urge Lucette to -wait alone for Denys and seek to make her peace with him. But Lucette -was obstinate; and when at length she caught sight of Denys in the -distance, dust-stained with his long ride, walking in their direction, -she drew Gabrielle hurriedly behind a clump of trees into hiding. - -“We will see what he does,” she whispered excitedly. “I shall know by -his face what mood he is in.” - -When Denys reached the spot where they had been he paused and looked -about him. - -“It was here I saw her, I’ll swear,” he said aloud to himself. “I -marked that old chestnut tree,” and he glanced at it. “Which way can -she have gone? Lucette,” he called in a loud voice. “Lucette.” As he -looked about him he backed close to the low trees behind which the two -girls stood. “She can’t have wandered far. Lucette--Lucette,” he called -again, and waited for his voice to come echoing back. - -Then Lucette, whose face had brightened at hearing him call for her, -plucked a rose from her bosom and tossed it so that it fell upon him in -its course to the ground. He picked it up and smiled. - -“A rose from an almond tree,” he said aloud. “Surely something of a -strange portent. Where are you, Lucette; little witch, that changes the -natural blooms of a tree?” - -Lucette had stepped on a low bough of a tree and now looked through the -bushes. - -“I have dropped my rose, m’sieu. May I trouble you? Ah, M. Denys, is it -you?” with a start of pretended surprise. - -“Lucette,” he said passionately. - -“Monsieur!” This distantly. - -“Come, Lucette. Let the rose make our peace. I have been thinking of -you through all my long ride.” - -She came slowly toward him, parting the bushes and playing at -indifference. - -“It is my rose, if you please, m’sieu.” - -“But you meant it for me,” and he kissed it and then tried to take her -hands. But she drew back. - -“Do we know each other, m’sieu?” - -His answer was a smile and an attempt to take her in his arms. But she -would not let him. Seeing his mood, she could not resist a chance to -tease him further. - -“Have you forgotten what you said last night? Did you not ride off -this morning without a word--a single word? Do you think I forgive so -easily, and forget?” - -“I can answer that, Denys,” said Gabrielle, stepping out now from her -place of concealment. She was anxious to end the quarrel and learn the -news he brought. “She has forgiven you and is sorry for what she did. -She has been heart-broken all the morning at your absence.” - -“Gabrielle, I----” began Lucette in protest. - -“It is true, Denys, every word. So make your peace with her. Come, -Lucette, be true to yourself.” - -“Peacemaker as usual, mademoiselle,” cried Denys, with a happy, -grateful smile. - -“Indeed, indeed, it is nothing of the sort. Denys said last night -that----” - -“Never mind what I said in my anger, Lucette; I am sorry.” - -“But it was so causeless, so unjust, so--so horrible,” and she put her -hands to her ears as if in horror at the mere recollection. - -Denys captured them then in his strong hands and held her a prisoner, -while Gabrielle turned away. - -“Let me go, Denys, let me go; how dare you!” cried Lucette, as if in -anger, and commenced to struggle, tapping her foot and averting her -head as he strove to kiss her. “Let me go I say.” - -“Not till you say all that foolish quarrel is over, and you have kissed -me.” - -“I will not. I will not. Let me go,” she cried, keeping up the pretence -of anger. - -“Kiss me then.” - -“I will not. How dare you force me like this?” - -And they were struggling in this way when a wholly unexpected and -unwelcome interruption came. - -“How dare you treat a girl like that?” demanded a man’s voice; and -Antoine de Cavannes, followed by Henri d’Estelle, who had dogged Denys’ -footsteps, rushed up and laid violent hands on his shoulder. “Oh, it’s -you, Lucette,” continued Antoine, in anger and surprise. “Why didn’t -you call me?” - -Denys frowned darkly. He released Lucette, who fell back a step or two -in disconcerted amazement. - -“This is no concern of yours, gentlemen,” said Denys. - -“Indeed, but it is. No cowardly cur shall maltreat a girl in our -presence, eh, d’Estelle?” The two men exchanged meaning glances. - -“Be careful of your words, m’sieu, if you please,” said Denys, his hand -going involuntarily to his sword-belt. - -“Careful with a blackguardly girl-beater like you. Be off about your -business and leave mademoiselle with me.” - -“By God!” cried Denys under his breath. “You shall eat those words, or -I am no man.” - -“Out on you for a braggart,” said Antoine, while his companion gave -Denys a violent thrust. - -“Be off with you, I say,” he exclaimed roughly. - -In a moment Denys’ sword was out of its scabbard. - -“No, no, Denys, you must not,” cried Lucette, now in dire consternation -at the turn matters had taken. - -“You’ve often told me of this fellow’s blackguard ways,” said Antoine. -“It’s time he had a lesson how to behave.” - -“Gabrielle, Gabrielle,” cried Lucette, catching sight of her. “Come -here. Come here.” - -“Another petticoat for the coward to skulk behind,” said d’Estelle, -with a coarse laugh. - -“Gentlemen, you have made a great mistake,” cried Gabrielle, hastening -forward. “This is not what you think. M. St. Jean is betrothed to -Mademoiselle de Boisdegarde.” - -“It had small appearance of it just now,” said d’Estelle. - -“And I know it to be false,” declared Antoine. - -“Monsieur!” exclaimed Gabrielle, drawing herself up. - -“Mademoiselle!” answered d’Estelle, with insolent imitation of her tone. - -The words were scarcely out of d’Estelle’s mouth before Denys strode -forward and struck him a swinging left-handed blow across the mouth. - -“You dog!” he said fiercely. - -The two men drew then and were for attacking him together, but Lucette -threw herself before him. Her wits, at first dazed by the dread of -trouble to herself from the meeting of Antoine and Denys, were now -sharpened by her fear for Denys’ sake from the unequal combat, and by -a rapid intuition she jumped to the conclusion that the meeting was -designed for her lover’s hurt. - -“It shall not be. It is not fair--two to one. You cowards!” she cried, -facing the couple angrily. - -“Stand aside, Lucette,” said Denys, putting her away. “The thing -has gone too far,” and choosing a spot which he deemed most to his -advantage he put himself in an attitude of defence. “Now, messieurs, if -you will.” - -Lucette wrung her hands distractedly. - -“They will kill him. They have come to do it. I know--I know,” she -cried, until Gabrielle bade her run to the house and get help, when she -set off with the speed of fear. - -Denys was a good swordsman, and, having chosen his ground well, fought -warily against the pair, who, over-eager to finish the thing before -any help could come, hampered each other, so that d’Estelle, getting -in Antoine’s way, tripped and fell. His sword flew out of his hand and -rolled close to Gabrielle, who instantly set her foot upon it. - -The man scrambled quickly to his feet and ran to his sword. - -“It is not fair, monsieur, two to one,” said Gabrielle angrily. - -“Take your foot from my sword, mademoiselle,” he answered, a menace in -both tone and look. - -“I will not,” she answered as firmly as before. - -“Then take the consequences,” he cried fiercely, and with a thrust he -pushed her away, and snatching up his weapon, ran to the assistance of -Antoine, whom Denys was now pressing fiercely in single combat. - -“Help, help!” called Gabrielle in a loud voice. “Will no help come?” - -But help was unexpectedly at hand, for another’s eyes had seen the -dastardly attack of d’Estelle. - -The stranger who had been in the wood had witnessed the last part of -the quarrel, and when the two men commenced the attack upon Denys, he -had started at a rapid run toward the scene. - -A loud angry shout now proclaimed his arrival. - -“You villain, to strike a woman. Two swords to one, gentlemen! This is -murder, not fighting. Have a care, monsieur; that rascal is getting -behind your back. Ah, a foul, treacherous stroke,” he exclaimed next, -as d’Estelle, having crept up behind Denys, ran his blade into his back. - -As Denys fell, the stranger gave another loud cry and leapt forward. -Antoine was about to deliver another thrust while Denys lay on the -ground, when his sword was parried by that of the newcomer. - -“To me, messieurs, to me,” and the two men found themselves the objects -of a rapid and vehement attack by a swordsman vastly more skilful -than themselves. In a minute d’Estelle was wounded with a slash on -the sword-arm, and facing Antoine, the cavalier cried in a voice of -thunder: “Now, you assassin, it is your turn.” - -But Antoine, deserted by his comrade, who ran off as soon as he was -wounded, had no heart to face the blade which played round him, -threatening death at every flashing turn, gave ground and with a cry of -terror, broke away and fled as fast as his legs would carry him. - -His antagonist was following him, when there came a cry from Gabrielle. - -“Monsieur--monsieur!” - -He stopped at the words, turned, bared his head and bowed. - -“Your pardon, mademoiselle. In my haste to punish a treacherous coward -I was forgetting you were alone.” - -“Monsieur,” said Gabrielle, now lowering her eyes in blushing confusion. - -It was the cavalier who had rescued her the previous day in the market -place; and the rush of thoughts held her tongue-tied in embarrassment. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -“I AM KNOWN AS GERARD DE COBALT.” - - -Gabrielle’s heart beat very fast in the few moments she stood trying -vainly to find words to speak, and she was conscious of little save -a whirl of strange emotions in which predominated a sort of guilty -pleasure at meeting again the stranger who had so filled her thoughts -in the last hours. - -He broke the silence. - -“I trust that scoundrel did not hurt you, mademoiselle?” he said, voice -and eyes alike full of solicitude, as she noticed in her swift flitting -upward glance when he spoke. - -“No, monsieur,” she replied, and could say no more. - -“I have set a mark on him to know him by, and he will have a reckoning -to settle. By your leave, I will see to this poor fellow’s hurt. I am -something of a surgeon. A soldier must be many things,” and with a bow -he went over to Denys and bent over him. - -This act relieved Gabrielle’s embarrassment, and fear for Denys made -her less conscious of her own confusing thoughts. After a moment’s -hesitation she knelt down on the other side of the wounded man. - -“My poor Denys,” she murmured. - -Her companion with quick deft touch found the wound, and after -examining it, staunched the blood which was flowing freely. - -“An ill sight for your eyes, mademoiselle,” he said. - -“I am a soldier’s daughter, monsieur, and accustomed to the treatment -of the sick. Is the hurt serious, think you?” - -“To the best of my judgment, no, unless there be some internal injury, -which is not likely, judging by the direction of the wound. It was a -coward’s thrust in truth, but like most coward’s work, ill done, thank -Heaven. It is mainly a flesh wound. But a surgeon should see it with as -little delay as possible.” - -“There will be help from the maison directly. I have sent for it.” - -At that moment Denys opened his eyes and seeing Gabrielle he smiled -faintly, and then frowned in surprise at her companion. - -“You are not much hurt, my brave Denys,” said Gabrielle, “and all is -well with me.” - -Denys rolled his eyes round as if in search of some one, and Gabrielle -was quick to understand. - -“Lucette has gone for help, Denys; she will be back directly. All is -well with her as with me.” He smiled again, and making an ineffectual -effort to speak, closed his eyes with a sigh of relief. - -Then footsteps and voices were heard, and Lucette, with the Baron de -Proballe and Jacques Dauban, came hurrying to the spot. Lucette threw -herself beside Denys while de Proballe eyed the stranger with searching -glances, and started slightly at the sound of his voice as he bade -Lucette be cautious not to disturb Denys. - -“There has been fighting, I hear, Gabrielle,” he said. - -“There has been murder attempted, uncle, and it would have been done -but for the intervention of this gentleman, who drove the assassins -off.” - -“We are deeply beholden to you, monsieur,” said de Proballe -courteously, “and on behalf of my niece, I thank you.” While he spake -he was searching his memory to recall where he had seen the stranger, -whose face and voice he seemed to know. - -“There is no need for thanks, monsieur,” was the reply. “I did no more -than any one would have done. But the wounded man should be removed -and a surgeon should see to his hurts. He has lost much blood.” - -“We will send for a litter. Run to the maison, Jacques, and----” - -“With your leave, and a little help in lifting him, I could carry him -if it be not too far,” interrupted the stranger. And with Dauban’s and -Lucette’s assistance, he picked Denys up and bade them show him the way. - -“You are strong, monsieur,” said de Proballe, with a smile at the ease -with which he bore the heavy burden. - -“I am a soldier, monsieur, and he who fights must needs have strong -arms. It were best if your servant there were to run on and prepare for -our coming.” - -Dauban’s face scowled at the word servant. - -“Run on, Jacques, and see to this,” said de Proballe, adding: “He is my -secretary, monsieur, not my servant.” - -Dauban hastened on then, and Gabrielle and her uncle walked in front, -Lucette keeping by Denys. - -“It is the cavalier who came to my assistance in the market place -yesterday, uncle,” said Gabrielle. - -“Who is he? I am much mistaken if I have not seen him somewhere -before,” was the reply. - -“I have not inquired his name.” - -“He belongs not to Morvaix, I think, and seems, as you said, a man of -some distinction. I will ask his name and station.” - -“Had we not better wait until we reach the maison? Our poor Denys is a -heavy burden even for his stalwart arms, and to cause him to talk just -now might prove burdensome to him.” - -“You are always solicitous, Gabrielle,” replied her uncle, with a smile -and a shrewd glance. “I will leave it as you say.” - -Meanwhile Dauban had hurried on a prey to mingled feelings, in which -desire to appear anxious on Denys’ behalf and so hide his share in the -matter was paramount. He sent one servant speeding on horseback for -a surgeon and brought out others with a litter, and met the little -procession as they were nearing the terrace. - -Denys was laid carefully and gently on the litter and borne up the -broad steps into the house, Lucette walking by his side and holding his -hand. - -The other three remained at the foot of the steps, the stranger leaning -for a space against one of the pediments of the marble balustrade to -recover his breath. - -“We shall be glad to know, monsieur, to whom we are indebted for this -most timely service as well as for that rendered yesterday to my niece -in the market place,” said de Proballe. “It seems to me we have met -before; but I am getting an old man, and my memory is apt to fail me at -times.” - -The question appeared to be momentarily embarrassing and, to cover the -pause, the stranger breathed heavily and made a gesture of fatigue. - -“You will come in and rest, monsieur,” said Gabrielle, noticing this. - -But the hesitation passed, and glancing first at Gabrielle with a smile -of thanks for her thoughtfulness, he turned to de Proballe and said -firmly-- - -“I am glad to have been of service to mademoiselle, monsieur. I am -known as Gerard de Cobalt.” - -“Gerard de Cobalt!” both exclaimed in a breath; de Proballe adding “Our -Gerard. Then of a truth are you welcome indeed to Malincourt.” - -“To Malincourt!” exclaimed Gerard, amazed at the effect of the name -he had given. He knew of course where he was and who they were who -spoke to him; but why they should welcome him in this way passed his -understanding. And when he turned from de Proballe to Gabrielle and saw -that her cheeks were aglow with blushes and her eyes bright and dancing -with gladness, his bewilderment was all the greater. - -“’Tis the work of Providence, surely,” she said, holding her hand to -him. He took it and pressed his lips to it. - -“Aye, ’tis Providence,” echoed de Proballe. “Now I see why you were no -stranger to me. ’Tis the boy speaking through the man, Gerard, and a -right gallant man too.” - -“The boy?” asked Gerard, not understanding. - -“Of course. You were but a slip of a lad when we last met, with little -promise of being such a stalwart fellow. But I will go and see to poor -Denys. You two will not be sorry to be alone and learn something each -of the other,” and with a sharp inscrutable glance at Gerard, he passed -up the steps and into the house. - -Gerard felt profoundly ill at ease. It was clear that some egregious -mistake had been made concerning him, and that he had been mistaken -for some other Gerard whose real name was that which he had assumed at -random for the purposes of his sojourn in Morvaix. - -To avow himself Gerard de Bourbon, while his work was still scarcely -begun, was impracticable. It might ruin everything indeed; for de -Proballe would instantly acquaint the Duke de Rochelle; yet to deceive -the lovely girl whose face had been in his thoughts from the moment he -had first seen her was repugnant to every sense of right and instinct -of honour. - -There was another consideration. The Baron de Proballe was represented -as Gabrielle’s uncle; and knowing, as Gerard did, the man’s real -character and infinite capacity for ill-doing, fears for Gabrielle -herself impelled him to maintain his assumed character until he had at -least satisfied himself that de Proballe had no evil intent toward her. - -He could not decide what to do for a moment, and his confusion and -hesitation were apparent to Gabrielle, who set them down, however, to -very different causes. - -There was an alcove with a seat near the corner of the balustrade, and -sinking upon it with a sigh, Gabrielle exclaimed-- - -“Thank God you have come, cousin, and thank God more that you are what -you are, a brave and gallant gentleman.” - -“Cousin?” echoed Gerard, catching the word. - -“Cousin, of course; what else?” and then as if perceiving some double -meaning in her last words, she blushed vividly. - -“I do not understand,” he murmured, and then: “That is the Baron de -Proballe?” - -“Of course, as surely as I am Gabrielle de Malincourt. My uncle and my -one good friend and adviser--up to now.” She lifted her eyes and smiled -as she emphasised the last words. - -“Your good friend and adviser!” he repeated. - -“How oddly you speak, cousin. Is it not by his counsel and urging that -you are here?” - -“That I am here?” he asked, this time with a start. - -“Perhaps you are not glad to have been brought here.” - -“Mademoiselle, I have seen you,” he answered with a bow. - -Gabrielle laughed gaily. “How formal, cousin.” - -“I am lost in wonderment. I know not what to say.” - -“It is well that you are quicker with your sword than with your tongue, -or it would have gone harder than it did with my poor Denys just now. -But perhaps I understand. You are surprised in me. I am different from -what you expected.” - -“You are the fairest woman I have ever seen.” - -She blushed again and smiled. - -“Yet you could not look more scared were I the ugliest witch. Shall I -tell you a secret? I have dreaded your coming.” - -“Pray God I may never give you cause to repent it, mademoiselle,” he -replied with an intense earnestness which drew her gaze full upon him. - -“Mademoiselle?” she repeated, after a pause, with a touch of coquetry. -“Mademoiselle--from cousin to cousin?” - -He started again uneasily, for the question put a fresh puzzle to -him--how to address her. Then he put it by and asked-- - -“Why did you dread my coming, as you say?” - -She first winced and bit her lip, and then, setting her head a little -on one side, she glanced up at him with a mischievous smile. - -“I once knew such a horrid Gerard de Cobalt; and if you had been like -him, oh----” the sentence ended in a shudder. - -“What, another Gerard de Cobalt?” he asked mystified. - -She laughed outright then, merrily and without restraint. - -“As if you did not know. How could there be any other Gerard de Cobalt -but you? You were a horrid boy, you know; really horrid; cruel, rough, -unkind just for unkindness’ sake. And you used to hate me--at least you -said so; and I was glad of it.” - -“I must have been worse than unkind--a fool, I think, mademoiselle. -Boys generally are,” he replied laughing. - -“Mademoiselle again?” - -“What should I say?” he asked, growing bolder the deeper he allowed -himself to plunge into the mystery, and getting less and less willing -to have it cleared up. - -“My name is Gabrielle,” she said half shyly, “unless you think -mademoiselle prettier.” - -“Gabrielle.” He spoke the name in a soft tender tone with such a sweet -reverence that she lowered her gaze and sighed. - -“So I was a horrid boy, was I?” he asked lightly, breaking the pause. -She looked up then all smiles. - -“Don’t you remember? But of course you didn’t think so yourself, and I -daresay thought me a little spitfire. You used to pinch me slyly and -kick me, and laugh when you hurt me. I wonder I have not the bruises to -this day. And have you forgotten that time I flew at you and boxed your -ears?” - -“I wonder I can have forgotten,” he laughed. - -“Yes, you had snared a blackbird and were pulling out its feathers, and -mad at the sight I rushed at you and struck you, and you let it go in -your surprise. I hated you for that, Gerard, I did indeed.” - -“Serve me right, too.” - -“And you called me such names.” - -“Not Gabrielle?” he interposed. - -“No, and not mademoiselle,” she retorted laughing. “But cat, and beast, -and fury, and everything, and you pulled my hair.” - -“That hair?” he asked, laughing again. “What sacrilege.” - -“Yes, this hair,” she nodded gaily. “Oh, it is no wonder that when they -told me you were coming to--well, you know why--that I was frightened -lest you should be just an older edition of that cruel little ugly -horror.” - -“Ugly, too?” - -“Yes, ugly. You were not a bit good-looking even for a boy. I should -never have guessed you were the same;” and then she put her finger to -her lip in some dismay as if to check herself. - -“I think I am glad to have disappointed you.” - -“And do you think I have changed?” she asked, with a challenge in her -eyes. - -“You are older.” - -“What, in fifteen years? How strange!” - -“Is it fifteen years since you saw that pleasant youth you have -described?” - -“Is that to put off my question? Have I disappointed you as you have -me?” - -“I had not even an idea of how beautiful you would be.” - -“Nay, if you flatter me, I shall not like it.” - -“It is no flattery--Gabrielle,” and the low earnest tone thrilled her -with delight. She thought a moment and then, looking up, said simply as -she smiled into his eyes-- - -“It is not unmaidenly, seeing why you have come to Morvaix, for me to -say what pleasure such words give me, Gerard. Oh, I think I must be the -happiest girl in all fair France to-day.” - -“Seeing why I have come?” he repeated questioningly. - -“Gerard!” The tone was one of reproach, and she looked troubled. “You -have come for--for a purpose, haven’t you?” Her eyes were on the ground -as she spoke hesitatingly. - -“Yes, and with God’s help, I will carry it through.” - -She looked up then, but the smile on her face faded quickly away as she -seemed not to read in his eyes what she sought. - -“And your purpose is--what?” she asked, in a strange tone, very -subdued, quiet and anxious. - -“Even to you I cannot tell it yet,” he answered. - -“Cannot tell it me, Gerard? But----” she broke off and repeated -wonderingly: “‘Cannot tell it me--yet?’” - -“But you shall know it at the first moment I can open my lips, and from -what I have learnt of you, I know your sympathy will be with me and it.” - -Gabrielle felt the colour leaving her cheeks. What could he mean? There -must be some hindrance to the plan of their marriage. He had said -nothing of this in his letters to her uncle--nor a word to her. - -“You have turned pale, mademoiselle. Are you ill?” he asked kindly, -seeing the change in her. - -“No, no; but I fear I don’t understand. I have been unmaidenly and -forward. But I did not know. You have said nothing of this obstacle in -your letters to my uncle or to me. I thought it was settled. But I was -wrong, of course; we all have been. Yet I thought when you came with no -word--oh, cousin, was it manly or honourable of you not to tell me at -once, not to check me? Oh, I know not what to say.” - -He was as much disturbed by the change in her as he was troubled by the -sight of her distress and puzzled by her words. - -“Obstacle? What obstacle? What have I said to disturb you thus?” he -asked. “I would do anything in the world for you.” - -“You shame me, cousin.” - -“Gabrielle, on my honour, I know not what you mean?” he cried, with -whole-hearted earnestness. - -She rose then and looked at him, with a great effort to be calm. - -“As God is my judge, I would give my life to serve you,” he protested -passionately. “I repeat, I know not what you mean.” - -“What your purpose may be, I cannot guess; but matters have gone too -far for us to fence with words or feign ignorance of facts. You can -have had but the one purpose in coming to Morvaix and to Malincourt. -You have already expressed it openly in your letters. It is to further -my dead parents’ wish for our marriage.” - -He fell back a pace in his intense wonderment, and an exclamation of -astonishment rushed to his lips only to be checked with a supreme -effort. But she saw the look and noted the gesture, and her pride took -instant offence. - -“I will leave you, monsieur; perhaps you will explain this obstacle to -my uncle with more candour than you have deemed necessary to show to -me.” - -He conquered his surprise, and the wounded pride in her eyes and voice -roused him. To him she was more than aught else in the world, and -instantly he took the resolve to sweep away the misunderstanding by -explaining all--his purpose in Morvaix, and that he was not the man she -believed. He could not let her go in anger, let the cost be what it -would. - -“One moment. As I live, there is no obstacle on my side to--to our -marriage. That I swear. But I will explain all.” - -She paused and turned, her foot already on the steps to leave him; and -his heart leapt to see the light that his words brought back to her -eyes. - -“You have tried me sorely, cousin. I----” she faltered and smiled and -then leant for support against the balustrade. - -“God knows I would not cause you even a moment’s uneasy thought,” he -said earnestly. “I have done wrong, I know, but the temptation was a -sweet one. I had no thought to deceive you when I came----” - -He got no farther, for at that moment de Proballe stepped from -the house and crossed the terrace to them, saying cheerily as he -approached-- - -“Well, are you getting to know one another, eh?” - -“What I have to say is for your ears alone. I pray your patience and -will give you ample reasons,” said Gerard in a quick undertone; adding -aloud: “Yes, monsieur, we are close to a complete understanding. Is it -not so, cousin?” - -“I hope so,” she answered, mystified still, but smiling. - -“Poor Denys is better, but very weak, and is asking for you.” - -“With your leave I will go to him,” she said to Gerard. - -“I sent her off that we may have a talk and an understanding, too,” -said de Proballe, when Gabrielle had gone into the house. “Let us walk -here in the open where no ears can catch our words.” - -He led the way to where a fountain stood among the flower beds -surrounded by a broad path, and Gerard accompanied him, in bewildered -curiosity as to what this new development was to be. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -AT MALINCOURT - - -Distressed as Gerard had been by the necessity to deceive Gabrielle, -into which he had allowed himself to be drawn, he had no such qualms -in regard to her uncle. He was convinced that, as Pascal had said, if -there was evil work on foot, de Proballe would be concerned in it. - -That such a man should be found established at Malincourt, posing -as the true friend of an innocent girl, and regarded by her as an -honourable and confidential adviser, was in itself enough to rouse -suspicion. - -He decided at once, therefore, to fall in with de Proballe’s mood, -whatever it might be, and to lead him to talk as freely as he would. - -“Why did you not come straight to Malincourt, Gerard, or at any rate -let me know of your presence in Morvaix, that I might have word with -you?” - -“If I was doubtful of my reception by Gabrielle, can you blame me?” -asked Gerard in reply, dropping readily into his assumed character. - -“But I had told you exactly how matters were with her.” - -“But I had not seen her with my own eyes.” - -“Psh, a sentimental fool’s reason,” exclaimed de Proballe, -contemptuously. - -“Yet, I am no sentimental fool, monsieur.” - -“If you were no worse, you would be lucky. Your kinsman, Raouf, in -Paris, gave me your history.” - -“He may have lied,” answered Gerard, calmly, suppressing a start at -the mention of the name and the coincidence it suggested. “But let it -pass. What I have done, I have done. If it comes to that, Raouf gave me -no saintly account of you.” - -“Paris is not Morvaix, and what I do there or here is no concern of -yours or his,” was the curt, half angry reply. - -Gerard laughed. “As I said, Raouf may have lied. It is of no account; -but I cannot see that in choosing my own method I have done so ill.” - -De Proballe smiled unpleasantly. - -“You played boldly. I did not know you had such courage--except in your -cups. Yes, you have made a good impression on Gabrielle; but have none -the less done ill.” - -“In what way?” - -“In saving that fool to-day. You were too hasty. You should have let -one of the swords find his heart, and then have played the rescuer of -Gabrielle. The men wouldn’t have touched you.” - -“Why not?” asked Gerard quickly. “They tried.” - -“Because you stood between them and Denys.” - -“Read me the riddle.” - -“Denys has found out something of the real purpose of this marriage; -how much I know not; and his silence is necessary to our success. The -Duke will not thank you.” - -“The Duke!” exclaimed Gerard hastily, bewildered by this unexpected -reference to the Governor in connection with the marriage. A sudden -sharp glance from his companion warned him that he had blundered, so he -forced a laugh, and added: “The Duke should label his men if he does -not want them hurt.” - -“Are you a fool?” retorted de Proballe, sharply. “Had you come straight -to me, this would have been avoided. I tell you the man is dangerous. -Is not that enough?” - -“No; it depends on how much he knows.” - -“He knows that you are here to marry Gabrielle and that in doing so you -are merely playing catspaw; and he suspects the real purpose, that it -is to cover the Duke’s plan in regard to her.” - -“Then he suspects what an infernal villain Gerard de Cobalt must be!” - -“He is not alone in that suspicion,” was de Proballe’s sneering comment. - -“True. I think I’m beginning to suspect it myself,” answered Gerard -drily. - -“If you were anything else, you’d be little use to us; so let us have -no cant here.” - -“I am here to play my part,” said Gerard smoothly, repressing his anger. - -“It is a part many a better man would gladly play. You will have -wealth, a beautiful wife, a high position here, and a pardon for that -Cambrai affair. Surely all that a man could wish.” He regarded Gerard -with a sly covert smile as he reeled off these advantages. - -Gerard’s face was as impassive as that of a statue, while his thoughts -were busy seeking the real meaning beneath the words. He paused a -moment, and then answered in a level tone-- - -“True, but you omit the price I have to pay.” - -“Price,” cried de Proballe, with another sneer. “Price! Honour rather, -you mean. The Duke de Rochelle is all but of the Royal blood; and -better men than you will ever be have been glad to pay no more for -their careers than mere marital complaisance.” - -“By God!” exclaimed Gerard, his voice vibrating with feeling as he -realized now the full infamy of the plot and the degradation of the -part cast for him; then catching de Proballe’s eyes fixed on him, he -forced down his rage, and said coolly: “You are right, monsieur; Gerard -de Cobalt cannot afford to be particular. He has that pardon to gain.” - -“Now perhaps you understand the harm you did in saving that meddler’s -life.” - -“I see now that if I had had all these thoughts in my mind I would have -acted differently.” - -“You will see the Duke to-day, and will find him in a gracious mood.” - -“It is not the reputation he bears. They call him the Tiger, I hear.” - -“His enemies do; those who seek to thwart him. He saw Gabrielle to-day, -and what passed between them pleased him greatly. She urged him to -relax the rigour of his rule here; and he half consented. His plan is -that he and she shall take frequent counsel together for the government -of the people--when she is your wife. He will thus see much of her in -many a private conference, and the people will have cause to bless her -name for her good influence. Some of the blessings may come your way, -Gerard, for the good change will date from the time of your marriage. -You will be a popular man in Morvaix.” He ended with another of his dry -cynical laughs, and looked for his companion to join in. - -But Gerard was too deeply moved even to simulate laughter. - -“There is yet one thing that perplexes me--has perplexed me from the -first. What is your part in this? Raouf did not paint you exactly as a -type of self-denial, willing to stand aloof when others were reaping -rich gains.” - -“My plans, like my reasons, are my own,” returned de Proballe, with a -frown. “You shall know them all in time.” - -“As you please. It is enough for me to know that you have them. And I -have enough on my side to keep my wits busy.” - -“Had you but let the Governor’s men work their way with that St. Jean -all would have been well; but I scent danger there. Some other means -of silencing him must be found. For your part you have but to push -your suit with Gabrielle with all speed, and hasten on the marriage. -In that, the success you have gained to-day will help you. Your act -yesterday in the market place almost turned her head; at any rate, it -went to her heart. But now, tell me of yourself, something of the story -of your life. She will surely question you, and you must have a gallant -tale to tell.” - -“My past, like your reasons, is my own. Should she question me I shall -know how to answer.” - -“From whence came you here, and how?” - -“That I am here may suffice. I have come to do my task; and believe me -I shall not fail to satisfy even the Duke himself of my thoroughness.” - -“You can be close-lipped, it seems,” said de Proballe, irritably. - -“No bad quality surely, when such work as mine has to be done.” - -“If you will not talk then, let us go into the house. You will of -course bide at Malincourt. Have you a servant and apparel suited to -your new position? You are but indifferently clad now.” - -“I am but a courier of fortune; but I have a servant, and can provide -for all the needs of even my high position at Malincourt.” - -“You are a strange fellow, Gerard, and altogether unlike what your -letters had led me to expect. But take your own way.” - -“I have done that always, and shall not change even in Malincourt. I -have a matter that calls me to the town, and will return to the maison -within an hour or so, by your leave,” and without another word he -turned and walked away, leaving de Proballe staring after him in high -dudgeon at his unexpected independence. - -Gerard plunged along at a quick pace, his brows pent and frowning as -he thought over the extraordinary situation in which he found himself -involved. He made his decision with characteristic promptitude. -He would return to Malincourt to see the thing through, to watch -over Gabrielle, and to play out the part for which he had been thus -unexpectedly cast. - -There was no thought now of undeceiving her as to his real character. -That was now out of the question, impossible, for a time at least, for -her own sake no less than for his own. - -The explanation need not be long delayed. Once let him get the proofs -of the Governor’s connivance at the scheme--and these he hoped to get -in the interview which de Proballe said was to take place at once--and -he would strike the power from the Governor’s hands by virtue of the -authority which his father, the Duke of Bourbon, as Suzerain of the -province, had conferred upon him. - -But the proofs must be very clear. The times were such that too close -a scrutiny was not likely to be made into the private lives of those -holding authority. The man who ruled his province in such a way as to -relieve those above him of trouble, and who was always to be relied on -to find troops should they be needed, could make sure of wide tolerance -in any matters of his private life. - -Moreover, the Duke de Rochelle was connected with the blood royal; he -could count therefore upon high patronage and help; and there were in -this connection many reasons why Gerard must walk warily. There had -been trouble between the House of Bourbon and the throne; and the King -and his advisers would welcome only too gladly any pretext to step in -and wrest this last lingering remnant of Bourbon suzerainty from the -once all-powerful family. - -Gerard felt all the responsibility that rested on him; and it was in -this respect that de Proballe’s last words were of such importance. -The Governor was betraying himself by mixing up a personal intrigue -with the work of Government. Not content with having misgoverned the -people and overtaxed them to the verge of revolt--offences which might -have been overlooked in view of the powerful force of soldiery he had -raised and trained--he was now contemplating a complete reversal of -policy in order to please Gabrielle for his own evil personal ends. - -Here was Gerard’s chance, and he was quick to see it and to determine -to use it. He would continue the acted lie of his false character until -he had secured from the Governor himself an admission of his real -purpose, or had found other incontestable proof of it--de Proballe’s -word being less than valueless; and the moment he was satisfied he -would strike. - -To this end he sought out the young officer, Pascal, a close intimate -friend, told him much of what he had learned, and prevailed on him -to doff the monk’s cowl and assume the character of his servant at -Malincourt during the few hours or days he might have to remain there. - -Pascal, to whom devilment in any form was welcome enough, entered -readily into the spirit of the adventure, and agreed instantly. -Together they obtained such apparel as was necessary, and returned to -Malincourt together. - -“I hope the old rat, de Proballe, won’t recognize me,” said Pascal. -“I once won some three hundred crowns from him, and they say he never -forgets a man who has beaten him with the dice box.” - -“I am full of anxiety over this, Pascal; for Heaven’s sake avoid every -chance of a mishap,” replied Gerard earnestly. - -“I’ll keep out of his way. Have no fear for me. Lest he should know my -voice, I’ll play the dumb man.” - -“No, no, not that. No buffoonery, on any account.” - -“Well, then, you can say I have taken a vow of silence on account of -the past trippings of my tongue. The reason would be true enough.” - -“There is need for nothing of the kind. Keep in the background with -your eyes and ears open and your lips closed; shun the women as you -would the plague, and all will be well. Especially, shun the women.” - -The handsome young fellow laughed. - -“I’ll shun them, if they be not too pretty; but there are limits, -Gerard. I haven’t touched a pair of lips since I’ve been in the city; -although I must say a monk’s cowl gives rare opportunities. Were I not -a soldier, on my faith I think I’d be a monk.” - -Gerard was received at the maison with such ceremony as became a person -of his consequence. Gabrielle and her uncle greeted him: Gabrielle with -such smiles and gladness that Pascal ceased to wonder at his enthusiasm -for his new rôle; and de Proballe with many significant shrugs and -looks and equivocal phrases. The rest hailed him as the chosen husband -of their beloved mistress; and the story of his bravery and prowess in -the rescue of Denys having spread, they welcomed him with acclamation. - -Pascal, as their new lord’s servant, would also have been made much of; -and seeing many ruddy lips and bright eyes among the women, he would -gladly enough have responded had not Gerard’s injunctions of caution -been still strong upon him. He feigned fatigue, therefore, and asked to -be shown at once to Gerard’s apartments; and going there, he at once -fell into much deeper waters than any which could have threatened him -in any other part of the house. - -The apartments were close to the room where Denys lay with Lucette -in attendance. Denys was better; but when he had been told that his -preserver was no other than Gerard de Cobalt, he had taken the news -very strangely and had broken out into a torrent of abuse of him. Then -he had gone on to tell Lucette things which, added to what she had -heard from Jacques Dauban on the previous evening, had frightened her -profoundly. - -But this sudden violent passion so weakened Denys that a relapse -followed; and thus Lucette had been left with a half-told tale which he -had conjured her to carry to Gabrielle at once. She was at her wits’ -end what to do, and when she heard that Gerard had arrived and was to -be lodged in rooms adjoining, she found occasion to loiter about until -she encountered Pascal. - -Her pretty face and distracted looks went straight to his sympathies, -and when of her own motion she spoke to him, he soon forgot all about -Gerard’s counsel. - -“You are here with M. de Cobalt, monsieur?” she said. - -“Certainly, mademoiselle, as certainly as that you are here with some -trouble of another kind than a captious master. Although trouble may be -a master of any of us for that matter.” - -Lucette was watching him, and found him good to look upon. Handsome, -frank-faced and clear-eyed, with the stamp of truth. - -“You, too, are a soldier, monsieur?” - -“When I am not anything else, mademoiselle. But in times like these -a man plays many parts.” She has handsome eyes, and knows how to use -them, was his thought. - -“You have been long with M. de Cobalt, no doubt?” - -“I don’t know, mademoiselle,” was his unexpected reply, given with an -engaging smile. - -He has a dangerous smile, this servant, and speaks with an air, said -Lucette to herself. - -She is going to try and pump me, was Pascal’s unspoken warning to -himself. - -“Don’t know, monsieur! How can that be?” - -“It depends upon what we reckon long; whether by lapse of time--weeks, -months, years--or by the events which have occurred. A man may know a -maiden for years until he marry her, and then find that he has never -known her at all.” - -“Ah, you are a wit.” - -“What I am I myself know not; but I know what I am not--and I am not a -stream in which people, even pretty maids, can fish with a chance of -catching much.” - -“There is another thing you are not, monsieur,” retorted Lucette, -smiling. - -“There are many. I am not my master’s diary, for others to read,” he -answered with a laugh and a shake of the head. - -“Neither are you a servant, monsieur, unless you wear your master’s -jewels on your fingers.” - -“By my shroud, but you have keen eyes as well as pretty ones; but even -sharp eyes may lead one astray. I wear this jewel by my master’s whim,” -he replied unabashed. - -“May I see it closer?” - -“Why not--’tis but a paste,” and he held it up. - -“You take great care of your hands, monsieur, for a serving soldier -man,” was her comment, so unexpected that Pascal started and laughed. - -“Do you think I do hard work?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders. - -“Your clothes, too, are new and ill-fitting--they fit you so ill, -indeed, that I would swear you have never worn the like before.” - -“Count not the misfit to me for my sin,” replied Pascal gaily. “’Tis -that of the rascal who made them. You interest me, mademoiselle; may I -ask who you are?” - -“Your voice, your manner, your tone, the very bow and air with which -you asked that question, everything about you belies the servant, -monsieur,” continued Lucette. “I am Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s -foster sister and friend, Lucette de Boisdegarde; and I am on my way to -tell her of this discovery of mine and other things. You bar my path, -monsieur,” she said with dignity, as Pascal in some dismay put himself -before her. “If you are in truth a servant, I order you to stand aside; -if you are a gentleman, I ask you.” - -“If I detain you a moment, it is only to assure you that Mdlle. -de Malincourt and yourself can have no more faithful friend and -well-wisher than myself.” - -“Your name, monsieur?” - -“Pascal de--Pascal Tourelle, at your service.” - -She was quick to see the slip, and pressed home a thrust at once. - -“On your honour?” - -“Pascal, on my honour; Tourelle, during my service with my master.” - -She smiled, partly at the evasion, but more at his manner of making it. - -“If you were not in this service of which you speak so readily, how -would you have finished that sentence? Pascal de--what?” - -“That is my unhappy secret, mademoiselle; I beg your consideration,” -and his tone suggested a melancholy trouble. - -But Lucette smiled. - -“Had you been a servant truly, your honour would not have stayed you -from deceiving me. If I do not go now to mademoiselle, will you tell me -all you know of this M. de Cobalt?” - -“I will tell you this, on my honour, and your honour will prevent your -asking more,” he answered after a moment’s consideration. “A braver -soldier, a more honourable knight, a more gallant gentleman, never trod -this earth than he in whose service you now find me.” - -She looked at him searchingly, and believed him. But this very belief -only sufficed to perplex her the more after Denys’ story. - -“One question more I must put. Do you know if he was ever at Cambrai? -Do not answer against your will, nor if you cannot speak truly on your -honour.” - -“I can answer that, frankly. I have known him many years, and can say -that until within the last few days, never. We passed through the place -in coming here.” - -“Then is the puzzle inscrutable!” exclaimed Lucette. Denys had told -her of the murder at Cambrai, the pardon for which was part of the -price to be paid to de Cobalt, and had spoken of a letter which he had -found that put the thing plainly. He had been in the act of telling her -where the paper was concealed, that she might get it and carry it to -Gabrielle, when the relapse had prevented further speech. - -“I know not what to do,” she cried, in sore perplexity and distress. -“If I trust you, others are sadly misled. And yet I believe you have -not deceived me.” - -“On my honour I have spoken no more than the truth,” said Pascal -earnestly. He was as much puzzled as Lucette herself. “If you would -deal with me frankly, and say----” - -“I cannot; I cannot,” she broke in excitedly. - -“Then may I suggest you speak to M. de Cobalt?” - -“You know not what you say. But the matter must be probed to the -bottom;” and afraid to say more she left him and hurried back to Denys’ -bedside. - -Pascal looked after her, nodded once or twice in answer to his -thoughts, and then, with a quizzical smile, muttered, as he turned back -to his room-- - -“Now is the devil about to claim some of his dues for this mad -business. I must find Gerard and tell him.” - -They had scarcely parted when the face of the spy Jacques Dauban peeped -cautiously round an angle of the wall. Seeing the way was clear he -came on with stealthy noiseless tread, chuckling slyly to himself as -he rubbed his hands together. He paused just a moment to listen at the -door through which Pascal had gone, and then passed on toward the room -where Denys lay. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE PLOT THICKENS - - -Meanwhile Gerard himself, without any help from Pascal’s misadventure, -was finding enough embarrassments to tax his wit and resourcefulness. - -De Proballe, anxious that Gerard should have the fullest opportunities -to push his suit with Gabrielle, soon made an excuse to leave them -together. He pleaded that he must send to the Governor to arrange for -the interview between him and Gerard, and left them--a move that was -not without its embarrassment to Gerard, since Gabrielle promptly took -advantage of it to carry the conversation back to the point where it -had been interrupted in the gardens. - -“You have something important to tell me, Gerard, I know. You were -about to tell me when my uncle came to us. But first, I have to make a -confession and to ask your pardon.” - -“I am no priest, I fear,” he said, meeting her smiling gaze. - -“But this is a wrong done to you. When I was thinking over all we said -to-day--and I have thought of nothing else since--I remembered to my -shame, that I had never given you even a word of thanks for your help -yesterday, and again to-day.” - -“Please say nothing of it.” - -“Oh, but you must have thought me a very miser of my gratitude. And -I am not that. Indeed, indeed, I do thank you from the bottom of my -heart,” she cried, warmly, her eyes on his face. - -“Do you think I need more reward than the knowledge that it was you -whom I could help? When I saw you yesterday, my heart leapt, and I -vowed----” - -“Well?” she asked, as he paused; and when he still hesitated, checked -by the thought that he had no right to speak thus while the truth of -his position was still unexplained, she added, with a little frown and -a very winsome smile, “you break off at most irritating points, cousin.” - -“I vowed myself to your service for good or ill,” he said deliberately. - -“Take care what you say, cousin. Did you know who I was?” - -“Not then, indeed.” - -“Then was that surely a most dangerous vow.” - -“How?” - -She laughed merrily. “Supposing it had not been Gabrielle to whom you -thus rashly vowed yourself; what would you have done?” - -“I had not thought of it. No other woman would have drawn such a vow -from me.” - -“You turn words well--so well that I could almost be afraid of your -skill. Shall we go out on the terrace? The evening air is lovely. Tell -me,” she said, as they walked, “how came you to be playing trespasser -so opportunely to-day in Malincourt. It has puzzled me.” - -“If I tell the truth, I was lurking in the wood, hoping to catch a -sight of you again.” - -“You had learnt who this lady of your vow was by that time, then?” - -“Else I had not been in Malincourt,” he answered, without thinking. - -She glanced at him quickly, her face wrinkled with this fresh puzzle. - -“Is not that a worse puzzle?” she asked. “Knowing who I was, why not -have come straight to the maison?” - -“Of course, I might have done so,” he replied. He saw the slip then -clearly enough, and tried to cover it with a laugh. “Perhaps I ought to -have come.” - -“But you did not. Why? I do not mind that you did not, but why should -you choose so strange a course?” - -“What answer can I give, save it was a whim?” - -“You would have seen me sooner had you come and would not have been -one whit less welcome; and would in truth have saved me some hours of -anxiety. Do you know that, yesterday, I sent high and low in search of -you; and only this morning my poor Denys went riding out to Beaucamp on -a veritable wild-goose chase to find you?” - -Gerard smiled. “Did you at the time know who I was?” he asked. - -“Should I have sent away from Morvaix to find you, had I known?” - -“Then you, too, were not without interest in a stranger?” - -“It is not a fair hit,” she laughed. “I would not have had even a -stranger think me an ingrate for such service.” - -“Then it was merely to thank me, you wished.” - -“Gerard!” and she let her eyes drop to the ground. - -“I should like to think that before you heard my name to-day, you----” -He commenced in great earnestness, but checked himself again. - -“Some day I will tell you,” she replied in a low tone, after a pause; -and then, in a tone as low, he asked-- - -“And what if I had been other than Gerard de Cobalt?” - -“Thank God, it was not so,” she cried, with a little shiver and a sigh. - -“Why, Gabrielle?” He had his own strong reason for pressing the -question. - -For a time she kept her head bowed and remained silent; but then -raising her eyes to him frankly and trustfully she said-- - -“I think I should like to tell you. You will not think shame of me. -I fear I could never have been Gerard de Cobalt’s wife. All night I -wrestled with the problem, and prayed fervently for strength to do -my duty, and keep the pledge made for me by my parents. But when I -knew Gerard de Cobalt would come to-day, I dreaded to meet him. Can -you not guess why?” She was all blushes and sweetness as the faltered -confession dropped from her lips. - -“You cannot think what this means to me,” he answered with passion. -“But some day you will understand.” - -“Why not now, Gerard? I have betrayed all my little secret--little, do -I say--if you but knew how great, how all in all it is to me! I have -shown you all my heart,” she whispered. - -They were leaning on the marble balustrade, gazing over the lovely -gardens which the risen moon was silvering with her glory. - -“Why not now, Gerard?” she repeated, after a long pause, with sweet, -gentle insistence. “What need of secrets between us two?” - -He longed to respond to this frank confession of her feelings by -telling her everything; and the impulse to speak was only curbed -with great effort. But prudence stayed him, and the fear of unknown -consequences which might imperil everything by forcing a disclosure to -de Proballe. - -“We will have no secrets one from the other, Gabrielle, when once this -matter in my thoughts has been cleared up,” he said, his reluctance to -refuse her plea causing him to speak with hesitation. - -“Is it the same of which you spoke to-day so strangely?” - -“The same, yes.” - -“But you were going to tell me--then.” Her pause before the word, -and emphasis in speaking it, did not escape him. But even the subtle -temptation implied in the sweet accent did not prevail. - -“Yes, I was going to tell you. If I do not, you trust me?” - -“Gerard, of course. I should trust you always. But--I am only a woman, -and--curious,” she added, with a tender smile of reproachful invitation. - -“And if I assure you it is for your own sake that I hold this back, you -will bear with me?” - -“For my sake? Now in truth you increase my perplexity, and do but -whet my appetite. How can it be for my sake? You said to-day that it -concerned the very purpose of your coming here; and when I spoke of -that purpose as I knew it--our marriage, Gerard--you started back as if -in alarm or overwhelming surprise. You pained me so that I was leaving -you in anger.” - -“The pain was greater on my side than yours, Gabrielle.” - -“And then you suggested you had been led to deceive me in some strange -way: I should not believe that, indeed; and, as if impelled by some -sudden thought, you were about to tell me everything. And then my uncle -came, and you whispered hurriedly that what you had to say was for my -ears alone. Are we not alone now?” she asked with witching pressure; -and she smiled tenderly, as she added: “You see I remember every word -you said. Indeed, I could never forget them; but I cannot understand”; -and she shook her head as if the puzzle were all beyond her solving. - -“If you but trust me, what else can matter?” he answered, at a loss how -to meet her. - -“Nothing, nothing now,” she cried joyfully, moving a little closer to -him so that her shoulder was against his. “Chide me if I seem too -persistent. I have had so much of my own way in my life that I must be -getting self-willed, I think. But don’t make the chiding too harsh, -Gerard. And do not keep me too long with this secret between us; I -think I shall grow jealous of it. And--another condition,” she laughed: -“Do not tell any one before you tell me. I could not bear that.” - -“You are even harder to resist when you yield, Gabrielle, than when you -plead, I fear.” - -“Am I? Then I will yield that I may plead. But I will wait your time. -Of course I will. It is such delight to me to find you what you are, -that all else is nothing. Besides, it is the first request you have -made to me, and I should be a churl to refuse it. I did not think of -that, and could be angry with myself for having forgotten it. I would -not hear you now, if you were to offer to tell me.” Her laugh at this -was as that of a child in its pure delight. - -“I am almost constrained to tempt you,” he said, laughing in his turn. - -“Nay, I have put my curiosity away--about that, but I have plenty left -about you and your life and all you have done to change you from that -boy Gerard whom I knew.” - -“I am very different from him, I trust. I have been a soldier since the -time I was big enough to shoulder a musket.” - -“And have fought? Tell me, tell me. Where and with whom? I love to hear -of brave deeds. I am a soldier’s daughter, you know.” - -“I have been a courier of fortune, as all younger sons must be, and -have carried arms under the Bourbons.” - -“We Malincourts, too, claim to be of the Bourbon blood; but--how do you -mean--a younger son? I had not heard you had ever a brother, Gerard.” - -“All soldiers have brothers-in-arms,” he replied, hastily, and with -some confusion. “I have had my own way to push--to prove that I was -worthy to lead.” - -“Yes, yes. And you have proved that long since, I am confident. But -tell me of the fighting. Oh, I would that I had been a man to bear my -part as a soldier!” - -“That had been hard on me, Gabrielle.” - -“True enough, too. And for that I am glad I am only a woman,” she -said, gently, nestling yet closer to him. And having thus led her on -to the safe topic of his career as a soldier, he told her many of his -experiences. She listened eagerly to his story, hanging on his words in -rare delight, until he broke off, remembering that he was to see the -Governor that night. - -“I am forgetting--I could forget all in your company. But M. de -Proballe has arranged that I see the Duke to-night. I had best seek -him.” - -“You must be careful with the Governor, Gerard.” - -“Why? I do not fear him.” - -“He is all-powerful here in Morvaix. You saw what passed in the market -place yesterday. He is a man of iron.” - -“Yet what harm can he do me?” - -“He is bad to the heart’s core. His wife is my one intimate friend in -Morvaix, an honourable, God-fearing woman, who has suffered unspeakable -sorrows at his hands in her life. She is now bed-ridden, poor soul; and -we have spoken freely together of the Duke.” - -“He is a tyrant--that I have learnt.” - -“And many worse things, I fear. I would not willingly speak ill of any -man, but to you I should speak freely. He has but too well merited -the term men give him--the Tiger of Morvaix. Could the grim walls and -torture chambers of his castle bear witness against him, fearsome -truths indeed would come to light.” - -“Tell me of them.” - -“Nay, not to-night. To-night we will not speak of Morvaix horrors; -rather let us hope that from to-night, from your coming, Gerard, better -times will dawn for the city and the unfortunate citizens. The Duke -is a hard, harsh, cruel man, who tolerates but one principle of rule: -blind implicit obedience to his will, to be enforced by any measure of -cruelty, however violent and harsh. He has ground down the people until -the yoke has become intolerable; and yet there seems no remedy. I sent -tidings privately to the Duke of Bourbon, as Suzerain of the province, -praying him to come or send aid to us before the people should be -driven to open rebellion. But no one comes, no one heeds; and we must -work out our own rescue. I have a faint hope indeed, that matters will -mend.” - -“How?” - -“I saw the Duke to-day, and urged him to relax the severity of his -rule--to take off this last cruel impost on the people’s food, for one -thing; and he half promised, making his consent contingent on some -sacrifice from me. God knows there is nothing I would not give in such -a cause. I would strip myself of all my possessions--even of Malincourt -itself, dearly as I love every stone of the old maison. But I hold the -welfare of the people dearer. He would not name the condition, however, -leaving it to me to do so. And I know not what he wishes.” - -Gerard’s face grew dark with anger as he listened, knowing full well -from de Proballe’s words what the condition was. - -“We shall together find the means, Gabrielle,” he said earnestly. “My -hand and oath on that; and my life the forfeit if I fail.” - -“You will help me in this,” she cried, joyfully and eagerly. “Oh, -Gerard, did I not say to-day how glad I was that you had come! What -great issues now depend on you. With you to help me, a strong man at -Malincourt, to oppose the castle; not violently I mean, but with -the strength of all the people’s sympathy behind us, what may we not -achieve? But when you see the Duke, be wary of him; give him no cause -present offence that we may be the stronger in the future.” - -“Does any one but you know that you sent to Bourbon for help? Your -uncle, for instance?” - -“No. I told no one; not even him. I deemed him too intimate with the -Governor. He would not wittingly betray me, I know, for he has often -spoken to me in sorrow of the Duke’s government. You like him, Gerard?” - -“I have seen but little of him; but I have indeed found him blunt in -speaking of facts,” was the cautious reply, drily spoken. - -A footstep on the terrace disturbed them. It was Pascal. - -“I was seeking you, monsieur, to know if you have any other commands -for me,” he said aloud in a respectful tone, adding in a whisper, as -they stood apart: “I must speak to you at once. There’s a devil of a -mess.” - -“Wait but a minute,” whispered Gerard; and then aloud: “I will you see -directly, good Pascal. It is my faithful fellow in some trouble about -me, Gabrielle.” - -“Then let us go in. Ah, here is Lucette,” she added, as Lucette, -looking very troubled, came out of the maison. “How is Denys, Lucette?” - -“He was better for some time, but the fever seems to have come back -upon him. The surgeon has seen him again, and given him a potion, and -he is now asleep.” - -“He should be carefully watched all night, never left for a moment,” -declared Gerard quickly, remembering de Proballe’s threatening words. -“You will see to this, mademoiselle.” - -“The surgeon says he will sleep until the morning, and will need no -more till then,” answered Lucette. - -“Let him be watched. At need I, or Pascal here, will remain by his -bedside.” - -“By your leave, monsieur, that were not well;” and Lucette spoke so -sharply that all looked at her. - -“What mean you, Lucette?” asked Gabrielle. - -“Denys has, for causes that may be plain afterward, conceived a violent -dislike toward Monsieur de Cobalt; and if he woke and found him by the -bedside, it might be very ill indeed.” - -“But I have never set eyes on him until to-day, mademoiselle.” - -“It is probably no more than a sick man’s fancy,” said Gabrielle. - -“It may be so; yet it is very strong upon him, and he talks wildly and -almost at random.” - -“I fear his wound is more serious than you deemed, Gerard,” declared -Gabrielle. - -“It is the more reason for what I have urged--that he be watched -closely and never left. His life itself may hang upon it.” - -“I will see that it is done,” agreed Gabrielle readily. - -“That what is done?” It was de Proballe who asked the question, coming -out of the house in time to catch the last words. - -“My poor Denys is very ill, it seems, uncle, and Gerard has just been -saying that he should be watched ceaselessly.” - -“Poor fellow,” he replied in a compassionate tone; and then with an -upcast glance at Gerard he asked: “And why do you think he should be -watched so closely?” - -“I have had some skill in sword-wounds, monsieur, and Mademoiselle -Lucette here says he has been talking wildly. When delirium follows -such a wound as his there is every need for care.” - -It was an adroit answer, for it satisfied de Proballe and also bore -out what he had said before. But Lucette’s eyes were very keen, and -knowing all she did, she was watching closely enough to catch de -Proballe’s glance of meaning as he answered-- - -“You are right then, Gerard. I will see to this, Gabrielle. Denys is -too good a fellow for us to run any risks with. My man, Jacques Dauban, -has had some training in surgery, and would gladly keep such a vigil.” - -Lucette bit her lip and cast down her eyes. - -“I think we need not trouble Master Dauban or cause him to lose a -night’s rest,” she said. “My maid and I can watch, monsieur.” - -“Ever kind and considerate, Lucette,” said de Proballe. “Well, we can -see to it, as Gabrielle says. And now, Gerard, I have a word for your -ear about the Governor. He cannot receive you to-night.” - -“I am sorry; but to-morrow will do for me.” - -“What is this about Denys?” asked de Proballe, eagerly, when Gabrielle -and Lucette had left them. “You should not have urged that watching. If -the man is alive to-morrow, everything may be ruined. What has he said -to Lucette there?” - -“Indeed, I neither know nor care.” - -“Are you mad?” - -“To-night, perhaps yes; sanity may come in the morning. I have been -talking long and earnestly with Gabrielle, and her purity and innocence -may have maddened me. If that be so, it is sweet madness.” - -“Psh. Spare me such cant. Would you ruin everything? We are men with -work to do, not fools to stuff our minds with folly.” - -“Nor villains to murder sick men. If harm should come to Denys I -should never forgive myself--nor you, monsieur; and I should hold you -responsible.” - -“Then you do not wish this marriage?” - -“Not if the path to it be cold-blooded murder, Monsieur de Proballe.” - -“Does it lie in your mouth to speak of murder, after Cambrai? But your -head is turned because you find your cousin has a pretty face; and if -it is not to be turned next on the headsman’s block, you will cease -this folly.” - -“So it was held to be murder at Cambrai?” - -“You try my patience beyond endurance. See to it that you have more -reason in the morning; and that you may find it, I will give you -something to ponder in the night. I have talked with the Duke to-night, -and found him with another plan half-fledged in his thoughts; and if -ever it gets full-feathered you may look to yourself.” - -“He seems a man quick at hatching schemes. I fear neither him nor them.” - -“Fool! Do you dream to oppose him? He is now half-minded to divorce his -Duchess and make Gabrielle his wife. He finds that he stands higher in -the favour of the Cardinal Archbishop than he deemed; his Eminence has -sent him a hundred fighting men for his army; and he now thinks he can -secure a dispensation to put away his wife. He is childless, and she a -bed-ridden invalid; and the Church might not willingly see so noble a -line as his extinct. If you do not hurry to make Gabrielle your wife, -I would not answer for your head. Ponder that to-night, and mouth of -sweet madness in the morning, if you have any mind left for such folly.” - -Waiting for no reply, de Proballe turned on his heel and entered the -house; and as Gerard was gazing after him, Pascal approached and -touched him on the arm. - -“Of all the diabolical villains--What is it, man?” he broke off -impatiently. - -“What’s the use of wasting breath in that way when there are things to -be done? This precious maison is like a nest of spies. I’ve been found -out for an impostor by that pretty sharp-eyed girl whose lover lies -wounded upstairs; and I was wondering how to get to you to tell you -when I came on some sneaking whelp of a man with his ear jammed to the -door of the chamber where she was watching.” - -“Did you break his head for him?” - -“Nearly; but I did better. I played spy in my turn; and your honest man -can beat a rogue at his own trade when he tries, even when that trade -is spying. Presently the rascal went to the door of the apartments -where we are to lie, and, after listening and waiting, he knocked, at -first gently, and then more boldly, and finding no one within, entered, -and I caught him ransacking among our baggage. Holy Peter! but he cut a -sorry figure when he saw me peeping round the door at him;” and Pascal -laughed. - -“What did you do? I hope you were discreet.” - -“I first knocked him down and drubbed him soundly, and then tied him up -with a roll of cloth for his supper, and locked him in a cupboard. Then -I came for you that we may try him together.” - -“Who is he?” - -“I gave him no time to say. But come, or he may be smothered--for I’m a -novice with the gag--and in that case we shall get nothing out of him; -which would be a pity.” - -“It’s a curious turn,” said Gerard uneasily, as they hurried away -together. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -WHAT DENYS KNEW - - -Pascal was all laughter and sallies as he led the way up to their -apartments, but Gerard was in no such mood. He was very serious and -full of misgivings at the course things were taking. There were -more than enough complications in the position already without the -additional embarrassment of the bestowal of a prisoner. - -It was not without some sense of relief, therefore, that he saw Pascal -start as he entered the room, and heard him exclaim in a tone of -dismay-- - -“The sly devil has wriggled out, Gerard. By my shroud, I had not deemed -it possible. I put him in there and shot the bolt upon him”; and he -pointed to an empty closet. - -“Never mind. Perhaps it is best so,” answered Gerard with a smile. “An -honest man can’t always beat a rogue at his own trade, it seems.” - -“Aye, laugh away; but he’ll not laugh if ever I set eyes on him again, -the sneaking mongrel.” - -“For not waiting for your return, you mean? He knows his business, at -any rate.” - -“Aye, that’s certain; but the point is how much he knows of yours?” -retorted Pascal. “I’ll forgive him for knowing his own, but he shall -pay the price for meddling in mine. Were I not a fool I had mounted -guard over him and waited for you to come here.” - -“Are you sure he was spying upon us?” - -“Am I sure that we are on a queer quest here? Who can have turned him -on to such a scent?” - -“I should suspect de Proballe, were it not that he knows all my -supposed unsavoury history as the real de Cobalt.” - -“He has no suspicion that you are not?” - -“Not that I can think.” - -“Then it must be the girl who questioned me and said I was no -servant--Mdlle. de Boisdegarde,” suggested Pascal, with a shrewd nod of -the head. “I mind me now. Are you supposed to have done some ugly thing -at Cambrai? She questioned me on the point.” - -“Yes, a something which de Proballe spells murder, and for which I am -to be pardoned.” - -“A thousand devils! I gave her my word of honour you had never been -there, except as we passed through the place on our way here.” - -“How can she have got wind of it?” and Gerard pursed his lips -thoughtfully. “Wait, wait. I see. De Proballe told me this good fellow -Denys had his suspicions. He has told her. Phew!” he whistled. “The -plot thickens.” - -“It’s thick enough already to be a very devil’s pie of complication,” -laughed Pascal. “I suppose, as usual you will listen to no counsel of -prudence.” - -“Prudence, from Pascal de la Tour?” and Gerard laughed in his turn. - -“Nay, for myself I care nothing. Let come what may it’s all welcome, so -long as there be but some fun in it. But your life is valuable. Would -it not be wise to give up this de Cobalt business, leave Morvaix, and -return as yourself with the troops from Cambrai?” - -Gerard thought a moment, and then with another smile answered-- - -“You have seen for yourself how a certain matter stands. Were you in my -place, would you act on your own counsel?” - -“Not I, on my soul. If there are two ways to an end, I would choose -that which has the more spice in it, and devil take the danger. But you -and I stand on different footings, Gerard, and I would not so counsel -you.” - -“Counsel or no counsel, I stay, Pascal. We will have the troops up when -the need calls for them. But I will follow the spirit of your advice. -I’ll write to my cousin d’Alembert, at Cambrai, bidding him be prepared -to march hither at an hour’s notice; and to-morrow early you must find -means to despatch a messenger to him. Then seek out Dubois, and tell -him to keep in close touch with the hundred we brought into the city -as monks, so as to assemble them at any moment. Do you know how the -hundred we played at presenting to this Governor have been bestowed?” - -“That was a shrewd step,” answered Pascal, with a laugh. “They are -enrolled among the castle guards, in accordance with the suggestion -Dubois handed on from his Eminence--yourself, Gerard. Pray Heaven, they -do but keep discreet tongues. They are tough fighters, and every man -would gladly give his life for you; but like soldiers, they love their -liquor.” - -“To-morrow, or at any rate the day following, should see all in -readiness for us to act. Now let me write my letter--a task I loathe.” - -While Gerard wrote, Pascal left the room, wishful in case of -emergencies to learn his way better about the great house, and he came -back just as the seal was set to the paper. - -“Gerard, that sharp-eyed beauty, Mdlle. Lucette, wishes a word with -you. I met her on the watch in the corridor as I returned.” - -Gerard went out to her. - -“May I put a question to you, M. de Cobalt?” was how she met him. - -“Certainly, mademoiselle. Can I help you? You look sorely troubled.” - -“Gabrielle trusts you so implicitly, monsieur, and ’twas she bade me -ask you. Will you tell me why you were so anxious that Denys St. Jean -should be watched so jealously?” - -“I gave my reasons, mademoiselle. When fever and delirium follow loss -of blood from a sword-thrust there must always be risk to the patient.” - -“There is no delirium, monsieur. When Denys spoke of you, he was -perfectly calm and clear. At first, that is, and until his excitement -grew. But what he said of you was said collectedly.” - -“But the fever is on him, and therefore he should not be left,” said -Gerard calmly. - -She made a quick gesture of impatience. - -“Can you not answer me frankly, monsieur? Oh, pardon me, but I am in -such distress. You have some other reasons. I saw the look that passed -between you and M. de Proballe.” - -“Would you ask me to interpret for you all M. de Proballe’s looks, and -to explain all you may have thought in your excitement?” and he smiled. - -“Denys is so hot against you, and makes such charges.” - -“Should I warn you to set a watch over him if I myself were minded to -do him any harm for that? In all honest truth, I care not what he may -either think or say.” - -“But he declares----” - -“By your leave, I would rather not hear what he says except from his -own lips. I shall know how to answer him.” - -She lifted her hands despairingly and was turning away, when a further -question occurred to her. “On your honour, monsieur, you have no other -reason for this watching than what you have said?” - -“That is a question which I would rather that you did not put to me.” - -“But we trust you so,” she cried reproachfully. - -He smiled again. “Then do as I have suggested.” - -“Oh, what a mystery is all this;” she exclaimed, and left him. - -“One word more, mademoiselle,” he said, following her a couple of -paces. “We are soldiers and accustomed to long watches and little -sleep. One of us will be on the watch out here in the corridor for the -night.” - -She made no reply; and Gerard, going back to Pascal, told him what he -proposed: that they two should watch in turns through the night. - -“I hope that rat will come stealing back,” said Pascal. “If I don’t -pinch his throat for him, may my fingers forget the feel of a man’s -wizen;” and he agreed readily to take the first spell. - -The rat did come back, more than once; but so cunningly and softly now, -so warily and so keen of scent for the watchers, that neither Gerard -nor Pascal knew of his coming; and in the morning both agreed that -they had kept their vigil to no purpose. Could they have heard the -report which Dauban gave to his master, however, they would have known -otherwise. - -De Proballe was ill at ease, indeed. He did not like the attitude which -Gerard had adopted. He had looked for a pliant tool, afraid of his -life; and he found instead, a man who showed independence and firmness, -who had a will of his own, and who both said and did things that made -against his plans. - -For his purpose it was not by any means enough that Gerard should -succeed in making a good impression on Gabrielle. That was right, so -far as it went; but Gerard seemed to be captivated by her beauty; and -that was altogether wrong. If there was to be love between them, the -whole scheme might be jeopardised; and with it would go his own more -daring and ambitious plans. - -Were Gerard to marry Gabrielle and then turn against him, no one could -foresee the consequences. The blundering interference in regard to -Denys was unaccountable; and the manner in which he had flinched -from the necessary step of dealing with one whose knowledge was so -dangerous, was profoundly disturbing. It was enough to rouse the wrath -of any one; and when Dauban brought word that a watch was actually -being kept which rendered it impossible even to get to the door of the -room, his perplexity equalled his ill-temper. - -He had his own standards of judging men; and he could only come now to -the conclusion that Gerard was in some way playing for his own hand. -This thought kept him in a ferment of speculation the whole night. - -Seeing Gerard in the gardens early, he went down to him, resolved to -have an explanation. - -“I want a word with you, Gerard,” he said, bluntly. “We must understand -one another, or this thing goes no farther.” - -Gerard had gone out early in the hope of seeing Gabrielle, and was -anything but pleased to have de Proballe’s company instead; nor did he -at all relish the peremptory tone in which de Proballe spoke. Thus his -answer was sharp and curt. - -“What is there we do not understand, monsieur?” - -“In the first place, you must understand that as I am the author of -this marriage scheme, you must work for it as I direct, or it must come -to an end.” - -“Is that so?” - -“Yes, it is so; and you had better know it. I first thought of it; I -found the proofs of her parents’ wishes to lay before Gabrielle; and -what I made I can as easily unmake again. I have but to speak a word -and the bubble will burst.” - -“Then it was a lie, M. de Proballe?” asked Gerard coldly and incisively. - -“A lie, as you know perfectly well; one in which you have already -taken part, and which you have come here in person to continue to -the end. It is useless for us to play like children at pretences. In -your letters to me you have expressed your willingness to put yourself -entirely in my hands, to do precisely what I tell you. Now, will you do -it? If you will not, say so.” - -“My memory for such matters is short, monsieur, and in regard to all -such communications I am as if I had never penned them”; replied -Gerard, after a moment’s pause. - -“Then it is as I thought. You have some scheme of your own to further. -What is it?” De Proballe was furious at the answer. - -“If it be my own, as you suggest, should I be likely to disclose it to -you?” - -“You do not deny it?” - -“I do not admit your right to question me.” - -“Do you intend to marry Gabrielle?” - -“Without a doubt, if she will deign to marry me.” - -“Then why did you set a watch outside that babbler’s door all through -the night?” - -“How do you know that I did?” - -“No matter. I know it, and that is enough.” - -“I was right, then, in thinking you would choose the night for your -work. I set the watch, monsieur, because I had no mind to be a party to -your murderous scheme.” - -“You will repent this attitude.” - -“Very likely. Most of us spend our lives in either committing one -blunder or repenting others.” - -“You tempt me to deem my act a blunder indeed in bringing you to -Morvaix.” - -“That may be part of the better understanding, the reference to which -opened our conversation. Need we say any more?” - -“Before the day is done you may understand better,” cried de Proballe, -furiously. - -“Shall we leave it, then, for the coming hours to decide?” retorted -Gerard, lightly and without more he turned his back and walked away. - -De Proballe returned to the house more uneasy and more wrathful than -ever. He seemed to see his schemes crumbling to pieces before his eyes, -and to be unable to avert the ruin. He had built so much on Gerard’s -coming that he was loath now to carry his fears to the Governor, and -thus stop the marriage altogether; and yet it was plain that if this -was to be Gerard’s attitude when he had married Gabrielle and was -master of Malincourt, the very marriage itself might but make matters -worse than they were at present. - -He could not see what private scheme Gerard could have in reserve; and -came at length to think that the success with Gabrielle had so turned -Gerard’s head that he believed himself master of the situation. From -this delusion it would not be difficult to rouse him, however. A word -or two from the Duke that his life was in danger would soon cure this -swashbuckler mood; and such a word he could instigate at any moment. He -could therefore safely let matters run their course for the present. - -In this temper he awaited the hour fixed for Gerard’s interview -with the Governor; but early in the forenoon the latter arrived at -Malincourt; and de Proballe found him in a dangerous temper. - -“We were to wait upon you at the Castle, Duke,” he said, suavely. - -“Am I not welcome at Malincourt?” - -“You can need no assurance from me, I trust, that your presence here is -an honour and a welcome condescension.” - -“Umph!” and the Governor shrugged his shoulders. “Where is Mdlle. de -Malincourt?” - -“I have not seen my niece this morning. I will have her sent for.” - -“No, that is not my wish. Where is your villainous jackal, de Cobalt? -News has reached me that he made much impression upon your niece -yesterday. Is that so? Speak plainly.” - -“He came as her betrothed, and he has done as we would have him do, -seeing the purpose in hand.” - -“I have my doubts about this affair after all,” was the answer, with -a heavy frown. “It will not suit me that he win too far into her good -graces. The thing has cost me a sleepless night of thought, and I have -come now that I may see them together, myself unseen, and hear them -speak one to the other, that I may judge how matters go. You will -arrange this. I am consumed with a cursed gnawing plague of jealousy.” - -“You will of course understand----” - -“I will understand nothing but that you must do as I say.” - -De Proballe spread out his hands and was about to expostulate again, -when the Duke cut him short, and said very sternly-- - -“Will you do as I say, M. le Baron, or must I find some other way?” - -“It shall be as you please. The best plan I can conceive is that we -remain hidden here where we can watch any one on the terrace, and I -will send word to de Cobalt that the hour is close at hand when he is -to accompany me to the Castle, and ask him to wait me on the terrace. -Then I can send for Gabrielle, and get her there.” - -“Give the instructions in my presence.” - -“Monsieur le Duc!” exclaimed de Proballe, in a tone of indignation. - -“Monsieur le Baron!” He imitated de Proballe’s tone, and then laughed -coarsely. “I can trust my own ears, and mean to have no warning -conveyed to either of them.” - -De Proballe started and bit his lip. He had contemplated doing the -very thing the Duke insinuated, and was bitterly vexed his thought -should have been read. For a moment they faced each other, and then -de Proballe with a shrug of his shoulders turned to obey. But at that -instant the Duke caught sight of Gerard and Gabrielle strolling in the -gardens, and frowned. - -“There is no need to summon any one. I see them. You will remain with -me, monsieur.” - -Standing back well out of sight, the Duke watched the two lovers with -intent gaze, his expression changing gradually from eager scrutiny to -one of jealous anger, and the heavy frown deepened every moment, till -at last he burst out into angry speech. - -“God of Heaven! it is even worse than the worst I feared. See how -they linger together over the flowers; how she smiles to him, and he -answers.” - -“He does but play his part, Duke.” - -“If that be play, then never saw I earnest. And she, how her face -lights as he speaks to her; her colour deepens as she droops her head -at his words. See how she lays her hand tenderly on his arm; and he, -how he stoops over her hand and raises it to his lips, and she--by the -God that made us all, she loves him. Look at the light in her eyes.” - -“He is our man, my lord, and sows but for us to reap.” - -“’Twill be a bitter crop for some of us, or I am no ruler in Morvaix. -’Twas not for this we sent for him. And you say they never met till -yesterday?” - -“Till yesterday.” - -The Duke turned from the window, and paced the room with quick angry -strides, his face black as night and his eyes blazing with hot jealous -rage. De Proballe watched him stealthily, wondering what this new -dangerous mood portended. - -“They are coming to the terrace,” he said at length; and the two -watchers concealed themselves close by the open casement. - -The lovers approached, all unsuspecting that keen vengeful eyes were -bent upon them from under the strained pent brows of a man half mad -with jealous frenzy. And a handsome picture they made as they came up -the broad steps laughing gaily in the sweet abandonment of new-found -all-trusting love. - -Gabrielle held in one hand the kerchief with which she had at first -covered her head, and in the other was a posy of freshly plucked -flowers, from which she had chosen a red rose to give to Gerard. Her -face was radiant with smiles and her eyes glowed as she turned them -ever and again upon her handsome lover by her side. At the head of the -steps she stayed and leant in a graceful pose against the marble pillar -on which stood the statue of a fantastically carved faun. - -“And must you really go now to the Castle?” she asked. - -“M. de Proballe named this hour, Gabrielle.” - -“I am loath for you to go, cousin; yet could wish you gone that I may -look for your return, and long for it.” - -“You do not think I leave you willingly?” - -A tender glance was the answer, and at the sight of it the angry man -within the room close by drew in his breath sharply as if in pain. - -“I believe I shall count the minutes till you return,” she said. “Am I -not foolish? But your coming has changed my world.” - -“If it be foolishness, then it is good to be foolish,” returned Gerard. - -“You will be careful with the Duke, remembering what I have told you, -Gerard.” - -“I have to think of you, Gabrielle, and the thought will inspire me to -caution.” - -“I would I could be present. Not that I doubt you; maybe,” she smiled, -“it is only because I do not like to be parted from you.” - -“The minutes will be no less leaden to me while I am away;” and again -they smiled each to the other with such a glance that the Duke could -endure no more. - -“This must end,” he whispered fiercely. “I will bear no more;” and he -was moving impetuously when de Proballe stayed him and whispered in -reply-- - -“I beg you have patience, my lord. He is but adopting my suggestion and -wooing her that the marriage may take place the sooner.” - -“Then he must find some other way. It is hell to me.” - -“Stay; some one comes. By all the saints in heaven, it is Denys!” - -He was walking with difficulty, and leaning on Lucette’s arm for -support. - -“It is he who knows something of our plans, my lord, and should have -been silenced by your men yesterday. He must be stopped, or he will -poison her ears against him.” - -But the Duke, catching eagerly at the words, laid a strong hand on de -Proballe’s arm and held him as he whispered in tense accents-- - -“Let him do it, and I will thank him. Stay, monsieur, I order you.” - -In dire consternation de Proballe, now much agitated, fell back to his -place, and both were again silent. - -“Denys, Denys, what madness is it that brings you from your sick bed -thus?” cried Gabrielle, in surprise and some alarm for him. “You are -risking your life.” - -“It is no madness, mademoiselle, and my life would be cheaply spent in -such a case,” answered Denys, speaking with great labour and seeming -even to breathe with difficulty. - -“I could not stay him, Gabrielle,” said Lucette, in response to -Gabrielle’s look of reproach. - -“You would not come to me when I sent for you, mademoiselle,” said -Denys slowly, when he had found breath. “So I came to you.” - -“I could not come then, and did but delay, good Denys. But what is this -matter that could not wait?” - -“That man is the matter--Gerard de Cobalt. I know the truth of his -coming hither and his treachery, and not another hour was to be lost -before I told you.” - -“Denys! How dare you speak thus? You presume upon my good will. It was -M. de Cobalt who saved your life yesterday.” - -“Would God I had lost it rather than that it should be saved by him. As -Heaven is my witness, I speak but the truth when I say he is a villain; -and I can and will prove my words by his own testimony.” - -A moment’s tense silence followed this fierce accusation; and in it the -Duke whispered under his breath-- - -“It grows interesting. I hope he will make good his words. He is an -honest sturdy fellow, and looks as earnest as he is sincere. A good -witness, and welcome.” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE ACCUSATION - - -To Gerard the turn of events was profoundly disturbing. He had heard -from both Lucette and de Proballe that Denys had suspicions of the -reasons which were supposed to have brought him to Morvaix, and knew -something of the unsavoury past of the man whose name he had taken; -and to have all this blurted out to Gabrielle might have very ugly -consequences. - -Almost any other moment would have been less inopportune, as it seemed; -and he would have given much to be able to silence his accuser. Yet he -could not appear to shun the charge or shrink from any proofs which -Denys had obtained: could do nothing in fact. It was the irony of the -thing that the very interference which he would have welcomed at the -fitting moment should be so embarrassing now. - -Gabrielle had, however, only one thought. To her it seemed treachery -even to listen further to the accusation. She was very angry, and her -face mantled with colour. - -“You have been a faithful friend to me, Denys,” she said, “and are ill -with your wound. Were it otherwise, your present act would part us. -There is no place in Malincourt, or in my service, for any one who -maligns my friends. Lucette, it pains me that you are in this. Gerard, -will you take me into the house?” - -But Gerard’s honour and instincts of fairness forbade acquiescence in -this unjust rebuke. - -“Nay, Gabrielle, I believe you are too hard upon M. St. Jean and upon -Mdlle. Lucette as well. It is but his zeal for you that makes him -indiscreet.” - -“The fool, the fool!” muttered de Proballe. “When she would have shut -her own ears to the truth.” - -“You hear M. de Cobalt, Denys. Take lesson by his generosity. Go back -to your chamber, and when you are well, in mind and body both, I will -hear you. Lucette, see to this.” She spoke with all the dignity of one -who meant to be obeyed. - -“I have no power to prevail with him, Gabrielle. He urged me first to -come with this story to you, and when I would not, rose from his bed -and insisted on seeking you for himself.” - -Denys appeared to be almost spent with his effort. He stood leaning -against the parapet in such desperate straits that Gabrielle was -touched with deep compassion. - -“I am passing, I think,” he said. His face was deadly grey as he clung -to the marble with one hand while with the other he felt for a paper -and drew it out. He seemed so near collapse that Gerard stepped forward -to help him; but anger rallied him and he waved away the proffered help -with a gesture of contempt. - -“Pray God he falls before he can do more mischief, the meddling dog!” -muttered de Proballe again. - -“Lead him away, Lucette,” said Gabrielle, in pain at the sight. But -Denys would not go; and after an effort he said slowly with much effort -and many a pause-- - -“My last strength can have no better use than in this for you, -mademoiselle. This letter--from M. de Cobalt to M. de Proballe. Read -it, for the love of God, read it.” - -“Denys, Denys, how can you ask such unworthiness?” cried Gabrielle -indignantly, her eyes and voice full of reproach. “If it be M. de -Cobalt’s letter, give it to him. Would you have me imitate you and play -the spy?” - -“Speak not so harshly, Gabrielle,” exclaimed Lucette. - -But Denys stopped her and spoke again, moving a step toward Gabrielle. - -“He would marry you but to betray you to the Duke. ’Tis my last word. -He says it here.” Holding the letter in his now trembling fingers he -made a great effort to reach Gabrielle with it, his staring eyes fixed -earnestly and imploringly upon her. But his fever-racked strength was -gone. “For God’s sake be warned,” he mumbled half-incoherently. It was -his last effort. As the words dropped from his lips, he fell prone -to the ground, the letter fluttering from his nerveless fingers to -Gabrielle’s feet. - -Lucette with a cry knelt beside him. - -Gabrielle had shrunk from his approach, but now stood gazing down on -him, pity, pain and distress in her eyes. And Gerard stooped and felt -his heart. - -“He has but fainted,” he said, looking up. “Let him be carried back to -the bed he should never have left. He is a noble faithful fellow and -has freely risked his life for what he deems the truth.” - -“Good, Gerard! Splendidly played. Did you mark that, my lord?” -whispered de Proballe, intensely relieved at Denys’ collapse. “What -an actor the villain is, Duke? Said I not he was but acting with -Gabrielle? You could swear that tone of his was a note of honourable -innocence.” - -But the Duke made no reply. He was staring with pent gloomy brows at -the scene. - -“You bear him no grudge for this, Gerard?” said Gabrielle with a smile -of confidence. - -“Should I feel enmity to one whose only motive was desire to serve you -and who has drawn this further proof of your trust in me? He did and -said no more than he deemed both right and true. I honour him for his -courage.” - -“Then I will tear the letter that appears to have cheated his fevered -wits, and so end the matter;” and picking up the paper she was about to -tear it when he stopped her. - -“Fool! Idiot! Now indeed he goes too far;” muttered de Proballe, as he -saw the gesture. “Let her tear it.” - -Gerard had the strongest reasons for not having the letter destroyed, -however. It was the proof he needed to make de Proballe’s guilt clear. - -“I should not destroy it, Gabrielle. There must be much behind this -which we do not yet understand; and if it is to be cleared, this letter -may be needed.” - -“’Tis but the delusion born of fever madness.” - -“Men do not forge letters in delirium,” answered Gerard quietly. - -“You would not have me read it!” Gabrielle’s eyes were wide with -astonishment. - -“What will the fool do next?” murmured de Proballe, in deep agitation. -“Is he aiming this at me?” - -Gerard paused a moment to think, and then answered calmly and firmly. - -“Yes, I would have you read it.” - -“But it is designed to slander you.” - -“I am too sure of your trust to fear any slander, Gabrielle. I would -have you read it, whatever it be.” - -“By the Cross! he plays a bold hand,” muttered the Duke, drawing his -breath. “What is in the letter?” - -“It will ruin everything,” whispered de Proballe. - -“Then do I not understand him. He must indeed be sure of her, as he -says;” and his frown grew deeper than before. - -Gabrielle stood fingering the letter in hesitation some moments and -then unfolded it. - -“I will do your bidding, Gerard, although I had rather not.” She read -it then. - - “TO M. LE BARON DE PROBALLE,-- - - “The messenger has brought me your last communication and the sum - of money I asked for. My doubts are almost satisfied. I have some - troublesome matters to arrange, and some little time must pass before - they can be settled. But you can count upon my reaching Malincourt by - the end of June or the first days of July, if in response to this you - send me a declaration under the Duke de Rochelle’s own hand that I - shall receive his pardon for the affair at Cambrai. You must procure - this; as without it I shall not trust myself within his province. - - “You require me to state my acceptance of your proposal specifically. - I now do this. I will marry Gabrielle. She shall never learn from me - that her parents never expressed any such wish for our marriage as - she has been told. I will use my utmost efforts to compel her, if - need be, to submit to the Duke’s wishes. And I will act in every way - faithfully as you may direct in any other plans you have. - - “The fortune I shall receive with Gabrielle will be all I need--that - and the pardon; for I seek no Court position, favour, or influence. - - “Send me the written assurance of the pardon, and by the time the - messenger can return hither, I may be ready to set out myself. - - “GERARD DE COBALT.” - -“By the God above us all, what callous infamy!” exclaimed Gerard, -passionately, stirred to the depths by the letter, whose full meaning -he well understood. But it was otherwise with Gabrielle, who saw in it -no more than an attempt to slander him; and she mistook his burning -words for indignation at the effort to ruin him in her eyes. - -“Infamy indeed,” she said warmly. “Would that I knew the author of so -vile a slander! If I thought for a moment that Denys----” - -“No, no, Gabrielle. Don’t even speak such a thought,” cried Lucette. - -“I had forgotten him,” said Gerard. “I will help bear him into the -house. We will deal with this afterwards, Gabrielle.” - -“Except to find the villain who forged the letter, there is no more to -do in it, Gerard. They little know me who think I could be moved by so -contemptible a lie. I could ask your pardon for having read it to the -end--could almost be vexed with you, indeed, for having caused me to -read it. Shall I tear it now?” - -He was bending over Denys and looked up quickly. “No, I will keep it; -and some one some day shall pay a heavy reckoning,” he answered as he -took it. Then with Lucette’s help he lifted Denys and took him into -the house. Gabrielle was following, when the Duke said hurriedly to de -Proballe-- - -“Go and detain her on the terrace. I must speak with her; but first -will think a space. I am on the rack.” - -He had been profoundly moved by the scene and was intensely agitated. -He had let the letter be read without interference--involving though -it did both de Proballe and himself--in the belief that the revelation -of Gerard’s baseness would change her feelings; and the unshaken -confidence she had shown in Gerard’s honour was to his jealousy as -biting acid to an open wound. - -With a bitterness beyond words to describe and far too galling for his -selfish soul to endure, he saw now that in causing Gerard to be brought -to Morvaix for his own purpose with Gabrielle, he had but plunged a -sword into his own heart. The villain had played his part so well that -he had won her love; and the wound burned and stabbed and maddened him -with its pain. - -But he would have his revenge. No man should be suffered to come -between him and his desires. If this de Cobalt had won her love, he -should pay the price. His rival’s life lay in the palm of his hand; and -in Morvaix at least there was none to step between him and the object -of his hate. - -It was a treacherous betrayal; nothing else. Pretending to keep -the letter of his pledge, Gerard had broken the spirit, and should -be trusted no more. The pardon for the murder at Cambrai should be -withheld, unless--and his eyes gleamed dangerously at a fresh thought -and he smiled with a cunning pleasure. - -Gabrielle loved this de Cobalt; and the love would put a weapon in his -hands powerful enough to break her to his purpose. - -His new resolve was quick to take shape. She should be his wife; and -the price of her consent should be her new lover’s life. The old scheme -should be laid away; and with it would go at a stroke all need for de -Cobalt’s services. His next move was soon decided; and he stepped out -and joined Gabrielle and her uncle. - -“I make no apology for thus breaking upon you suddenly, because the -reason for it is your own welfare,” he began, speaking deliberately. - -“I trust your lordship does not deem an apology necessary for visiting -Malincourt,” replied Gabrielle, courteously, but wondering at his -manner. - -“This is no ordinary visit of courtesy, mademoiselle; and if the manner -of it is unusual and displeasing, as it may well be, the purpose will, -I hope, prove its excuse. We have been close observers of the scene -which has just occurred here--as M. de Proballe has perhaps told you.” -But de Proballe had done nothing of the kind, and he started in some -dismay at the words. His start was lost by Gabrielle, however, in her -intense surprise. - -“Observers, my lord? I fear I do not understand,” she replied with -dignity. - -“Yet my words explain my meaning. Very evil intelligence has reached me -concerning this M. de Cobalt; and in my zeal for your welfare I came -this morning to confer with M. de Proballe; and we arranged the scene -that this man’s character might be tested openly.” - -“I should prefer that M. de Cobalt be present, my lord.” Gabrielle took -fire instantly, and she made no attempt to disguise her indignation. - -“It is not necessary. His presence or absence is a matter of no -concern. What you have heard of him to-day and read in that letter of -his is true.” - -“Do you mean----” she began hastily, then checked herself and said -proudly: “But I will not deign to ask a question. Your lordship must -be entirely in error. I have unbounded faith in M. de Cobalt’s honour. -It is a matter your lordship must excuse my declining to discuss.” The -Duke frowned, but repressed his anger. - -“I can understand your feelings,” he said calmly. “Would that the man -were worthy of it! I honour you for this attitude and would gladly -spare you the pain which the truth must cause you; but it must be told, -mademoiselle.” - -Gabrielle would not answer, and the Duke turned to de Proballe. - -“You will tell your niece, monsieur, that that letter was written to -you by M. de Cobalt himself in reply to others from you to him.” - -“I think you and I had better discuss this further,” said de Proballe, -in a desperate shift at the new position. - -“It is my wish, monsieur,” replied the Duke coldly, with a glance of -menace. - -“Even my uncle himself will not shake my confidence in M. de Cobalt, -although he may change my feelings toward himself,” declared Gabrielle, -firmly. - -“M. de Proballe,” said the Duke. - -“I know not your intentions,” he answered, in a fever of disquiet. -“I--I scarcely heard what the letter contained; and--and before I -can say so much I--ought to see it--to examine it.” He stumbled and -hesitated over the words. - -“Do I understand, M. le Baron, that you give me the lie?” and the -cold cutting words were accompanied by a look that no one could -misunderstand. - -“God forfend; but I wash my hands of the whole affair,” he cried, with -a gesture of profound agitation and a sigh. “It is true, Gabrielle. -The letter was written by Gerard to me some time since. It is one of -several that have passed between us.” - -“I do not believe it;” and Gabrielle drew herself up in proud -repudiation of the further attack upon the man she loved and trusted. - -“On my honour it is so, mademoiselle,” declared the Duke. “And now I -must make my confession of the part I have played in this. It is no -humour of mine to seek others’ forgiveness, but for what I have done in -all this distressful error, I do beg yours. It was at my instance that -this de Cobalt was brought to Morvaix.” - -“Then do I thank you, my lord, and, believe me, I see nothing in the -act which calls for forgiveness,” interposed Gabrielle swiftly, as -he paused. He took no notice of the interruption; he was too deeply -engrossed in thinking how to put his case most plausibly. - -“My motive you will at least admit was worthy--it was the good of the -people of Morvaix. Next to myself, the House of Malincourt is the most -potent influence here, and thus the subject of your marriage has given -me much thought. It would have been a disaster had you fallen under the -sway of some unworthy man and been prevailed upon to marry him, and so -let the influence of your house pass into evil hands. To prevent this, -we--for your uncle has shared my views and acted with me throughout--we -planned to arrange your marriage with a man who would place himself -under our guidance in all matters.” - -“And your lordship and you, monsieur, chose a man whose life was so -evil--if this lying letter were to be credited--that he only dared to -come hither when he had been assured under your lordship’s own hand of -a pardon for some foul offence. Surely you would not have me credit -this of you! I do not. I will not. For it involves a cruel slander upon -my true and gallant cousin.” - -“What the Duke says is true in every word, Gabrielle,” declared de -Proballe, much relieved at the astute line the Governor was taking. - -“We did not know the evil history of this man,” continued the Duke in -the same quiet deliberate tone; “or he would never have been brought -here. I have but learned it within the last few hours. The affair -at Cambrai was mistold to us; and I have but just gathered the full -details of what I find to have been a foul and most treacherous murder.” - -A contemptuous smile of disbelief was Gabrielle’s only answer to this; -but it was more eloquent than many words of her unshaken and unshakable -faith in Gerard. The Duke paused, and after a moment resumed-- - -“We had heard that he had repented of his old excesses and wrong -living, and when we sent for him, believed this to be the case. But -when we found that his repentance was but acted lying--in which he is -an adept--there seemed no course open but to put him to the proof by -confronting him with his own writing, so that your eyes might be opened -and yourself convinced of the impossibility of a marriage with him.” - -“I have yet to be convinced, my lord; and know no power or means on -earth strong enough to convince me. My parents’ wishes----” - -“Were but M. de Proballe’s invention, mademoiselle,” interposed the -Duke, in the same cold deliberate tone. “The story was designed to -influence you to agree. That is all. In that we did wrong--grievous -wrong, no doubt; for deceit with whatever motive used must always be -wrong; and in this case it has ended disastrously. For that, as well as -for the pain which, with all zeal for your real welfare, I have caused -you, I crave your pardon.” - -“Had you indeed done the harm you fear, I would never forgive you. I -never could,” answered Gabrielle, firmly; then breaking into a smile -she added: “but if indeed you have brought my cousin here, then do I -thank you, as I say. Aye, thank you with all my heart.” - -“You do but jest in a very grave issue, mademoiselle. This marriage -is impossible.” There was less deliberateness and more sternness in -the Duke’s tone now, and it provoked Gabrielle’s pride. Unmistakable -defiance was in her look and mien as she answered: - -“By your lordship’s leave, I am head of my house; and if that part of -what you have said be true--that my parents have expressed no wish for -my marriage--I am free to choose without let or hindrance from any man. -But here comes my cousin. He will know how to answer for himself.” - -As Gerard came out of the house he started at seeing who was present, -and then came on with firm step and confident bearing, and smiled to -Gabrielle as he reached her side. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE DUKE’S SENTENCE - - -Gerard saw at once by the faces of all three that some fresh -complication had occurred during his absence. - -“I am very glad you have come, Gerard,” said Gabrielle. “M. le Duc de -Rochelle and my uncle have made some charges which you will be glad to -face.” - -“Certainly,” he answered, with a bow to the Governor and a quick glance -at de Proballe. The Duke took no notice of his salutation. - -“We had a conversation yesterday concerning the reason for your coming -to Morvaix,” said de Proballe. “You have not forgotten it?” - -“I am not likely to have forgotten. Do you wish it repeated now?” -Gabrielle smiled confidently at the tone in which this was said. -Gerard spoke as the challenger, not the challenged. There could be no -mistaking that. - -“Leave this to me,” interposed the Duke abruptly. - -“He admitted everything to me yesterday,” declared de Proballe; but the -Duke waved his hand impatiently. - -“Now, monsieur,” he said sharply to Gerard. “A letter of yours to M. de -Proballe was read this morning. Where is it?” - -“A letter was read. It is here;” and he took it from his pocket. - -“The Duke and my uncle were listening to our conversation,” said -Gabrielle quietly. “They say that the statements in the letter are -true.” - -“They may be,” he said readily. - -“Gerard!” Gabrielle’s was a cry of consternation. - -“Did you think he would dare to deny it, mademoiselle?” asked the Duke. - -“There is no reason for any alarm, Gabrielle. On my honour you need but -have patience.” - -“Honour!” exclaimed the Governor contemptuously. - -“Does such a word seem strange to the ears of the Duke de Rochelle?” -asked Gerard, quite unmoved as he met the angry look the question drew -forth. “What are the charges your lordship brings against me?” - -“Those contained in your own letter; the letter which confesses the -truth. Do you deny you wrote that letter to M. de Proballe?” - -For one moment Gerard hesitated. - -“The statements contained in that letter so far as they touch me are -absolutely false,” he declared emphatically. “That I affirm on my -honour, Gabrielle; but for the moment I cannot explain the affair.” - -“I need no more. I was sure you would repudiate them,” she answered -exultantly. “I shall stay to hear no more.” - -“I should prefer you to remain, mademoiselle,” said the Duke. - -“I crave your lordship’s permission to retire. I can hear no more of -this attack upon my cousin. I am satisfied. I have his assurance;” and -without waiting for any permission to be given, she went into the house. - -Gerard was glad to be left to deal with the matter in her absence. -He recognized the extreme difficulty of the situation and the utter -impossibility of giving a rational explanation without telling the -truth about himself; but he was anxious to have some plain speaking -with the Governor, and he turned at once to him. - -“Your lordship will perhaps see the desirability of explaining this new -development to me,” he said. - -“You are an insolent rascal in all truth,” was the fiery reply. “It is -from you I demand the explanation. See to it that it is satisfactory. I -am not wont to be trifled with.” - -“I see no trifling in all this. Will you explain it, M. de Proballe?” - -“You play the braggart well, Gerard, on my soul; and if I see your -object may I be cursed. When with me yesterday you admitted everything; -and now to-day you deny your own writing, and pledge your honour the -very things you have written are false.” - -Gerard regarded him sternly. “Would you have had me tell that I was -brought here to Morvaix to marry Gabrielle in order to ruin her?” he -demanded. - -“It is false!” cried the Governor. - -A flush of anger mounted to Gerard’s face at this insult. - -“It accords ill with your reputation for courage, M. le Duc, that you -insult a man to whom your position denies the right to call you to -account. If you have no other tone to adopt toward me, I will retire. -But with M. de Proballe the matter stands otherwise. You will guard -your tongue, monsieur, or I shall hold you responsible.” - -“What an impudent swashbuckler is this murderer,” sneered the Governor. - -“I am no murderer, my lord,” asserted Gerard, hotly. - -“He means he holds your Grace’s pardon for the deed,” said de Proballe. - -“It will not save you,” declared the Governor, bluntly. “You have -broken your word and must take the consequences. I will waste no time -with you.” - -“In what have I broken my word?” - -“I will not stoop to bandy words with you. I have changed my plans; -that is enough for you to know. You are no longer of use to me. But you -can have one chance to save your skin. You came under the protection of -my assurance. You can leave it again; and never dare in the future to -show your villainous face within my province.” - -“I shall not leave,” answered Gerard, every whit as firmly. “I have -come for a purpose, and that purpose I shall fulfil.” - -“Do you dare to defy me?” - -“My words are my words and I will not recall them.” - -“In God’s name, you are a brazen scoundrel. But do not imagine that -Mademoiselle de Malincourt can protect you. She is not to be polluted -by a marriage with such as you. More of this, and I will withdraw what -I have said and have you flung into gaol at once to pay the penalty for -your crime.” - -“That must be as your lordship will. I will not leave Morvaix even at -your bidding.” - -For the moment the Duke’s fury seemed uncontrollable; but he mastered -it and his tone when next he spoke was cold, tense, and full of menace. - -“It may be better so, perhaps; but you shall have the chance I named. -Understand me plainly. I will give you twenty-four hours in which to -put as great a distance as you can between you and Morvaix. At noon -to-morrow my troops will start to hunt you down; and whenever and -wherever they find you I swear that you shall die for that Cambrai -murder.” - -“Your hounds will not have far to seek. They will find me here in -Morvaix,” returned Gerard calmly. “I am not unwilling to witness your -methods of trial and justice here.” - -“You shall not lack the chance, I promise you. One other condition for -your life I make. Before you leave the city you will return the paper -sent to you from me by M. de Proballe. For the rest, look to yourself; -for as I live, it will need all your wits and more than all your -effrontery to save you from my hands.” - -With that he turned his back on Gerard, saying to de Proballe that he -would speak again to Gabrielle before leaving Malincourt. They walked -away together, and Gerard turned and paced the terrace in busy thought. - -One thing chiefly perplexed him--why the Duke had shewn this change of -front and now wished to drive him from Morvaix instead of seconding the -scheme for the marriage. It did not occur to him to set it down to the -true cause--jealousy; and he racked his wits vainly to find a solution. - -The only reason that suggested itself to him was one that strengthened -his resolve to stay--that the Duke’s object was to rob Gabrielle of -even the slender protection which his presence afforded. If that -were so, it followed that there was some fresh scheme on foot to do -Gabrielle immediate hurt; and in that view no consideration whatever -should induce him to leave. - -But in such a case, why had not the Governor taken the simpler course -of handing him over to his soldiers at once? In seeking the answer to -that question Gerard came much nearer the truth. If he were to run -away, his flight would be tantamount to a confession that these charges -against himself were true; and Gabrielle would be led to hold him for -the villain which the real de Cobalt unquestionably was. He would be -seen to have pledged his honour to her, only to break it in a cowardly -flight. - -Had the villainous de Cobalt stood in his place, he would no doubt have -gladly welcomed the chance of saving his life at the sacrifice of his -honour and of Gabrielle; and the Duke had acted on that supposition. - -Nothing should induce him to fall into the snare thus spread for -him; but at the same time he felt that he must take measures for -self-preservation. This Tiger in his passion was capable of going to -any lengths; and means must be at hand to restrain him. - -He was still pondering this when Gabrielle came out from her interview -with the Duke. Her bright looks had given place to a troubled -expression, and she was very pale. - -“The Governor is like a madman in his wrath against you, Gerard,” she -said. “I have never seen him so moved. Both he and my uncle are now as -furious at the thought of our marriage as before they--or at least my -uncle--was eager to promote it.” - -“And you, Gabrielle?” - -“I know not how to act or what to say,” she replied with a sigh of -despair. - -“The tension of this morning’s scene has tried you,” he said gently. -“But you do not believe I am the dastard----” - -“Gerard! No. I cannot. Every prompting of my heart bids me trust you. I -think I would trust you if all the world bore witness against you. But -there must surely be some explanation of so great a mystery.” - -“You love me?” he asked with sudden fervour, taking her hand and -searching her eyes with his, in which the fire of love burned. She left -her hand in his willingly and trustingly and met his gaze with a smile. - -“Have I not shown it? Do you need any other answer?” - -“With a love strong enough to face even this trial?” he insisted -earnestly. - -“I shall never change, Gerard. Nothing could change my heart--not even -if all this were proven against you, as they both swear it can be. -It would break my heart and blight my life; but my love would never -change. And believe it I never would or will, unless your own lips tell -me it is true; and even then my heart would rebel against your words.” - -“I shall never tell you that,” he replied, vehemently. “Thank God there -is no reason why I should not take your hand and look into your own -innocent eyes and swear on my soul that all this charge passes me -by as an idle breeze. You will never have cause to regret your sweet -trust. That on my honour.” - -“Why have they made these charges? I am so sorely perplexed.” - -“It will all appear in time, Gabrielle. There is dark and evil work -behind, and I am resolved to drag it to the light of day.” - -“But when? They tell me you are going away again! Ah, Gerard, my heart -fell at the news.” - -“’Tis but one more falsehood. Only one thing can drive me from -Morvaix--your own sentence.” - -“Yet they urged me to counsel you to go, saying that if you stay here -you will be imprisoned. What is this affair at Cambrai which they call -by the fell name of murder? Do not let my question anger you; but if -there be really danger, you must fly.” - -“The Governor would have me fly that you may be driven to deem me the -guilty wretch he describes me. There is no danger to me, but rather to -them; to the Governor himself indeed most of all.” - -“What would you do? No deed of violence, Gerard?” - -“Violence there may have to be; but not of the kind in your thoughts. I -am no assassin, whether at Cambrai or here.” - -“Then you have some scheme with which to combat him? Can you not tell -me that?” she asked with almost wistful eagerness. - -“It is one that would speak to your heart, Gabrielle, for it will touch -the welfare of all in Morvaix.” - -“Now you frighten me. Would you further a revolt here? Heaven knows -our wretched people are hot against him and ripe for a movement of the -kind. But he is so strong in his soldiery, the end would be but useless -bloodshed to be followed by even more grinding tyranny and misery for -the city.” - -“Harbour no fears of that. Stay, what if I could lead a movement here -which, without the evil things that make your woman’s heart shrink, -could yet break this Tiger’s power and give good and just government to -the people?” - -“It is not possible, Gerard. You speak at random. You are not known -in Morvaix; and the people would not follow an unknown leader. Yet I -have dreamed of something of the kind since you came. Were you but -once established firmly as lord of Malincourt and had had time to win -the confidence of the people and their trust, as you would win it, -then--but there, it is no more than a dream conjured up by finding you -the man you are.” - -“May I test your trust still further? I have my reasons, God knows, -for thus testing you. If I were in very truth the wretch the Duke has -painted me, and yet had the means to do what I have said and came to -you in the moment of my triumph and asked you to be my wife, how would -you answer?” - -“I would lay my hand in yours without a question, Gerard, sure that, -whatever your past, you had redeemed it for my sake.” She gave her -answer without a falter or a second of hesitation. - -“Thank God and you for those words and that trust, Gabrielle,” he -cried, with fervent passion. “If I am ever unworthy of it, may God -deal with me for a traitor! The time for me to claim you so will come, -and until it comes I will wait to seek from your lips the kiss of -betrothal. Now am I sure indeed that all will be well with us.” - -“But you will not remain in Morvaix?” she asked, after a pause. - -“Could I leave you after this?” he replied tenderly. - -“I should understand the reason of your going.” - -“I have far stronger reasons to remain near you.” - -“I think you should not. I am safe; but I fear for you; and my fear -will not pass while you remain here. I am going to-day to the Duchess -and shall seek her aid and counsel--telling her all.” - -“To the Castle?” - -“Of a surety to the Castle. She has sent an urgent message to see me.” - -“By whom?” - -“The Duke.” - -“I scent trouble in it. I do not like you to trust yourself in that -man’s power. If you go, I shall go too.” - -“You are needlessly alarmed. She is my friend, and as good a woman as -ever drew breath. I am often with her. I could not refuse; but it would -be madness for you to think of going.” - -“The term madness does not hinder me. For the part I have to play a -bold front is not only necessary, it is prudence.” - -“But you can serve no useful end by such a venture. The Duke might -offer you violence, indeed, in his anger.” - -“I can find a pretext and would gladly have a chance to get within the -walls.” - -“It may be less easy to find one to get out, Gerard.” - -“Even so the work I have to do would not be stayed. I am firm on the -point.” - -“I do not like the look of it;” and Gabrielle’s face clouded. - -“The look may change on closer view.” - -“Harm will come of it, Gerard. Let me prevail.” - -“When my work is done you shall never prefer a request in vain. But -this you must not press.” She yielded then, albeit with anxiety and -misgivings; and they went into the house. - -Gerard hastened to his apartments to wait for Pascal and to complete -the arrangements for striking the blow upon which he had now decided. - -When Pascal arrived the two had a long conference, and once again -Pascal advised a policy of caution. - -“Don’t set your foot inside the Castle gates,” he urged vigorously. “It -can do no good and may work incalculable mischief.” - -“Would you go in my stead?” - -“With all the willingness in life.” - -“And shall the leader shirk the risk which his followers would take? Is -it thus we Bourbon leaders lead?” - -“That is no reason. There are times, of course, when the leader should -be first, but this is not one of them. You know what sort of wild beast -government this is in Morvaix; you have now ample cause to do all you -will against the Governor; ride out then to Cambrai and yourself bring -up the troops.” - -“Shall a Bourbon give men cause to sneer at him for a coward? Nay, -Pascal, you would but anger me to press such counsel further.” - -“But your life to me and to us all is too precious to be risked in such -a venture. I know what Dubois would urge were he here. Still, let it be -as you will.” - -“I am not risking my life, man. Do you think this Duke, daredevil -though he be, will venture to harm Bourbon’s son when once I declare -myself? His own soldiers would revolt against it. No man shall call me -poltroon; and none has ever before advised me to deserve such a term.” - -“There you wrong me, Gerard. But I say no more. Pray heaven no harm -come of it. It was my duty to urge this counsel, but I knew you would -not so act;” and Pascal smiled. - -“To our plans then. Another messenger must be found to ride to Cambrai -with all the haste possible and carry this message to my cousin. -In it I have urged him to bring up the troops with all despatch. If -your courier of this morning gets first to hand, d’Alembert will be -already preparing; if not, this urgent message will hurry him. If our -messenger gets quickly to him some eight-and-forty hours should see him -without the city here; and I have told him to ride straight in unless -a messenger from me meets him with a further despatch. By nightfall, -on the day after to-morrow at latest, he should be here; and within -that short space no great harm can happen to either Mademoiselle de -Malincourt or to me, let this Governor do what he will.” - -“’Twould be a shrewder plan to get her to ride with you to Cambrai and -return with the troops,” said Pascal. - -“The thought has not escaped me; and it may come to it yet. We shall -see. Failing it, I have this plan: Let Dubois or yourself choose some -likely place in the city to which our fellows can be brought, so that -at need, should trouble come, we can make a stand.” - -“That is more to my liking,” said Pascal, gleefully. - -“And lastly for yourself, Pascal. Don’t return here, but don once more -your monk’s gown; and when the task I have given you is completed, go -to the Castle and keep your eyes open. There, if anywhere, trouble may -be looked for, and your ready wit will be most needed.” - -“You will at least let me be near you,” said Pascal earnestly. - -“I know your zeal and friendship too well to hesitate to send for -you at the first touch of danger. But I look for none of any serious -character. And now,” he broke off, rising, “it is time for this visit -to the Castle. I must find Mademoiselle de Malincourt.” - -Gabrielle was waiting for him and again urged him not to go. - -“I have a presentiment,” she said. “Let me dissuade you at the last -moment from this ill-omened daring.” - -“I should rather read the omens ill if I were to leave you or suffer -you to go alone, Gabrielle.” - -“Is there nothing I can say or do that will urge you to fly?” - -“Nothing, nothing; unless,” he added with a half-serious smile--“unless -you would share the flight. And that I cannot ask--yet.” - -She started and looked to read his face, and after a moment answered-- - -“I am a Malincourt, and my place, for good or ill, is in Morvaix.” - -“And where is mine if not by your side?” - -Nothing more was said, and they set out, Gabrielle so chilled by a -presentiment of danger that her look was serious and troubled. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -GABRIELLE’S FRIEND - - -The Duke carried away from Malincourt a heart bitter with jealousy and -black with anger, and he vented his passion upon de Proballe, whom he -chose to regard as the cause of all the trouble. - -“You have betrayed my confidence shamefully. You have doubtless your -own ends to gain, as that letter hinted; but they will cost you dear, -whatever they are, monsieur.” - -“Betrayed you? How?” asked de Proballe, exceedingly uneasy as he -thought his ulterior plans might be suspected. “What have I done other -than as we agreed?” - -“Did we agree that this scoundrel was so to arrange the manner of -his coming as to impress your niece in this way? Was he to flaunt -himself as a man of spirit and courage and impose thus on a young, -impressionable, high-minded girl?” - -“Did I order the manner of his coming? You wrong me entirely. His -secret coming was as much a surprise to me as an offence to you; and -that he was able to make this impression on Gabrielle was not my doing -but the blundering of your own men. Your soldiers first in the market -place; your followers, de Cavannes and d’Estelle, afterwards in their -attack upon Denys in Gabrielle’s very presence when Gerard was at hand.” - -“Would God they had killed him!” exclaimed the Duke brutally. “But -after the affair in the market place you should have told me.” - -“Nay, that is an even greater injustice than ever. Who of us even -guessed that the man was de Cobalt?” De Proballe’s tone was a good -imitation of injured innocence. - -“You have betrayed me, I say; and if the thing miscarries you shall -suffer,” returned the Governor, in no mood to listen to any reason. -“You should have stopped the mischief as soon as you saw it was going -so far.” - -“It happened but yesterday.” - -“God’s Cross! man, what has that to do with it? Is a mischief like this -to be counted by hours? Was it ever in our plan that the villain should -win your niece’s heart?” - -“He had at least to make such an impression as would induce her to -consent to marry him. It is but a passing fancy which the proof of his -evil character will cure--and his flight will prove it better than -aught else.” - -“Passing fancy!” exclaimed the Duke bitterly. “Are you blind? I know -not when I have so keenly suffered. But if he do not fly, he shall -suffer too.” - -“He is not fool enough to remain. It was a shrewd thought to give him -time to cool and think; and if he have any mind to linger, I will -find arguments to drive him away. He has yet to learn your methods of -justice here in Morvaix: I can find in them ample reasons for him. -Although why you let him go instead of dealing with him at once I do -not see.” - -“If he flies, his flight will be, as you say, the proof of his guilt.” - -“He will fly,” said de Proballe, confidently. “Did he not shun your -province as a man would shun hell? Did he not refuse to come without -that promise of pardon in writing? By a man’s acts you shall know him, -not by his words. Let him think of Gabrielle as he will, he will think -more of his own life. But I would have kept him.” - -“When his flight has proved his guilt he can be retaken for me to use.” - -De Proballe laughed. “You have a mercy of your own, Duke. I had not -thought of that. Stay, what if he were to use this interval of your -mercy to prevail on Gabrielle to fly with him? He is daredevil enough.” - -“She would never stoop to that, surely!” - -“Women are women, and when they are in--when a man influences them, I -mean, the best will do strange things.” - -“Return to Malincourt and watch, de Proballe. Your niece is to come -to the Castle two hours after noon. Make this flight impossible after -then; and after that I will see to it that no chance offers for her -to leave even the Castle itself. If the mad attempt be made, have the -scoundrel seized and brought to me.” - -De Proballe was by no means sorry to get away from the Governor in his -present mood, and returned to Malincourt to keep the watch; while the -Governor hurried on to the Castle to take further steps designed to -prevent this suggested flight; and some of them were to have important -results in another direction. - -He despatched a body of soldiers to watch round Malincourt, and at the -same time sent urgent commands to the officers of the different gates -of the city that no one was to be allowed to pass out without leave -signed by him. Thus it came about that the courier whom Pascal was -sending to Cambrai was stopped, and valuable time lost. - -The Governor, having completed these arrangements, was closeted for an -hour with his wife, and as soon as he heard, to his intense relief, -that Gabrielle had arrived at the Castle and was with the Duchess, he -sent for Dubois to sound him in regard to that part of the plan which -called for the aid of the Church. - -He was as hot now upon the scheme of divorcing his wife in order to be -free to marry again, as he had been formerly upon the other intention. - -The ruse by which Gerard had succeeded in getting a hundred of his own -soldiers enrolled among the Castle troops, by pretending that they -came as a gift from the Cardinal Archbishop, was thus having singular -results. The Governor read it as a proof that he stood so well with the -Cardinal that he could hope to receive his Eminence’s support in the -matter of the divorce; and as he concluded Dubois had been chosen as -the Cardinal’s delegate because of the latter’s confidence in him, here -was the very man at hand to sound on the matter. - -Dubois was a clever soldier and a brave fighter, and had been selected -by Gerard for his present task because his influence with the men was -most likely to keep them in bounds while in the Castle. He made a very -brusque unmonklike monk, however; and he now found himself in a very -awkward position. Moreover, he knew nothing of Gerard’s experiences -within the last few hours. - -He listened quietly to the Duke, and, seeing no connection between the -matter and any of Gerard’s affairs, felt no interest in it at all, and -gave his own opinion bluntly. He was a soldier, not a cleric; knew -little and cared less about the theological views as to the dissolution -of a tie cemented by a sacrament of the Church; and the only thought he -had about it was that as the Tiger Governor was such a tyrant, it was a -blessing and not a curse that he was childless--the point on which with -him the Duke laid the chief stress. - -“His Eminence would never sanction it, my lord,” he declared brusquely. -“It is against the Canon of Holy Church.” - -“But it has been sanctioned before now,” replied the Governor, and went -on to cite instances and to argue the matter. Dubois had, however, only -one reply to everything. - -“The Cardinal would never sanction it;” and his dogged insistence upon -this began at length to enrage the Governor, not a little to Dubois’ -grim amusement. - -“I would rather have the countenance of the Church, but in Morvaix -I am the head of the Church as of all else. I am wont to act first -and inquire afterwards in most things. It is simpler, and the end is -the same. This may be such a case. If I should seek your help as the -Cardinal’s representative you would give it?” - -“It is none of my affair,” replied Dubois hastily. - -“I repeat my question;” and the Governor looked at him meaningly. But -Dubois was the last man in the world to be browbeaten; and thus he -answered stolidly: - -“And I repeat my answer, my lord.” - -“I am not wont to be set at defiance by monk or priest.” - -“Nor I to be driven from my duty, my lord. I am not setting you at -defiance.” - -“My priests in Morvaix do not answer me thus.” - -“I am not your lordship’s priest.” - -“You will at least keep silence about what has passed between us.” - -“Unless my duty demand that I should speak of it.” - -“What is that but threatening me and defying me?” The Governor’s anger -was mounting fast in view of what he deemed the monk’s contumacy, and -Dubois was no less dogged and blunt. - -“If what you propose to do be right, what need is there for silence; if -it be wrong, why should my lips be sealed?” he answered. - -“Secrets confided to the ears of you holy men are to be regarded as -sacred.” - -“This is no such occasion. You sought my opinion and I gave it. That is -all. My duty is my duty, none the less or more.” - -“Peace with your canting about duty. You are in Morvaix now, and I -will settle what is your duty. I rule here, absolutely.” - -“I am not disputing your rule, my lord; but I was not sent here to do -your bidding or to cease to do what I deem my duty.” - -“Out of my sight. It is such canting hypocrites as you who sow discord -and do mischief. See to it that you hold your babbling tongue, or I’ll -find means to silence you.” But Dubois fired at this injustice and -answered hotly-- - -“I am no canting hypocrite, my lord, nor am I a recreant coward to -flinch and cringe before your angry looks and passionate words. They do -but convince me that in this thing you have some evil purpose; and not -in Morvaix, no, nor in all France, is there power to silence me if I -think I ought to speak.” - -“Out of my presence before I send for my guards to drive you away for a -pestilent ribald malcontent.” - -“I came of your seeking, not of my own wish,” returned Dubois, not one -whit abashed by the Governor’s violence. - -“If I have cause to send for you again you will repent it.” - -“I am in no ways persuaded of that,” returned Dubois, sturdily; and -he swung out of the room, little thinking that he had done harm to -Gerard by his manful attitude. Yet in a way he had; for the Governor, -revolving what had passed, determined not to take the risk of applying -to the Cardinal, but to hurry on his marriage, and leave the Church to -interfere when it would have the accomplished fact to face. - -Had Dubois but known, he would have been more prudent to have appeared -to consent to the Governor’s plans and to have held out to him the hope -of the Cardinal’s consent, so that he might have been induced to incur -the delay necessary to obtain it. He saw this when Gerard pointed it -out to him later. But it was too late then. - -In the meantime the Duchess had received Gabrielle with even greater -tenderness and love than usual; and it was some time before she began -to work round slowly to the subject of the Duke’s wishes. - -“I am old, feeble, and bed-ridden, Gabrielle, and worse than all, -childless. I am done with the world, dear, and willing to give place to -one who can play my part better. It would have been better, far better, -had I died years ago.” - -“Then I should have lacked the truest woman friend a girl could have,” -answered Gabrielle sweetly. “But you must not yield to this melancholy. -You have been in greater pain than usual, I fear, and it has tried you.” - -“Not of body, child, but of mind, perhaps,” and she sighed. “It is ill -to lag on and on, a weary dreary nuisance to all around you. There -comes a time when it is good to die.” - -“You are morbid. Something has distressed you. Tell me,” and Gabrielle -sat on the bedside and took her friend’s hand. - -“I have been a failure, child. I see it now; and see how the people -under the Duke’s rule have suffered in consequence. The Duke himself -has shown me this.” - -“The Duke?” exclaimed Gabrielle in surprise. - -“The influence of a woman’s hand in his governing has been sadly -missed. He loved me once, child, and then I could sway him, hard though -he now seems. But when I bore him no children and my helplessness fell -on me, an estrangement grew between us and from that followed, oh, so -many evils.” She sighed deeply, and paused before she added: “Yet he -has shown me it is not too late, even now.” - -“I cannot follow you now, dear,” said Gabrielle. - -“A noble without a son to succeed him lacks one of the great -incentives to do right, Gabrielle. He turns his thoughts inwards, -broods, thinks only of himself, and grows the harder for the galling -grief and disappointment. It has been so with the Duke. If I had but -died years ago, when first my calamity struck me down, he would have -taken another wife who would have borne him children. Would God indeed -that I had died!” - -Gabrielle said nothing. Deep down in her mind the thought began to take -shape that there was some purpose behind her friend’s words--some new -cause to bring this side of her sufferings to the light just now. - -“I used to pray so earnestly for a son,” the Duchess continued, after a -painful pause; “but none came; and I was thus so unneeded, so less than -useless; a clog, a drag, a dead weight in his life. I could not wonder -he grew cold, and that in time the coldness hardened into cruelty. -I stood for no more than the disappointment in his life.” She spoke -in a slow, leaden, hopeless, melancholy tone, infinitely touching to -Gabrielle. “It is a dreary fate for a wife, child, to stir no other -feeling in her husband’s heart than that of disappointment and to see -it hardening slowly into hate. Had I but dared at that time I would -have taken my life. But I was a coward. I dared not find freedom in -that way.” - -“Did the Duke know of these thoughts?” asked Gabrielle, keeping her -face averted. - -“Whether he could read mine as I could read his, I know not. I saw -him only rarely. This has been so for many years indeed. That he -should speak often of our childlessness, should even taunt me with -it, was perhaps no more than natural--and yet every word was like a -sword-thrust in my heart. More than once I made him a proposal.” - -“Yes?” - -“It was my own thought,” continued the Duchess, smoothing Gabrielle’s -hair and petting her. “Quite my own. You know how the idea of -self-sacrifice will sometimes seize upon us women till it becomes -almost a desire. It was so with me. I knew it would be so well for -Morvaix if he could have some one by his side, heart-warm in the desire -to help the people, strong in influence to modify the ever growing -sternness of his rule by gentle suasive counsel--he is at heart a man -amenable to such influence, Gabrielle--and able to take a due part in -the work of government: a helpmeet in all ways. So I urged him to gain -the sanction of Holy Church to dissolve our marriage, on the ground of -our childlessness, and seek--another and a better wife.” - -“My dear, my dear,” cried Gabrielle, intensely moved. “Where could he -find a better in all fair France than you? He refused you, of course.” - -“Yes--then; and not kindly, but with a gibe--that he had not found -marriage an experience he wished to double. It wounded me of course -to have what I meant in all sincerity to be a help to him thus turned -to jeering; but he did not understand my motive, I think. But now he -has gone back to the plan; for there is one, a woman among women, -Gabrielle, who would be all that Morvaix could desire as his wife. And -the one of all others whom I could best bear to see filling my place.” - -She paused for Gabrielle to speak; but no response came. - -“Her heart, like mine, is for the people’s weal and her influence would -be far greater than mine could ever have been with the citizens; real, -powerful, active, where mine is now dead. You have often told me how -you love the people, Gabrielle.” - -“You must say no more,” answered Gabrielle, in a low firm voice. “I -will not affect to misunderstand you, and I know you speak in all -purity of thought and intent. But were all other considerations naught, -I would never do you this wrong.” - -“He and all would honour you if you were his wife, Gabrielle.” - -“Nay, I should dishonour myself. I beg you say no more.” - -“You would be all-powerful to rule in Morvaix.” - -“Were the throne of France the guerdon I would not consent.” - -“Your heart is free, child?” The gentle eyes were full on Gabrielle’s -face as the question was put, and the light that rushed to it did not -escape them. “Gabrielle, my Gabrielle, I did not know;” and at that -Gabrielle lowered her head and hid it on her friend’s heart. “Pray -heaven he is worthy of you. Tell me, child. Or is it a secret?” - -“No secret,” said Gabrielle, lifting her head proudly. “My cousin, -Gerard de Cobalt----” - -“Gabrielle, not he, surely not he, I trust,” interposed the Duchess, -in a tone of dismay. “Oh, how I am punished for not having spoken my -fears. Since last we spoke together of him and his coming, I have heard -ill tidings indeed concerning him, but put off speaking to warn you -until I could be certain. He is not worthy of you, child; far, far from -it.” - -“You have not seen him and spoken with him, or you would not say that.” - -“When did he come?” - -“But yesterday; or rather, two days past;” and Gabrielle told of the -meeting in the market place and after at Malincourt. - -“It is a tragedy,” was the Duchess’s comment. “And you love him! Oh, -Gabrielle, Gabrielle, what sorrow is there not in store for you!” - -“Not through him,” was the confident reply. - -“Alas! child, what do you know of men who judge them by a comely face -and a fair-speaking tongue? When could a man not speak a maiden fairly? -Have they not told you of his evil life? Of the crime for which he -craved the Duke’s pardon fore ever he set foot in the city?” - -“My heart is closed to the voice of slander against him, dear,” replied -Gabrielle, in the same proud confident tone. - -“How like a maiden in love! But alas! my child, I know these things are -true. His life is forfeit for the one deed--but one among many in his -black life. Oh, Gabrielle, how terrible, how terrible! It will break -your life even worse than mine has been broken.” - -“I have neither fears for him nor doubts for myself.” - -“When the heart is young how easy to be confident. How sad and more -than sad is all this! And here, then, is the reason why my words found -your ears deaf, is it?” - -“Only in part. Had I never seen Gerard, my answer had been the same.” - -The Duchess sighed and shivered slightly in fear. - -“The Duke will hear your decision unwillingly, Gabrielle; and it will -harden his heart against the man who thus comes between you and him. -Your cup of suffering will be full indeed even while you are so young. -He had built upon this marriage; thinking by it to join the influence -of your house of Malincourt with his.” - -“I recall now how he spoke of my having some influence in the governing -of the city, and of some sacrifice to be made by me. This may have been -in his thoughts; and yet almost in the same breath he had spoken of my -marriage to my cousin. ’Twas inexplicable to me then, and is even more -so now. Yet the thing was not more possible then than now. Did death -itself gape full in front of me, I would not be his wife.” There was no -mistaking the unalterable firmness of her decision. - -“You have an honest heart and soul, Gabrielle, and were I you, and so -placed as you, I should decide as you.” - -“You uphold me, then?” - -“I told the Duke I was sure what your reply would be when he laid on me -the ungrateful task of questioning you. Yet in a way I am sorry; for if -it be not you, it may be some one less worthy, to the hurt of all in -Morvaix.” - -“And if need should come, you will stand by me as to my cousin?” - -“Have I ever failed you when I had the power to help? But in this I am -powerless. It would be wrong to give you fruitless hope. Were he but a -good man, worthy of your sweet pure love, how gladly would I serve you, -if serve any one I can in my helplessness.” - -Gabrielle smiled. “I will prove him worthy--nay, not I, he himself will -prove it to Morvaix and the world; and then I will claim your promise.” - -“Nor claim it in vain, Gabrielle; that you know. And now let us speak -of less trying matters. I am weary,” said the Duchess, and they were -thus engaged when the Governor entered. - -Gabrielle rose, and the Duke first cast a sharp questioning glance at -his wife’s face-- - -“I am always glad to find you here, mademoiselle. I trust you have had -long enough time to come to an understanding?” - -“I have done my utmost, Charles,” said the Duchess, shrinkingly. - -“I ask no more. May I beg some words with you, mademoiselle?” - -“Except on one subject, certainly,” replied Gabrielle. - -“We will discuss the exceptions in private,” he returned with a frown. - -“I beg you to excuse me, my lord.” - -His answer was characteristic. He opened the door leading to an -adjoining room and held it for her to pass out. - -“Pardon me my insistence. What I have to say must be in private and -cannot wait.” - -For a moment Gabrielle rebelled, raising her head proudly and meeting -his gaze firmly. - -“I repeat, must be in private, mademoiselle,” he said, adding as an -afterthought: “And it cannot fail to interest you, seeing whom it -concerns.” - -She went then and he followed, maintaining silence until they were -alone. - -“There must be no misunderstanding between us, my lord,” cried -Gabrielle, at once throwing down the gauge of defiance. “The -Duchess, your wife and my dear friend, has at your instigation made -me acquainted with your proposal--a proposal I deem infamous and -unholy--and no power you can exert can bring me even to consider it. I -pray you spare me the pain of any further reference to it.” - -“You are wrong to meet me thus at the outset with antagonism. You have -heard as yet but one side only, and must bear with me while I speak of -the other. I am far from being your enemy, Heaven knows.” - -“While matters remain as they are, I cannot count your lordship among -my friends.” - -“Those are hard words to hear, mademoiselle. You mean?” - -“I mean the slanders you have sanctioned against my cousin and the -threats with which you have menaced him. His cause is mine; his enemies -are my enemies.” - -He made a stern, angry gesture, but held his temper in check. - -“The Duchess has told you my wishes--that of her own will and at her -own desire our marriage should be dissolved, in order that you may -become my wife. But my full motive she could not tell you because she -does not know it. It is--that I love you, Gabrielle; love, aye, worship -the very ground you tread and the very air you breathe. For me all -France holds no----” - -“Spare me this added shame, my lord,” Gabrielle broke in, her voice -vibrating and her eyes flaming with indignation. - -“Shame!” he repeated, with an angry start. - -“What is it but shame, the wrong you would do to the purest and -sweetest wife man ever had; what else but shame that you should offer -to prostrate your government to your own purposes; what but foulest -shame that almost within hearing of the woman you would thus wrong -you seek to pollute my ears with this infamous profession? If there -be a spark of manhood in you, kindle it till it light up your soul -sufficiently to save you and me from this unholy degradation.” - -“Your passion but whets my love, Gabrielle. I am not a man to be set -aside from a purpose once formed. My purpose is now set--you shall be -my wife; and neither man nor devil nor God shall turn me.” - -“I have but one word, then. I hold your offer to be vile and degrading, -and I would rather die than falter for an instant in repudiating it.” - -“You will not turn me,” he repeated. “I have offered you my love--a -love that burns in me as a consuming fire--and you think to put it -aside with indignation and contempt. But there are other emotions -fighting for me than love. And fear is one of them.” - -“I do not fear your lordship,” flashed Gabrielle, with lofty pride. - -“Yet there is none in Morvaix to protect you from me.” - -“My cousin Gerard----” - -“He has fled the city, like the craven, guilty, worthless wretch he -is,” he answered contemptuously. - -“It is not true, my lord. He is here in your castle. He came with me, -foreseeing more clearly than I the purpose with which you brought me -here. He came for my protection. And he is no craven guilty wretch as -you say, but a good and true man: the man, my lord, whom I love, and -whose wife I shall be, by the grace of God.” - -He stood fighting with the tempest of rage which this proud avowal -provoked and was still striving for self-restraint, when an -interruption occurred. Some one came to the door, and when, with an -angry exclamation, he opened it, he found a messenger from de Proballe. - -“Your Grace, M. le Baron de Proballe desires me to say that he seeks -the favour of an immediate audience with you on matters of the most -urgent importance affecting closely M. de Cobalt,” said the man. - -“He has not fled, you say?” cried the Duke, turning to Gabrielle, and -jumping to the conclusion that that was the news. His manner was full -of exultation, and he laughed unpleasantly as he added: “Come and see -for yourself.” - -Together they went down to where de Proballe was waiting with strange -news that had brought him in hot haste to the Castle. - -At the sight of her uncle’s face and the triumphant glance he cast at -her, Gabrielle felt her heart sink in momentary fear for Gerard; but -she rallied quickly and faced them both with a confident smile as she -waited for the tidings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -DISCOVERY - - -While Gabrielle was closeted with the Duchess Gerard had made the best -use of his time to learn what he could of the Governor’s Castle. - -Well placed on rising ground just within the northern gate, it had in -former times been a strong fortress, at once overawing Morvaix itself -and commanding the approach from the north, the side which was most -open to attack. Its outer fortifications formed a long portion of the -boundary walls of the city; and in the more desperate times when that -district had been constantly overrun by raiders, many a fierce and -desperate conflict had raged round its gloomy walls. - -Gerard saw, not without uneasiness, that the Governor had restored many -of the old fortifications, had constructed several more modern works, -and had thus greatly strengthened the place. - -The reason was not far to seek. The Duke ruled by force. He ground the -people under the iron heel of military discipline; and so long as he -was sure of the strength of his Castle and could maintain his soldiers, -the people were powerless. They might protest and murmur and even rise -in revolt; but under the frowning menace of the Castle, they were -helpless. - -Every piece of the military machinery was kept in a high state of -preparedness for eventualities, and Gerard’s keen soldier’s eye could -not fail to note all the evidences of strength and to estimate them at -their true value. Whatever the Duke might be, he was a good soldier. -Everything about the Castle was regulated with military precision. - -Stranger though he was, no one attempted to interfere with him or -even hinder him as he made his observations. He had been seen to -arrive with Gabrielle, and as the Duke had never deemed it possible he -would venture inside the fortress and had therefore given no orders -concerning him, he was held to be a guest who had been made free of the -Castle, and was allowed to go where he would. - -The knowledge gained in this survey might prove invaluable. The plan -of the whole Castle was soon clear in his mind and he detected the -one weak spot in the defences against which, should the time come, an -attack could best be delivered. - -This was at a point on the city side of the walls where some works were -still in progress. The ground outside rose to within a few feet of the -parapet on the top, and gangs of men were at work there: some removing -the ground and others deepening the foundations of the walls, while -their ladders and tools lay about the place. - -Gerard smiled with intense satisfaction at the discovery, which -might well have vital importance. If a crisis arose which rendered -it imperative for him to make a stand against the Governor for a -time while awaiting the arrival of his cousin from Cambrai, Dubois -could easily collect the men within the Castle and with them make a -dash through this breach; or again, if he himself were put under any -restraint by the Duke, here was the road of escape. - -With these thoughts in his mind he made the most careful observation of -the exact position of the spot, and then descended from the walls to -the courtyards below to find the speediest and most direct road to it. - -He had completed his survey and was entering the Castle when he -encountered Dubois fresh from his interview with the Governor and -seething with indignation at his treatment. - -“My lord!” exclaimed Dubois involuntarily, in surprise. - -“Good day, holy friar,” answered Gerard, with a gesture of caution. -“I have heard of your good deeds and would confer with you,” he added -aloud for the hearing of a couple of soldiers who were passing. - -“We can speak here,” said Dubois, drawing aside into an alcove; and -in rapid tones he told of all he had done since his arrival, and then -described the interview with the Governor. - -“You did well, but could have done better,” said Gerard, after a -moment’s pause. “You should have led him to think the sanction would -have been forthcoming from the Cardinal, and so have gained time. But -it is vain to speak of that now. Listen to my plans.” He told him the -result of his observation, and instructed him to ascertain exactly what -guard was kept at the works by night, to have some of their own men -always watching near at hand, and above all to be sure that ladders -were to be available there so that no time should be lost in case of -emergency. - -“I too have a plan,” said Dubois. “The soldiers here are but a wild -mercenary lot, dissatisfied with everything; disaffected toward the -Duke and their officers; any man’s men who will but pay them. With a -few bags of crowns, many of them could be bought and the Castle itself -seized. Even among those who could not be bought, the men of Morvaix -itself and the district round, there are many who hate the Governor for -his excesses and, in their sympathy with the people outside, are ripe -to revolt.” - -“Splendidly done!” said Gerard. “I knew you would not be housed in -the Castle without results. I like the scheme. ’Twould be a stroke -indeed to vanquish this strutting cock with his own spurs. Push your -inquiries all you can in safety, using every discretion, and we will -speak of it again.” - -“Ah, my fine cavalier, so we meet again. Seeking absolution from our -new sir priest here, eh?” - -Gerard turned quickly at the sneering voice to find that the two -gallants whom he had surprised in their attack upon Denys, had come -up unawares and now stood regarding Dubois and himself with sharp -suspicious glances. - -“Is the Duke dead that his serving men have come to power?” retorted -Gerard. “Or is either of you minded to renew the affair of the gardens -of Malincourt?” - -“We are minded to see what the rats are about in the Castle, whatever -the colour of their coats.” It was d’Estelle who answered. He was pale -and weak, and carried his arm in a sling. - -“You are wounded, monsieur, and so licensed for a time in your -insolence. But you, monsieur,” and Gerard made a step toward Antoine. -“You are still unhurt. Do you carry also an uncivil tongue? If I know -not how your tongue runs, since I have not heard it yet, I know at -least how your legs run, for I have seen them.” - -“This is no brawler’s tavern,” cried d’Estelle, insolently. “You are -out of your element here.” - -“Peace,” interposed Dubois, in his sonorous tones. “Be careful of such -wanton provocation. I have known men’s blood to flow for less. You -should guard your tongue, young sir.” - -“All right, bald pate,” cried d’Estelle with a flippant laugh. - -“You have said nothing, monsieur,” said Gerard to Antoine. - -“Peace, my son, peace,” said Dubois again, laying his hand on Gerard’s -shoulder. “Would you, too, provoke strife?” - -“Good, old Tell-your-beads. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for -such a gander,” exclaimed d’Estelle, with another laugh. - -“These gentlemen and I have met before, father,” said Gerard. “I -prevented them from murdering a man, and they bear me ill-will in -consequence.” - -“It was no murder but a fair quarrel, monsieur,” said Antoine. - -“Fair? With two swords to one?” - -“I caught M. St. Jean maltreating a lady who is dear to me, and did but -seek to punish him as he deserved.” - -“When I see a liar I watch his lips and listen. I am watching yours, -monsieur,” said Gerard, contemptuously. “You were set to murder him and -for that purpose rode after him yester morning.” Antoine changed colour -and d’Estelle was silent. - -“Be careful what you say, monsieur,” replied Antoine, hoarsely. “We are -the Duke’s followers and this is his lordship’s Castle.” - -“If you do not like my words, monsieur, there is an alternative which -men of honour understand,” retorted Gerard, in a deliberate tone, and -with a look which Antoine had little mind to face. - -“If I do not seek a fight with you, it is not because I fear you,” he -answered, in none too firm a tone; “but because there may be a way more -useful to my master to deal with you.” - -“I appreciate your discretion, and should I need a spy, may send in -quest of your services.” Then turning his back upon the pair he added -to Dubois: “Now, father, we will resume our discussion of that point -about Thomas à Kempis. I was arguing in regard to the warning against -apostasy that----” - -“Those vermin may be dangerous. They suspect,” put in Dubois as they -passed out of earshot. - -“A risk or so more or less at this crisis does not count for much; but -try to have them marked. They are two of this Tiger’s claws and would -scratch from behind given the chance.” - -Just then a noise behind them attracted Gerard’s attention, and turning -he saw de Proballe, with Dauban at his side, hurrying toward the -apartments of the Governor. - -“Ah, Gerard, I find you in good company here!” said de Proballe in a -cordial tone, pausing on his way. “I have great news. It concerns you.” - -“How so, M. le Baron?” - -“What a formal fellow you are, with your M. le Baron. We must get to -closer terms than these. I’m taking my news to the Governor. Come with -me. Give me your arm, lad.” - -“I thank you, monsieur, but it is not my wish.” - -“Oh, Gerard, Gerard,” cried de Proballe, with a laugh. “You will never -push your way in this good city of Morvaix while you show yourself so -cold and indifferent. Well, well, come to the Duke or go to the--Church -your own way. It’s all one to me,” and with a laugh he swept on. He was -in high spirits. - -“There is some meaning in this,” muttered Gerard, gazing after him. -“Go you, Dubois, and see to all I have said. I will make my way to the -Duke. ‘When de Proballe laughs there is the devil by his elbow,’ was -once a proverb in Paris, and it may be just as true in Morvaix.” - -Without appearing to hasten, he followed de Proballe, keeping a wary -eye for all things as he passed along, and quickened his steps when -he caught sight of the Governor in the distance in conference with -de Proballe, while Gabrielle, her back toward him, was watching them -closely. - -The Governor had come down in response to de Proballe’s urgent message -in the firm belief that the news was that of Gerard’s flight and his -first question was to that effect. - -“He has gone?” he asked eagerly. - -“A word first into your ear;” and de Proballe drew him aside. “Gone? -No, thank Heaven! better than that, much better. He is here in the -Castle. I have spoken to him this minute.” - -“Has he dared?” exclaimed the Governor with a frown. - -“Dared? It seems he would dare anything. Wait, here he is,” he cried, -catching sight of Gerard. “Now you shall see a comedy. Come, Gerard, -come; I was waiting for you. I want your help.” - -Hearing of his presence Gabrielle turned and ran to Gerard and stood by -him. - -“What is this?” demanded the Governor of de Proballe. - -“Bear with me and have your guards at hand, and you will see,” was the -whispered reply. - -“They are always at hand here,” was the curt grim reply. - -De Proballe went toward Gerard, a smile on his lips. - -“So you have not followed our advice, Gerard, and fled. You like the -city and the Castle? Perhaps you were seeking ghostly advice just now -from that sturdy monk? I found our young friend in close consultation -with a monk as I passed, Duke. Preparing, let us think, for that longer -journey which you mentioned as the alternative to flight from the city.” - -De Proballe was obviously enjoying the situation and resolved to make -the most of it. - -“Who was the monk? Do you know him?” asked the Governor quickly. - -“He who came from the Cardinal Archbishop, the delegate. Gerard, it -seems, is particular as to who shall shrive him. Our Morvaix priests -are not good enough. The conference lasted long, too; at least so -Antoine de Cavannes told me.” - -The Governor shot a sharp glance at Gerard, who said to Gabrielle-- - -“The monk is one of those whom I met two days ago in the market place, -Gabrielle, when Babillon, the smith, was done to death at my lord’s -bidding.” He spoke quietly and calmly. “You may remember him; a dark, -swarthy, burly man who helped you. The companion of him who stepped -between us and the soldiery.” - -“I remember him well,” answered Gabrielle. She was oppressed by a sense -of danger, impalpable and invisible, but yet real. - -“That is all,” said Gerard, with a smile to reassure her. - -“Of what spoke you together?” asked the Governor. - -“May not a man speak even with a monk in Morvaix without the Governor’s -permission? ’Twould seem not indeed; for even while we were in -converse, those two jackals who sought to take your Denys’ life, -Gabrielle, came up with flouts and jeers and sneers, as though licensed -to insult even men of a religious life. I think in truth this is a -matter that concerns you closely, my lord.” - -“How dare you say that to me?” - -“What daring is there in it? I answered the fellow--the one that is yet -unwounded--told him my thoughts of him and offered him such reparation -as he could take; when he turned upon me and hinted that such insolence -as his was possible by your protection and permission. He is yonder; -let him come and answer for himself;” and Gerard pointed to where -Antoine and d’Estelle were standing at a distance. - -“Enough of this insolence,” exclaimed the Governor. - -“So I told him,” replied Gerard coolly; “scarce believing it possible -such things could be done with your sanction.” - -De Proballe had been fretting at this interlude in which he was not -taking the important part he desired. - -“You need a curb to your tongue, Gerard,” he said. - -“Does M. de Proballe desire an opportunity of applying it?” - -“What a fire-eater it is!” cried de Proballe, hiding his vexation under -a laugh, “and what a wit! Where did you learn to be so free with your -tongue?” - -“Not in Morvaix of a truth, where every one must order his speech to -suit the ears of his Governor, it seems.” - -“Gerard!” whispered Gabrielle, with growing alarm at his reckless -answers. - -“Yet there are things in Morvaix that we can teach persons of even your -high character!” exclaimed the Governor sharply. - -“I have already learnt many, my lord,” was the dry retort. - -“One you will learn. Thou shalt do no murder,” added de Proballe. - -“That is certainly a branch of knowledge with many expert professors -here,” returned Gerard, with the same reckless air. - -His manner was intentionally assumed. He had not failed to discern from -de Proballe’s manner that some development was at hand, which boded -danger; and he chose deliberately the attitude of reckless defiance -of all authority. Intrepid by nature, he had often seen danger met -and difficulties overcome by boldness, when no other means could have -succeeded. - -His bearing toward the Governor, despot though he was in Morvaix, was -carefully calculated. As a Bourbon and the son of the Suzerain Duke, -with full authority to act in his father’s place, this Governor owed -him allegiance, and he believed he had but to reveal his true character -to bring the bully to his knees. - -Moreover, his hot Bourbon blood was fired by the insults heaped upon -him as well as by the infamous condition of affairs he had found in -Morvaix. - -But above all, and more than all, his chivalry was stirred on -Gabrielle’s account; and his new-born love for her filled his heart -with fury against the two men who had plotted her ruin and had turned -their venom against him only when they found he was no pliant tool in -their abominable scheme. - -The Governor on his side was no whit less angry, and only Gabrielle’s -presence had restrained him from replying to Gerard’s taunts with -violence. He meant to use Gerard as the means to force her consent to -marry him; and had resolved that he should not leave the Castle until -that consent had been wrung from her. - -This very resolve, however, made him hesitate. To give him countenance -with her, the crime which Gerard had committed must be the ground -for imprisonment; and while he smarted and fumed and raged under the -lash of Gerard’s bitter words, he had held back. But the limit of -his endurance was reached; and as a first step he resolved to send -Gabrielle away. - -There was a pause of some moments after Gerard’s last words while the -Governor made this decision, and then he turned to Gabrielle. - -“Mademoiselle, I must ask you to return to my wife for a time.” - -“Do not go, Gabrielle, there is no need,” declared Gerard. - -“He is right, my lord, there is no need,” said de Proballe. - -“This must end,” muttered the Governor. - -“It shall end--now. Come, Gerard, I have spoken of your sharp wits. Let -us see you use them now. Tell me the contents of this,” and de Proballe -held a paper before him. - -“I am no wizard to read what I cannot see, monsieur.” - -“No wizard; you hear that, Duke. No wizard. Yet something of a wizard -surely--to _write_ what you have never seen.” - -Gerard on the instant understood what had occurred, but his face gave -no sign and he stared steadily into de Proballe’s sneering face. - -“Come, Gerard, come. You must know it. It is your own letter just -arrived from you.” - -The Governor understood it now, and with evidences of great excitement -he tore the paper from de Proballe’s hand and read it. - -He glanced from it to Gerard, and smiled--a smile full of sinister -meaning. - -“Do you say you do not know this?” - -Gerard maintained the same calm collected attitude. He was considering -what course to adopt. - -“You hear? Either you know what is written here or you are some lying -impostor masquerading in a false name.” - -“Gerard! Gerard!” cried Gabrielle, intensely moved. - -“Aye, Gerard--or some other name,” sneered de Proballe. “Ask his name, -Gabrielle.” - -“Now, monsieur, at once if you please,” said the Governor, in a stern -imperative tone. “Speak, or I call my guards. Do you know this paper? -If not, who are you and why are you here?” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -“I AM NOT GERARD DE COBALT” - - -Of all present Gabrielle was by far the most agitated. The Duke, -perplexed, suspicious, and bitterly hostile to the man who had stepped -between him and his passion, was chiefly concerned to find how best -to turn the thing to his rival’s hurt. De Proballe, angry at having -been tricked, was for the moment too occupied in enjoying his personal -importance in having thus unmasked the impostor, to think of much else. - -But to Gabrielle the issue was all in all. If this were not Gerard her -cousin, the man to whom she had been betrothed, how strangely forward -and unmaidenly she must have appeared. She recalled with a sense of -something akin to shame how she had almost pressed herself upon him in -the first moment of his arrival; and at the recollection, her cheeks -flamed so that she hid them beneath her hands and involuntarily drew -away from his side. - -It was but a little thing, that gesture of hers; but Gerard saw and -understood it, and on the moment it stayed the words of avowal even as -they were at his lips, and changed the whole course of his action. He -had come to Morvaix to ascertain the truth as to the misgovernment and, -if need arose, to depose and punish the powerful Governor; but his love -for Gabrielle was now so much to him and filled so much of his purpose, -that he set it first and before all else. - -He had won her love by a trick, an imposture. He had been in great -measure forced into it by circumstances, indeed, and by his very zeal -in her cause. But it was none the less a trick; and he was too proud, -having won it so, to hold it by mere greatness of rank. He would not -avow that rank until he had justified himself in Gabrielle’s eyes. - -And even as he thought of this and formed the resolve, another -consideration occurred to him. He could by this means still further -test the methods of rule in Morvaix. He had had ample evidence of the -Governor’s willingness to wrest the considerations of justice to his -own personal ends; but it would throw a fresh light upon matters to -note his conduct when he knew that the man he had first used and then -threatened was not the cowardly murderer the real Gerard de Cobalt was -said to be. - -“Do you intend to trifle all day with me?” demanded the Governor, when -Gerard had remained silent some time. - -“I am not trifling, but thinking,” answered Gerard. At his calm strong -tone Gabrielle took her hands from her face and with another eager, -almost imploring glance, made a half step toward him, and then checked -herself in deep embarrassment. - -“You have need to think, I’ll warrant,” exclaimed de Proballe. - -But it was to Gabrielle Gerard turned. - -“You have no need to shrink from me, mademoiselle,” he said with a -smile, “although I can understand you. I fear I must plead guilty to -having deceived you. I am not the writer of that letter. I am not your -cousin, Gerard de Cobalt.” - -“So you see that game is over,” sneered de Proballe. “What lie next, -pray? You will not find us so easy to be fooled now.” - -“If I am not Gerard de Cobalt, monsieur,” cried Gerard, sternly, “you -will still find I am a man who does not take insults lightly. For your -past words I forgive you, because of your natural irritation at this -discovery. But for your future words and conduct I shall hold you -responsible--every word and every act.” - -“You will of course explain your conduct, monsieur, and state as -frankly as you can who you are and your purpose in my city. See to it -that the explanation be as satisfactory as your present position is -equivocal.” The Governor’s tone was curt and peremptory. - -“The explanation is due to Mademoiselle de Malincourt, and I promise -you it shall be frank enough in some respects to satisfy even you. -I had a sufficient object in coming to Morvaix--what that is for -the present I withhold--and to accomplish it I took a name not my -own. I borrowed it at hazard from a notorious dicer and wastrel of -Paris--Raouf de Cobalt.” - -“But you called yourself Gerard de Cobalt,” said the Duke. - -“In ignorance that he had a relative of that name--an even worse -scoundrel, it would seem, than himself--whom you and M. de Proballe -designed to use for your schemes.” - -“Do you think to carry off this imposture with insolence?” demanded the -Duke angrily. - -“It is not insolence. I have no cause to hide the truth, monsieur. I -had been in Morvaix but a few hours when I was a witness of the scene -in the market place, and we met for the first time, mademoiselle. I -inquired concerning you, and learning that you were the Gabrielle de -Malincourt whose praises were on all men’s lips, I haunted the gardens -of the maison in the hope of seeing you again. There we met, yesterday, -for the second time--and you may remember my passing confusion when you -questioned me as to the reasons for what seemed such strange conduct -in a man you believed to be your cousin and for whose coming you were -prepared.” - -“You did not tell me all, monsieur,” said Gabrielle. - -“You shall know why. I was on the point of doing so when M. de Proballe -interrupted us, and carrying me away, told me enough to disclose to me -the peril which threatened you.” - -“Yes, yes, we know all about that,” interposed de Proballe hastily. - -“Mademoiselle de Malincourt does not. You read the letter yesterday -of which your follower Denys had in some way possessed himself, -mademoiselle, and I need only say that that contained in essence the -story of this de Cobalt which M. de Proballe told me at length, adding -that my marriage with you was to be no more or less than a cover for -your ruin at the hands of the Duke de Rochelle.” - -“It is a lie,” cried the Governor furiously. - -“Then blame the liar, M. le Duc. There he stands,” and Gerard pointed -at de Proballe. - -“It is a tissue of lies,” said de Proballe. “You know me too well, -Gabrielle, to believe this vile slander.” - -“There you mistake. It is I, not Mademoiselle de Malincourt, who know -you. I know M. de Proballe’s life and reputation in Paris.” - -“This shall go no further. Your name, monsieur?” demanded the Governor. - -“Does not touch the truth or falsehood of what I say, and need not -therefore be disclosed yet. I shall choose my own time to disclose it.” - -“You will tell it now, or suffer the consequences.” - -“I do not understand. Do you threaten me?” - -“By your own confession you have come sneaking here in an assumed name; -as a spy of some sort. We soldiers have a short shrift for spies.” - -“Monsieur----” began Gabrielle, in a tone of entreaty, alarmed for -Gerard’s safety, and a prey to many mingled emotions. - -“I have committed no offence, mademoiselle, save in having misled you -to believe I was a worse man than I am. For that I have to crave your -pardon, pleading only in excuse the reasons I have shown. For the rest, -I have done no wrong,” he said, meeting confidently the Governor’s -threatening looks. - -“You are a spy, monsieur, and as a spy shall be treated.” - -“It is no uncommon thing for strangers to travel without disclosing -their names. Is that a crime in Morvaix which is a common practice all -over France and Europe?” - -“Do you say now you are naught but a traveller?” - -“Far from it. I have a purpose in coming to your city.” - -“Then you are a spy, I say.” - -“I am no spy, monsieur. I am a soldier. A true son of France with none -but pure French blood in my veins; and a loyal subject of His Majesty -the King, of whom we are all subjects in common. I have fought under -the great Bourbon, the Suzerain of this city and the territory of -Morvaix. To hold me for a spy will argue ill of Morvaix and the rule -that prevails here.” - -“You dare to threaten me, then?” - -“Monsieur has doubtless his papers to support his statements and a safe -conduct from his powerful friends,” suggested de Proballe, with a sneer. - -“Aye, of course, produce them,” declared the Governor. “They may -explain the suspicious manner of your coming.” - -“I can make good my words at any time,” said Gerard, not relishing this -thrust. “The manner of my coming was my own choosing. But since I have -been here your lordship must have seen for yourself my acts have been -far from those of a spy.” - -De Proballe stepped forward and whispered eagerly to the Governor. - -“Is that so, indeed? I hear that even now you have been seen making -careful observations of our Castle and the fortifications. You can of -course explain so singular and apt a curiosity? Apt, I mean, as fitting -with the conduct of a spy.” - -“Are the soldiers of France forbidden even to look at the -fortifications of Morvaix’s famous Castle?” - -“Spies are so forbidden, monsieur, and when detected are dealt with as -you, being a soldier, will understand.” - -“I repeat, I am no spy.” - -“Then prove it so, by declaring who you are.” - -“I am accustomed to have my word accepted, monsieur,” answered Gerard -proudly. - -The Governor was about to answer when de Proballe laid a hand on his -arm and drew him to one side. - -“Why not declare yourself, monsieur?” asked Gabrielle, -half-hesitatingly, as the others drew out of earshot. “You little know -the Duke if you think you can safely hold him at defiance thus.” - -“I am not concerned for what he may think or do, mademoiselle. It is -you, and you only, whom I fear to have estranged. I deceived you. Can -you forgive me?” - -“You should not have done it, monsieur,” she answered, dropping her -eyes. “You--you shamed me.” - -“God forbid you should believe such a thought as that could have been -in my heart.” - -“But I--I deemed you were my cousin. Oh, when I think of it, my face -flames with humiliation.” - -“Then in all truth am I bitterly punished. But you must see how hardly -I was placed. When I heard the blunt confession of all that was -designed against you I knew not what to do. Hating myself for every act -and word of compelled deception, yet I could not speak without----But -of course, you must blame me.” - -“You could have told _me_, monsieur, if you had trusted me;” and the -reproach in her eyes as she glanced up stung him so that he winced. - -“And you read in me no more than mistrust?” he whispered. - -“Monsieur!” - -“And you think I have been untrue to you?” - -“Monsieur!” This time with a little accent of pain, adding under her -breath, “I trusted you so completely.” - -“And now?” His tone was as low as hers, and when she made no answer he -said, “First your words stabbed me, now it is your silence.” - -She caught her breath and lifted and let fall her hand with a gesture -of perplexity: a pathetic little sign of her distress. - -“But you, too, are silent--still,” she murmured, after a pause. - -“And I was so sure of you.” The softly spoken words stung her so that -she winced at the implied reproach in them. The reproach was unmerited, -and while repudiating the injustice she was both wistful and yet -unwilling to let him see how his words hurt her. - -“Why will you not speak and end the uncertainty?” she asked. - -“For myself and for others I care nothing, as I say; but can _you_ find -no reason?” - -“It is for me?” she cried quickly, with a swift glance and an -involuntary thrill of delight. She had not doubted him; but the -confirmation of her trust which seemed to come from the assurance that -it was still for her he was acting thus, brought inexpressible comfort. -If it was for her that he still ran the risks involved in maintaining -silence, it could be for only one reason. - -He had been acting a part, and yet not acting merely with her. The -words he had spoken, the glances he had cast, the thousand little -acts and signs he had given while she had deemed him her cousin, -had expressed real feeling. He had not looked on her as unmaidenly, -but--and as the thought grafted itself more firmly upon her faith -in him, the colour came flooding again to her cheeks, but from such -different causes, and her eyes glowed. - -“I thought----” she said, about to give impulsive utterance to her -new belief, when she checked herself, looked up with a smile of sweet -confusion, and then again dropped her eyes. - -Gerard had watched her closely trying to read the perplexing changes -of her manner, fearing from her constraint and silence that she was -angered; but gathered hope fast when she smiled. - -“I would give much to know that thought,” he said, when she faltered. - -“You must not keep silence and run this risk for me,” she said slowly, -keeping her eyes upon the ground. - -“Am I forgiven the deception I practised?” he whispered. - -“Was it not done because you deemed it best for--for all things?” - -She had meant to say “for me,” but the words hung on her lips so that -she could not utter them. - -“For all things, no,” he answered pointedly, “for you, yes; for you -only.” - -It was sweet hearing. Her heart beat fast and her bosom rose and fell -quickly in agitation. But she could not look at him, could not let him -see yet how deeply he had stirred her. She had passed one crisis of -racking pain when she feared that she had mistaken him; and shrank now -from even a chance of misjudgment. - -“I believe that,” she said simply after a pause. - -“And I am forgiven?” he pressed, eager for her to look at him, that -he might read in her sweet eyes the knowledge for which his heart was -hungering. - -“Yes.” It was a whisper, no more; and still she kept her eyes down. - -“And you trust me as ever?” - -“I may?” she questioned in a whisper. - -“As God is my judge you may,” he answered with intense passion. - -“Could I forgive if I did not trust?” - -“Thank God for that trust.” - -She smiled and was lifting her face to meet his ardent gaze, when the -Governor and de Proballe returned. - -Neither Gerard nor Gabrielle had had eyes or ears for them in the -minutes of absence; and had not noted how at first they had talked -together and had then sent for the two men, Antoine de Cavannes and -d’Estelle, and having questioned them, had once again conferred alone. - -It was de Proballe who now took the chief part, and he approached -Gerard with a bland smile upon his sallow face, and said, in a smooth -even tone-- - -“My lord has now committed this matter to my hands, Gerard, as a family -affair; and I am confident it can be easily arranged.” Gerard noticed -the use of his name and the familiar manner, and read in it at once -some change of purpose. - -“I do not wish your interference, monsieur, and recognize no right of -yours to take any such part.” - -“I am acting solely in Gabrielle’s interest. I have put it to the Duke -that this matter can best be settled between us. You see, Gerard----” - -“What do you mean by the use of that name to me?” - -“Is not your name Gerard?” He put the question casually and with just -the necessary accent of surprise. “You must see how equivocal the -position is.” - -“I desire to hold no intercourse with you, monsieur,” replied Gerard -coldly. - -“You are really making a bad matter worse,” and de Proballe spread out -his hands deprecatingly. “You are either Gerard de Cobalt or some one -else. If the former, then this is a family matter which the Duke, in -his love of justice and regard for the honour of our family, is willing -to see arranged. But if the latter, then your conduct throughout is -open to great suspicion. You came to the city secretly; you took part -in our private affairs without the faintest warrant; you led a violent -revolt against the Governor’s soldiers; you have wounded one of his -followers--most unjustifiably; you have forced your way into the Castle -here and, if not actually a spy, have acted just as a spy would have -acted; you have been watched and observed to be in long confidential -conference with another stranger--some pestilent contumacious monk; -and thus have so gravely compromised yourself as to strain the Duke’s -clemency beyond endurance.” - -“And all this harangue means--what?” asked Gerard, bluntly. - -“That you are in a very ugly fix indeed, in which my influence with the -Duke can only with difficulty assist you. The monk with whom you spoke -has been placed in confinement.” - -“You are right in one thing, M. de Proballe: I can read in this your -influence with the Governor. But those who know you best know that -never yet did your influence harm those against whom it was directed -nor help those for whom it was cast.” - -At this moment a servant approached Gabrielle with a request that she -would go at once to the Duchess. She had been taken ill suddenly and -had asked urgently for Gabrielle. - -“I will come soon.” - -“You need not hesitate on account of me,” said Gerard with a smile. - -“These soldiers here,” replied Gabrielle in a tone of alarm, as she -pointed to a number of men who showed in the doorways. “See. I fear -danger.” - -“’Tis the hour for the change of guard, Gabrielle,” said de Proballe. - -“I will not go yet,” she declared firmly. - -“You cannot stay here, mademoiselle,” interposed the Governor bluntly. - -“I will report to you all that passes, Gabrielle,” said de Proballe. - -“I will not go,” she repeated. - -“I think you had better,” urged Gerard. - -“It must be as you will,” said de Proballe, when she shook her head -resolutely. “Now that the men are here they will see that no violence -is done. Our Gerard is so hasty, such a fire-eater, that he might be -tempted to some fresh rashness which would be fatal to all settlement. -Wait,” he said as if struck with a sudden thought. “It will serve the -same purpose if you will give me your sword, Gerard.” - -“That I will never do,” was the quick indignant response. - -“To me then, monsieur,” said the Governor, stepping forward. - -“To no man, my lord.” - -“Then it must be taken from you;” and the Governor signed to the -soldiers. - -In a moment Gerard’s blade was out. - -“Do you realize what you are doing, and where you are?” cried de -Proballe. “Drawing upon the Governor of Morvaix?” - -“Who dares to lay a hand on me may look to himself. I see your plan, -monsieur,” said Gerard to de Proballe, with a bitter smile. - -“Disarm him,” commanded the Governor, his eyes flashing. “This is -treason against the constituted ruler, monsieur.” - -“Gerard, Gerard!” cried Gabrielle in dire alarm. - -“Come, Gabrielle, you must not interfere in this,” and de Proballe -seized her hand and drew her aside. - -Gerard sprang forward to interfere, but the soldiers interposed and -prevented him. - -“Cut him down if he resists,” was the Governor’s command, implacably -given. - -For some moments the fierce unequal combat raged, and two of the -soldiers being wounded, the others fell back for a moment. - -“My lord, stop this fighting,” cried Gabrielle, struggling to free -herself from de Proballe’s grasp. - -At her voice Gerard turned and made as if to go to her, but the -soldiers, seeing that his eyes were turned from them, chose the moment -to rush in again and one of them sprang upon him from behind. Thus -hampered he was soon overpowered by the number who attacked him, his -sword was wrenched from his grasp, and he was led away a prisoner. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -A PRISONER - - -Gabrielle witnessed the attack upon Gerard with almost breathless fear -lest he should be wounded or even killed in the fight; but when she -saw him led away a prisoner every feeling was merged in fierce hot -resentment at the outrage. - -De Proballe retained his hold of her until Gerard had been taken away, -and the instant he released her she turned upon him in magnificent -indignation, she drew herself to her full height and looked at him with -eyes flashing with anger. - -“You have shown me your true character at last, M. le Baron, and from -this point our roads part, and we are strangers.” - -“I did it for your own good, Gabrielle,” he said apologetically. - -“You did it because I am only a woman. Were I a man you should pay the -penalty here and now. But there are those in my household who will not -tamely see me maltreated, and if you consult your safety you will avoid -Malincourt. If you come there, I will have you driven from my door.” - -“You are very angry and therefore very unreasonable.” - -She turned her back upon him without a word more and approached the -Governor. - -“For the moment you have your way, M. le Duc; but the day has not yet -dawned when the influence of my house of Malincourt stands for naught -in Morvaix. You have foully outraged an innocent and honourable man, -and if I have to carry my appeal in person to the King of France, I -will have justice done.” - -“I will see you later, mademoiselle, when your indignation has somewhat -spent itself and you can better appreciate what has occurred.” - -“My indignation will never pass, my lord, until justice has been done.” - -“Justice will be done, mademoiselle; have no fear on that score. What -you have witnessed is but the needful preliminary.” - -“What I mean is justice according to the laws of France, and not -according to the Tyrant of Morvaix,” she cried fearlessly. - -“In your present mood, I have no more to say;” and with a bow he moved -away, leaving Gabrielle free to go where she would. - -Remembering the message which had been brought to her and eager to -have some one to whom she could pour out the tale of her wrongs and on -whose sympathy she could rely, Gabrielle went to the apartments of the -Duchess. - -The two men watched her go, both moved by widely different feelings. -Each had been much disturbed by her outburst. - -De Proballe, thinking naturally of himself, was disposed to regret the -part he had taken. With the doors of Malincourt shut against him he -saw the plans for his own future advancement in danger of collapse. -He had meant to climb on Gabrielle’s favour with the Duke to greater -things. For this reason he had welcomed the change of plan which was -to make her the Duke’s wife, and had thrown himself readily into the -attempts to ruin Gerard in her eyes. But if he was to be deprived of -the prestige which the Malincourt influence afforded, he would be -left dependent only on his own wits and the Duke’s favour; and what a -shifting sand the latter was, he knew only too well. - -But the Governor was scarcely less furious than Gabrielle herself, and -never being inclined to blame himself laid the whole fault upon de -Proballe. - -Gabrielle’s fierce resentment had shown the mistake of attacking Gerard -in her presence; and the fact that he himself had given the orders only -heightened his rage against de Proballe. He left the latter no reason -to misunderstand his attitude. - -“I am to be an outcast, it seems, because of this,” said de Proballe, -in as nonchalant an air as he could assume. - -“When a man blunders as you have he has no cause to quarrel with the -consequences,” was the blunt reply. - -“As for that, I am too old a hand to quarrel when the luck’s against -me. But what blunder do you mean?” - -“Everything you have done.” - -“Umph! I might have expected it,” exclaimed de Proballe, with a sharp -glance at the Governor’s angry face. - -“It was your plan. Had I not listened to you, matters would have gone -very differently. When you learnt that the man was another than this -Gerard de Cobalt, you should have given me the information privately -and have left me to act. But you must needs meddle in it your own -way--and this is the result.” - -“Did I know you would bring Gabrielle down to listen to it all? The -mischief is that the man was arrested before her eyes. All women are -hysterical fools at such times. But at least it was not I who ordered -your men to attack him.” - -“That is not true.” - -De Proballe’s reply was a significant shrug of the shoulders. - -“Do you mean to give me the lie, monsieur?” cried the Governor -passionately. - -“You had no hesitation about giving it me.” - -“You!” A sneer this, of ineffable contempt, and de Proballe winced and -bit his lip as his sallow cheeks paled. - -“I have tried to serve you in this,” he murmured. - -“You had your wages to earn, that is all. Even this man knew of your -old character in Paris. Do you think I am ignorant of it?” - -The taunt cut deep, but de Proballe forced down his temper and answered -with a laugh. - -“Put not your faith in princes,” he said, lightly. “If you mean that -having first used me and now abused me you have no further need of my -services, say so, and we’ll make an end of things.” - -“I have no use for blunderers like you,” declared the Duke, sullenly. - -“Grant that a blunder has been made--as of course it has--and say -if you like that I made it; whether is it better to waste time in -wrangling over it or to see how to repair it?” He paused a moment to -note how this was taken, and then added: “At least you have the man -safe under bolts and bars.” - -“And in doing it have changed your niece’s passive resistance into -active violent hatred.” - -“Oh, if it comes to that, it would never have been a love match on her -side;” and he laughed. - -“To hell with your sneers,” cried the Governor fiercely. - -“Life’s too sour a thing to be taken so seriously. I meant no taunt; -no more than a fact. You would have had to force it; and will have to -do no more now. Her rage will cool. As I say, you have the man and can -treat him at will, either as the scamp de Cobalt or the spy I was able -to prove him. Give her some few hours to think over his danger, and -then see how far she’ll be ready to go to save his life.” - -“Who can the fellow be?” De Proballe took heart at the question. He -was not going to be thrown overboard at once; and he answered with -gathering assurance. - -“Nay, rather, what does it matter who he is? He came here as Gerard de -Cobalt; he owned it to me; I can swear to that. Treat him as no other. -I called him by his name that your people might hear; what I said to -you before the arrest stands as good now as then--deal with him for -that murder at Cambrai. You have him tight enough by that rope and -can answer his repudiation by simply disbelieving it and regarding it -as made when he found himself in a mess. Gerard de Cobalt he was, and -Gerard de Cobalt I should let him remain.” - -“But who is he? And what does he here?” - -“Have you no persuasive methods in this Castle of yours? I have heard -that many a prisoner has before now been led to confess his crime and -so save an infinite amount of trouble in collecting proofs.” - -“My mind misgives me,” murmured the Governor uneasily. - -“Ah, that’s Gabrielle’s influence;” and de Proballe smiled, not -pleasantly. “This is no woman’s work, Duke.” He felt that his words -were beginning to have influence again. - -“But if he be, as I suspect, a spy, in what interest is he here?” - -“Even spies can be induced to speak in old Pierre’s chamber. Have him -placed there, and you and I can visit him later.” - -“Do I seek your advice where to place my prisoners?” asked the -Governor, angrily. “But I will have him sent there,” he added, after a -pause. - -“Ah!” and de Proballe smiled again cunningly. “All will soon be well -again, then, and this little mistake made good. Few men can long resist -the creaking arguments of the rack.” - -The Governor was silent long enough for de Proballe to think of another -scheme. - -“There is, of course, another way. The lever you have with Gabrielle is -this precious fellow’s life and safety, and if he chanced to get maimed -in the progress of inquiry, she would take it very ill. Promise her his -life if she will consent to marry you at once. Then send him out of the -city--with an escort. Escorts have been known to quarrel with their -charges before now,” he added drily. “This man, if he be in truth a -spy, may be dangerous. There is that monk, too, who should also be put -to the question. Perchance he knows all that you need to learn.” - -“I had forgotten him.” - -“I had not, and one man is as good as another when it comes to getting -information. Leave this to me, Duke. I shall not blunder again. -Meanwhile, you can go to Gabrielle with a free hand, to give her any -assurances she may ask.” - -“We will speak of it later; I must think,” said the Governor. - -De Proballe looked after him as he walked away, and laughed softly to -himself. “What a cauldron of trouble does this plaguey love brew for us -fools of mortals!” he muttered. “Here are the whole affairs of a city -tumbled topsy-turvy, hither-thither, because Gabrielle has a pretty -face and yonder sour-visaged loon is sick to kiss it. Aye, aye, and -blood will flow too, and men’s pates will be cracked and their throats -slit before his heart ceases to ache, or I am no reader of signs; and -’twill be luck more than judgment that will carry one safe through the -hurly-burly.” - -Meanwhile Gabrielle had carried her storm of wrath to the Duchess and -had poured out her story with half-incoherent vehemence until her -friend, whose sudden faintness had been invented by de Proballe as a -lure to get Gabrielle away, was like to be overcome in truth. - -But even a girl’s wrath, however righteous, cannot last for ever; and -thus in time Gabrielle’s began to abate its hurricane force, and -gradually her furious indignation hardened into a stern determination -to secure Gerard’s freedom and to thwart and punish those who had so -maltreated him. - -“You have been so vehement, child, I could scarce understand you,” said -the Duchess. “I know how it eases trouble to give it free vent; and so -I would not interrupt to get you to clear the tangled skeins for me. -But now let us see what we can do.” - -“I am nearly mad when I think of it,” cried Gabrielle. “If this -shameful deed is not prevented, I believe I shall go mad indeed. If -aught of harm comes to him, I will spend my life in avenging him.” - -“But now tell me, who is he?” - -“I do not know nor do I care. For me he is the best, the bravest, and -the noblest man that ever lived.” - -The Duchess smiled, but did not let Gabrielle see the smile. She loved -the girl dearly, and her heart was still young enough to sympathize -even with such a rhapsody. But the contrast between this whirlwind mood -and Gabrielle’s former calm and unmoved indifference to all men, and -especially to all lovers, was too startling not to appeal to her. - -“He should have proclaimed himself, Gabrielle, and then all this -trouble might have been spared.” This was good common sense, but love -and youth are contemptuous of common sense. To Gabrielle it savoured of -distrust of Gerard. - -“He did rightly. He could not do wrong, Duchess,” she cried. “His -motive was nobleness itself. We drove him into assuming my cousin’s -part; he did it for my sake and mine only; and he could not make -himself known in his own name until he had justified himself in my -eyes. You would not have had him do otherwise. I would not, not for a -thousand worlds.” - -“It would have been less romantic, but very much simpler, my dear -child,” was the practical reply, very kindly spoken. “But we have to -deal with the matter as it stands. Tell me why did the Duke have him -placed under arrest?” - -“For no cause except--oh, I burn with shame when I think of it. The -Duke believes that he cares for me.” - -“And doesn’t he?” she asked all innocently, mistaking Gabrielle. - -“Don’t you understand?” exclaimed Gabrielle, quickly. “I mean the Duke -himself; he--he forced the words on me after I saw you to-day. Oh, it -is shameful.” - -“Gabrielle, it is a terrible charge you are bringing.” - -“It is the truth; and in such a pass as this, nothing less than the -truth will serve. If it is terrible merely to speak of, what is it -actually to do it? Gerard’s life is in danger because he loves me and I -love him. That is the infamy of it all.” - -For some moments her friend made no reply. - -“I cannot believe it, Gabrielle,” she said at length, in a voice of -such pain that Gabrielle turned and threw herself at her side and -kissed her. - -“Forgive me, dearest friend, oh, forgive me. I did not think what I was -saying. In my mad selfish sorrow I forgot the suffering I was causing -you.” - -“This then was the reason why he urged me to-day. I understand now. It -comes as the last of many wrongs, the crown of so many sorrows;” and a -deep and bitter sigh escaped her. - -“Forgive me, dearest and truest, forgive me,” whispered Gabrielle. - -“It is not you need seek forgiveness, Gabrielle--and he need never -ask it. He hid this from me, pleading every other ground--policy, -expediency, the good of the people, the needs of Morvaix--anything and -everything but this. Ah, Gabrielle, the bitterest hour of a woman’s -life is when she wakens to the knowledge that her worst enemy is her -own husband.” - -“My dearest, my dearest,” murmured Gabrielle. “I am so sorry.” - -“No, Gabrielle, we will not grieve, we will act. Together we will plan -and save your lover, be he true man or false: for false a man may -always be.” - -“Not Gerard. Never!” - -“In God’s mercy we will hope not, for your sweet sake. For though he be -true as steel, yet is he in a sorry plight; and we, you and I together, -sweetheart, will save him. We must first get him out of the Castle and -the task may test our wits. Think, child, think; don’t waste time in -useless repinings over the inevitable. We have work to do.” - -“I knew I could rely on you,” said Gabrielle. - -“First we must find out where they have bestowed him. Pauline can do -this. She is old Pierre’s daughter--you know how together we saved her -from ruin--and she will serve us both to the death; and so too will her -father. Call her, and she will be at hand.” - -Gabrielle hastened away to return in a minute with the maid. - -“Pauline, we are going to trust you,” said the Duchess. “You will be -faithful, I know; and will do what we need cleverly and secretly--for -Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s sake as well as mine.” - -“With all my heart, miladi,” answered the girl, a bright-eyed shrewd -brunette. - -“There has been an arrest in the Castle, within the past hour or so, of -a M. de Cobalt. Go and find out where he has been bestowed. Your father -can tell you. No one else must know that I have even asked. And be -quick.” - -“You give me hope already,” said Gabrielle, as the girl left. - -“I will do more than that; child, I will give you your lover. I am -feeble and bed-ridden, but not yet helpless. As soon as we know where -he is, we will have a plan to set him free. I know the secrets of -every cell in the Castle; and unless he has been placed in one of the -underground dungeons of the keep, there is not one I cannot help him -out of.” - -Their impatience and anxiety made the interval before Pauline’s return -seem long; but when she came, she had done her errand well and brought -the expected news. - -“The gentleman is placed in one of the cells in my father’s ward, -miladi,” she said, “and very strict orders have been given as to his -close watching.” - -“Which cell, Pauline?” The girl’s eyes signalled trouble at the -question. - -“Oh, miladi,” she exclaimed, distressfully. “He was at first placed -elsewhere and has just been moved by the Governor’s orders into -the--the turret cell.” She shuddered as she mentioned it and glanced -toward Gabrielle who noticed the look and the gesture. - -“What is the turret cell?” she asked. Pauline bit her lips and was -silent. - -“A place from which he must be rescued, Gabrielle, as soon as we can -form the plan;” and the Duchess warned Pauline with a glance to be -silent. “While the daylight lasts nothing is possible; but as soon -as darkness falls the attempt must be made. Pauline, you must go to -your father again, and tell him from me that no harm must befall this -prisoner, and that at the least sign of danger, notice must be brought -to me. The escape must be managed to-night; and say that later I will -send full instructions how he is to act. If he can offer a suggestion, -let him send it by you. I will protect him from the Duke’s anger.” - -“My father would give his life for you, miladi,” said Pauline -earnestly, and hurried from the room again. - -“Have no fear, Gabrielle, your lover shall be free to-night. We can get -him from the cell where he lies; but it is more difficult to get him -from the Castle. Yet where can he remain until the chance offers? Come, -child, let us set our woman’s wits to work.” - -“What is this turret cell that both you and Pauline were afraid even to -mention to me? I saw the looks that passed between you.” - -The Duchess paused for a moment and thought anxiously. - -“You had best know, perhaps, Gabrielle, for you may have to use the -secrets of the place. It is the place which you may have heard called -the ‘Tiger’s Den.’ A place of devilish contrivances where prisoners are -put to the question and where many dark deeds have been done.” - -“Do you mean they would dare to torture him?” cried Gabrielle. - -“I tell you merely that you may know the urgency of the matter. But -diabolical as the place is, it may yet serve our purpose better than -another. It stands high up in the north turret, and its one barred -window overlooks the courtyard, sixty feet below. Death waits for the -unhappy prisoner who thus seeks escape; and many a man has gone that -way to his death. But with a stout rope, a clever climber can reach the -bottom safely; yes, yes, I have the idea,” she cried. “Let me think.” - -“Tell me. I am on fire.” - -“One devilment of the place is this. A part of the wall with the -portion of the floor next to it is false. On this the prisoner’s pallet -is laid; and when the wretched man is asleep the floor and the wall -together can be turned outward with sudden swiftness by the hidden -mechanism, and the sleeper is shot out and down to his death on the -stones below. The wall is then replaced and by another hidden trick -the bars of the windows are made to appear as if wrenched from their -places, and thus the suggestive evidence is ready to show that the -prisoner has killed himself in an attempt to escape.” - -“Can such things be possible?” - -“There is no limit to man’s cruelty to man, child; we can use this -window trick for our end. I can tell you how to find the spring that -moves the bars; you can take to your prisoner such a rope as would -enable him to escape, open the bars, leave the rope dangling from the -casement to suggest he has so fled; and then bring him here, where he -can lie hid until we can find means to smuggle him out of the Castle -and Morvaix.” - -“Would God it were dark already,” exclaimed Gabrielle eagerly. “Till -the time comes, the seconds will be as hours.” - -At that moment they were interrupted and news was brought that Lucette -was asking for Gabrielle. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -PASCAL AND THE SPY - - -Lucette’s visit to the Castle in quest of Gabrielle was the result of -several causes which had important bearing upon the position. - -In the first place Gerard’s plan to send a second messenger in hot -haste to Cambrai, urging his cousin in command of the Bourbon troops -there to hurry on to Morvaix, had been delayed. The messenger had been -stopped at the city gate. - -Pascal, in his monk’s garb, was present and had been greatly -disconcerted and not a little alarmed by the mischance. If it meant -nothing more serious it must involve delay. The message must be -despatched somehow, that was certain, because everything depended upon -the troops being brought up at the earliest opportunity. - -To attempt this in the daylight seemed impracticable; since the -messenger would have to drop from the walls at some favouring point, -and the cover of darkness was necessary for such a venture. Moreover, a -spot would have to be found where the thing could be done; and neither -Pascal nor any of his men knew enough of the city to select one. There -was, further, the imminent risk that the courier, being on foot, might -be intercepted and so the whole plan fail. - -But in this dilemma, help came most unexpectedly. A stranger accosted -Pascal, and recognizing him as the monk who had stood between the -citizens and the crowd in the market place, offered his assistance. He -was, he said, the brother of Babillon the smith, the murdered man. - -After a few pointed questions Pascal decided to accept his help, and -left him in the care of his men, while he made fresh plans. He resolved -that two couriers should go to Cambrai by separate paths, each carrying -a despatch; and in view of the grave risks he decided to be one of them. - -He returned accordingly to Malincourt, in his character of servant, -to find Gerard and get the despatch duplicated; but on learning that -Gerard was still at the Castle, he assumed once more his monk’s garb -and went after him. - -The news that met him greatly increased his uneasiness. Both Gerard and -Dubois had been arrested by the Duke, for what reason no one knew for -certain, although it was rumoured that his assumed character had been -discovered. Pascal knew enough to guess more, and he was not long in -deciding how to act. - -It was clear that with both Gerard and Dubois in confinement he himself -could not leave the city and could not get a second despatch from -Gerard; and, further, that without waiting for the cover of darkness a -courier must be got out of the city at once. - -He could act very promptly at need, and he did so now. He added a -letter to the leader at Cambrai telling him what had befallen Gerard -and urging the utmost haste; and wrote two other despatches for -d’Alembert describing the situation. By the aid of Babillon two men -were despatched at once from different points with orders to procure -horses at the earliest moment after getting free of the city and to -ride with all speed to Cambrai; and he impressed upon both that the -life of their young lord might depend upon their zeal. The third -despatch two carefully picked men were to carry, and were not to start -until dark had fallen. - -The next problem was the much more difficult one of getting Gerard out -of the Governor’s hands. This must be done by force if necessary and -in the last resort; and a place must be provided to which he could be -brought, where a stand could be made with some hope of holding the -Governor at bay until d’Alembert could reach the city with the troops. - -Malincourt was obviously the best place for such a stand. It was -strongly built, had ample room for the necessary force of men, and was -sure to contain a store of provisions which could be increased without -any suspicion being raised. Moreover, he believed there were arms there. - -He instructed the men in the city, therefore, to go in their monk’s -gabardines and purchase each for himself enough provision for three -days, on the plea that they were setting out on a pilgrimage on the -morrow; after which they were to remain in readiness for a summons to -meet him at any hour. - -Having the first steps arranged, he returned to Malincourt, omitting -in his haste to put off his monk’s gown. He meant to see Gabrielle and -tell her plainly what his plans were, and consult with her as to the -best means of rescuing Gerard and Dubois. - -Here came a check, however. Gabrielle was not at the maison; and as he -stood in the great hall considering how he could best find her, he was -seen by Jacques Dauban. The spy had been sent back to Malincourt by de -Proballe to fetch away certain papers which now that the maison was -shut to him, were too incriminating to be left there. - -It was Dauban who had carried the news to the Governor’s Castle that -Gerard was not really de Cobalt, and having been a witness of Dubois’ -arrest, was struck by the fact that another monk, of the same order -apparently, should be found at Malincourt. Scenting a mystery he -resolved to follow it up. - -Pascal, unwilling to be recognized in his disguise, would have avoided -him, but Dauban made this impracticable, and thus Pascal was reduced to -the device of drawing his cowl close so as to hide his features so far -as possible. - -“Give you gooden, good father?” began Dauban. - -“_Pax vobiscum_, son,” replied Pascal, deepening and altering his voice. - -“Can I help you, father? I am of the household here--the secretary.” - -“Then truly you may. I have a message I would deliver to miladi of -Malincourt, and would have speech with her.” - -“I know her business well and am high in her confidence. Is it a matter -of urgency? I am even now on my way to her.” - -“Could you get to her at once, or deliver a letter secretly?” - -“That would be easy enough--the letter I mean.” - -“Can I trust you?” Dauban met the piercing eyes fixed on him through -the close drawn cowl, as if in suspicion, and answered as he thought -with cunning frankness. - -“That must be as you please. Miladi herself does. But you must decide -quickly, for she waits for me.” - -The monk appeared to hesitate and glancing round lowered his tone. - -“Do you know aught of this business of the so-called Gerard de Cobalt?” - -“Not so loud, father. I know of his arrest and am even now engaged in -the task of procuring his release.” It was a clever lie and seemed to -impose on the monk. - -“Good,” he said. “Lead me where I can write. Life and death depend on -your good faith.” - -“Follow me,” said Dauban, and led the way to de Proballe’s apartments. -On the way they chanced to meet Lucette, who looked at the pair with -curious eyes. Wondering what Dauban could be doing in such company, she -followed at a distance and resolved to watch. - -“Are we alone here?” asked Pascal. - -“Quite. You need have no fear on that score.” - -“Those doors--are they locked? If not, lock them and bring the keys -here.” - -All unsuspecting and wishing to win his companion’s confidence, Dauban -did so and laid the keys on the table before him. As if still doubting, -Pascal glanced round the room for himself, taking advantage of the -minute to loose his habit stealthily. - -“Paper, monsieur,” he said, and while Dauban’s back was toward him he -slipped off his habit and laughed. - -At his laugh Dauban turned, and the colour fled from his face in the -fright of the recognition. - -“Now, Master Spy, we will have a little talk and an understanding,” -said Pascal. “Sit down there,” pointing to a seat, “and if you give -but one faint sign of resistance, I’ll first break half the bones in -your body up here, and then pitch you from the casement yonder for the -courtyard stones to break the other half.” - -The spy sat staring open-eyed and agape at him, cursing himself for his -blindness in not having recognized Pascal; and cudgelling his wits how -to get out of the trap into which he had walked, and in abject fear for -himself. - -“You thought to trap me, Master Spy, and instead I’ve trapped you. Now -understand, I’m in too dangerous a mood to bear any trifling and am -in desperate haste. Do all I tell you and do it at once, and answer -my questions plainly, and you’ll save your life; but try to fool me -and--well, I’ve told you what I’ll do, and I’m a man of my word.” - -“I’ve no desire----” - -“Silence, till I bid you speak. This is your master’s room and you are -in his confidence. You know the part he has played in all this business -about M. de Cobalt. Find at once and give to me every paper that -concerns it.” - -“I know nothing, monsieur, I swear; and there are no papers. I’ll swear -it on the holy crucifix.” - -“If you keep me dallying in this way the next oath you take about it -will be in hell,” growled Pascal sternly. - -“I declare on my soul----” But before he could say more Pascal had him -by the throat and shook him till his teeth rattled and the stars came -out in myriads in the firmament of his dazed sight. - -“Now perhaps you’re frightened enough to tell the truth,” he cried, -with a fierce oath, as he flung him back on the seat. The spy fell -doubled up against the table and as Pascal jerked him up again he heard -the crackle of papers under his doublet. - -“So you have them on you, you sly devil, have you? Strip, to the skin, -and let me see what’s there. If I play valet for you you’ll find little -play in it, on my oath.” - -“I’ll tell you all, monsieur,” gasped Dauban, faintly. “Let me but get -my breath.” - -“I want no more of your lies. Give me the papers.” - -“They are there,” and Dauban pointed to a desk. - -“Thank you, master liar, but first I’ll have those on you. Quick -or----” and another threatening gesture finished the sentence. - -Slowly and with a groan of anguish, Dauban took out some of the papers -he had concealed in his clothes, and laid them on the table. - -“The rest,” said Pascal, putting these out of the spy’s reach. “Strip -and don’t try my temper farther, or I’ll not answer for myself.” - -Trembling so that his aching teeth chattered, Dauban obeyed the -command; and as each garment was drawn off Pascal examined it for any -concealed documents, and a quick glance at what he found showed him the -nature and value of his discovery. He had the proofs not only of de -Proballe’s infamy but also of the Duke’s complicity in everything. - -“Now open these places and, while I search, put on your clothes again. -Quick!” he thundered. - -Then Dauban formed a plan. Terror-stricken though he was, he had yet -sense to reflect that he could never face his master with such a -confession. He donned his clothes rapidly and going to the cupboard -said-- - -“There is a secret hiding place here, monsieur.” - -But Pascal was as sharp as a dagger’s point, and on the instant -detected a change of tone, and was ready for a trick. - -“Open it,” he said, curtly, and without turning his head shifted his -position just sufficiently to watch the spy. Dauban made a pretence of -opening some secret recess and Pascal saw him snatch up something and -conceal it. - -“It is open, monsieur,” said the spy. - -“Good. Fright makes a ready servant of you,” replied Pascal; and as if -unsuspicious of treachery, crossed the room turning his back to give -the spy his chance. - -With a quick stealthy rush Dauban sprang forward only to find himself -foiled, his uplifted right hand caught in a grip of iron, the weapon -taken from it and himself pinned against the wall with fingers of steel -playing on his windpipe and Pascal’s eyes gleaming close to his. He -wriggled and fought with the strength of despair; but the air was shut -from his lungs, his sight grew blurred, a blood red mist surged about -him, and then all was dark with the darkness of death. - -“The sly treacherous devil,” murmured Pascal, as he let the inert -helpless body of the spy slip to the ground. “Who’d have thought he’d -even enough pluck for such a thing?” - -What to do with him was a difficulty, however. Pascal had already -lost time which could ill be spared and having had one experience of -Dauban’s cleverness in slipping out of his bonds, he was loth to trust -again to mere cords. - -A hurried search of the room offered no solution, and for the moment -there seemed nothing for it save the desperate step of plunging the -knife into his heart. He had earned death by his last murderous attack, -and Pascal picked up the weapon; but he shrank from the deed, and with -the object of obtaining the assistance of some of the household, he -opened the door. - -In the corridor he found Lucette strolling near the room with an -assumed air of indifference. On seeing him she made as if to hurry -away, and he called her. - -“Mademoiselle, you must help me,” he said, somewhat brusquely and with -a touch of command in his tone. - -“Where is the monk, monsieur?” she asked, shrinking from him, “and -Jacques Dauban? What is the meaning of that knife?” and she pointed at -the knife which unwittingly he retained in his hand. - -“I am the monk, mademoiselle. For God’s sake don’t run off in that -way.” He turned and tossed the knife back into the room. “Did you -think I had murdered myself and with an unstained knife?” he asked, -and smiled. “I am here on M. de Cobalt’s business and miladi of -Malincourt’s, and I must have help.” - -Reassured by his tone she returned then. - -“What has happened?” she asked. - -“That which may help to straighten all this devil of a tangle. I have -tricked that spy of de Proballe’s and pinched half the life out of him, -and must have help to get him safely caged. He proved too slippery for -me once before.” - -“I don’t understand.” - -“I’ll show you;” and he opened the door so that she saw Dauban. - -“Is he dead?” she asked, shrinking again. - -“He would be if he had his deserts.” - -“But what does it all mean?” - -“Such a cauldron of troubles as the devil loves to set a-bubbling, -mademoiselle. M. Gerard de Cobalt has been found to be not Gerard de -Cobalt and the Governor has clapped him into one of his Castle cells; -this cur here and his mangy master are at the bottom of it--I have -just laid hands on the written proofs of their part. I have had a busy -afternoon and am in search of Mademoiselle de Malincourt, and must find -her at once. I have no time to fill in the details for you; so smother -your curiosity and just say if you will help me?” - -“You have a commanding way with you, monsieur, for a serving man,” -cried Lucette with a smile. - -“I am no serving man, but just a soldier; and by your leave have no -time for badinage. There is much to be done, and talk must wait on -action. I want irons and a guard for this carrion here. Can they be got -in the maison? If not, I must take the knife to him, much as I dislike -it. But his babbling tongue must be silenced, or we shall all be in -peril.” - -“You would not kill him in cold blood?” cried Lucette, with a look of -horror. - -“I would kill any one and any thing that stood between me and my -master’s safety.” - -“I can get what you need,” she said, and hurried away, to return -quickly with a couple of men with manacles. Pascal gave them his -orders, and placing the gyves on Dauban’s wrists--none too gently, for -the spy was hated by every one--they carried him away. - -“Now, mademoiselle, you must find a place of security for these,” said -Pascal, giving Lucette the papers. “De Proballe may come in search of -his precious spy, and he must not find these, nor must any one know -aught of the spy’s whereabouts. If my advice be followed I would clap -the master in the next cellar to this man; but that as you please. -Now, how to find Mademoiselle de Malincourt?” - -“She is still at the Governor’s Castle. You can seek her there.” - -“Nay, by your leave, that can I do only in the last extreme. Suspicion -is all over the place, and if they were to clap me by Dubois’ side -there would be more to pay than we can just now afford.” - -“Dubois? Who is he?” - -“Another of this Governor’s prisoners, and while he’s in I must keep -out. Will you go to miladi?” - -“Of course I will. What shall I tell her?” - -“That the liberty and perhaps the lives of the prisoners depends upon -her seeing me instantly.” - -“Who shall I say you are?” - -“Say what you like--that I am close in my master’s confidence and have -a plan for liberating him, if she will but come to me quickly.” - -It was this conversation which sent Lucette hurrying in hot haste to -seek Gabrielle at the Castle, while Pascal employed the time of her -absence in examining Malincourt with an eye to putting it in the best -condition of defence. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -GABRIELLE PLEADS - - -Gabrielle heard Lucette’s story with intense interest, and saw that -with help from Pascal outside it might be possible to get Gerard away -from Morvaix without concealing him first in the Duchess’s apartments; -and she resolved to go immediately to Malincourt to consult with Pascal. - -But she found the Duchess opposed to this. - -“If you go and then return to me, Gabrielle, it may provoke notice and -start suspicion.” - -“But I must see Pascal,” she urged. - -“Then safer to see him here. Let him come as if to me. I have frequent -messengers from friends; and his coming will cause no talk. He can come -as with a message, say, from the Count and Countess d’Auvaine, and no -questions will be asked.” - -“He is known to some in the Castle. M. de Proballe, for instance, and -others; and recognition would be ruin.” - -“It would be worse, child, if a watch were set on yourself and so the -way to the prison quarters blocked. If this gentleman is loath to risk -coming here, let it be known that you are staying with me for a few -days--as you have done before--and let Lucette carry your messages. -There is reason for her passing to and fro, as you will need many -things for your stay here.” - -“You are right; I will go and tell Lucette.” - -She was about to leave when Pauline returned. - -She had seen her father, she said, and he had readily agreed to do -anything that was asked of him. He advised that the best hour for -making any attempt would be about ten o’clock at night; as the guard -would be changed at eleven, and they were always less vigilant in their -last hour of their watch. - -“My father says there will be a great risk, miladi,” said Pauline; “and -urges the utmost caution. He declares it will be far safer for all -concerned if the prisoner makes his escape by the window and avoids the -hazard of encountering any of the soldiers or servants in attempting to -leave by any other way.” - -“It could be done,” said Gabrielle, readily, “now that this Pascal can -help from outside. I will send him word by Lucette of the time, and -tell him to find means of getting to the courtyard.” - -She hurried to Lucette and told her the plan and the reasons why it -was not deemed prudent for her to leave the Duchess, and they were -discussing this when the Governor entered. - -“You will know what I shall need for a few days, Lucette,” said -Gabrielle, with a swift warning glance; “and if I have forgotten -anything in my haste, you can bring it or even return for it. How is -Denys?” - -“Much improved, but very weak, of course, and fretting at his weakness.” - -“I wish to speak with you, mademoiselle,” interposed the Governor. - -“I am remaining some days with the Duchess, monsieur, and am sending -instructions in regard to matters at Malincourt.” - -“That is good news; it is as I would have it.” - -“One thing more, Lucette, and the most important of all--M. de Proballe -is not to be allowed to enter the maison until my return.” - -“That is a harsh injunction, mademoiselle.” - -“I am the mistress of Malincourt, my lord, and am firmly resolved on -the point.” - -“I shall hope to change that resolve amongst others,” he replied, as -Lucette went away. “It is for that I wish to speak with you.” - -Gabrielle made no reply for the moment. The storm of her indignation -against the Duke had passed, as he noticed with satisfaction; but he -could not read her present mood; and mistook a deliberate intention -to outwit him for a readiness to listen with some complacency to the -alternatives he had come to propose. The hope of setting Gerard free -spurred her woman’s wit to the utmost. She was, indeed, ready enough to -listen to him, schooling her temper and keeping it under control, so -as to learn his plans. She was fighting the cause of the man she loved -against the man she hated with hate implacable; and she would fight -warily and coolly, with every weapon in her armoury, and with a full -knowledge of all the danger that might follow a false step. - -“I have spoken with your uncle.” - -“He is no longer kin of mine, my lord,” she interposed, coldly. “He has -wronged me beyond endurance.” - -“Well, with M. de Proballe then, and have convinced myself that he has -had no motive save that of serving your best interests.” - -“As head of my house, monsieur, it is for me to say whom I count upon -my side and whom I deem against me. Never again will I speak to or see -M. de Proballe. I hold him for my worst enemy.” - -“And what of me?” he asked quickly. - -“You have done a bitter injustice and a cruel wrong to an innocent and -gallant gentleman--but it is in your power to repair it. Will you speak -the word that will undo it?” - -“Innocent?” he carped. “Was it innocent to steal among us in a false -name and character. Was it gallant to act such a lie?” - -“He was forced into it.” - -“How forced and by whom?” - -“Need we pretend that we do not know?” - -“I do not know,” he replied bluntly. “Who is he, if he be not indeed -this de Cobalt? I have clear proof that he was spying in the Castle -here. If he be not de Cobalt, then is he a spy. Am I to suffer my -Castle to be overrun by spies?” - -“He is no spy; of that I am assured.” - -“Then if an honest man, why this mystery?” - -Gabrielle knew the reason, recalling with a little thrill of delight -how he had said it was for her sake; but she answered-- - -“Is every honest man who comes to Morvaix to be treated as a spy and -thrown like a dog into a prison cell?” - -“If you were Governor here you would see this as I do; but I am indeed -almost persuaded that he is still only deceiving us.” - -“I do not understand.” - -“I believe he is in truth what he avowed himself at the first--Gerard -de Cobalt.” - -“But you yourself and M. de Proballe held it disproved.” - -“The letter may have been but a trick, like other things. He had -deceived us as to the flagrancy of that act of his at Cambrai; and -knowing it to be too vile to be pardoned, had this further lie enacted, -meaning to pass for some one else and so save his head. But he will not -save it.” - -“You mean he will be tried for the crime?” - -“I mean he’ll lose his head for it,” was the blunt answer. - -“You will not do this foul injustice,” said Gabrielle, with a touch of -indignation. - -“Who murders, dies, mademoiselle; that at least is law all over France; -and Morvaix is no city of shelter.” - -“He must not die; you cannot be so cruel.” Half protest, half entreaty -was in her tone; and the Governor paused and bent his eyes upon her -before he replied. - -“For your sake more than any other’s, it is best that he should.” - -“I do not understand you,” cried Gabrielle, with a catch of the breath -as in fear. - -“He has impressed you so deeply that, were his life spared and his -liberty given to him, you would never be safe from him. He is a -murderer, a man of the vilest life, who would never cease to persecute -you, after what has passed.” - -There was an even deeper depth of vileness in this man than she had -deemed, was Gabrielle’s thought; and for a moment it cost her a supreme -effort to remain calm. But the thought of Gerard’s peril came to her -aid. - -“Do you mean you would kill him out of consideration for me?” she -asked, as if incredulous. - -“I would do anything for you--either kill or pardon, but you will not -let me,” he answered, with the first touch of passion. - -He had led round to his object cunningly; but not so cunningly that she -did not understand him. - -“Yet I _may_ ask you,” she replied. “Prove to me his unworthiness -first; and then----” she stopped. - -“What then?” - -“You cannot prove it, monsieur,” she cried, as though she had first -wavered in her faith and then rallied it. And so he read her words. “He -is what I have said, an innocent and gallant gentleman.” - -“If he be Gerard de Cobalt he is a murderer of the vilest and most -treacherous type. I have the fullest proofs.” - -“But if he be not M. de Cobalt?” - -“Then he has shown himself a spy; and spies when they are caught must -take their chances. But he is more than a spy.” - -“How?” - -“He has deceived you with specious lies, has won upon you until the -scene below to-day showed your feelings. You are the head of a noble -house, mademoiselle, whose influence here in Morvaix is too great to -be at the mercy of either a treacherous scoundrel or a hireling spy. -And while you remain unmarried and at his mercy, because of your gentle -trustful heart and of the feeling he has stirred within you, such a -man cannot be at large. The interests of all in Morvaix render it -impossible.” - -“Again you make the strange suggestion that this is done for my sake,” -said Gabrielle. - -“And it is true, Gabrielle. Were it not for you, the prisoner might go -free this moment.” Every word spoken was now chosen to bring him nearer -to his object. - -“But if he be the unworthy man you say, do you hold me for a thing too -feeble and weak to withstand his evil influence?” - -“Worthy or base, it is as I say. His freedom rests on you.” - -“In plainer words?” - -“Consent to do as I have asked you, and the man’s fate is for you to -determine. As my wife, Gabrielle, your lightest wish would be my law.” - -“And if I still refuse?” - -His answer was a shrug of the shoulders and a lifting of the hands. He -looked for another storm to burst; and was surprised when Gabrielle -remained quiet, cold and thoughtful. He read the sign to be favourable -to him. Hitherto she would not even listen. He felt the strength of the -weapon he wielded, and was glad. - -She paused as if in deep distress and fear, and sighed as she asked-- - -“Do you think such a union as you suggest could bring happiness to -either of us, or having such a beginning could end in aught but ruin to -all?” - -“I love you, Gabrielle; that will suffice for all,” he declared -passionately. - -“Spare me that, I beg of you,” she cried quickly and very earnestly. -“When you spoke of this to me before, I answered you out of my -indignation. I am cooler now; but can you not think how such a -declaration sounds to me? It is not one jot less terrible because I -school myself to listen without temper. Can you not feel what treachery -it is to my dearest friend, your wife--surely the purest wife ever -given to a man?” - -“She is willing for our marriage to be dissolved.” - -“Does that make my treachery to her less ignoble? If the thing stood on -any other ground than where you put it by these words, it would still -be wrong--a cruel, cowardly wrong to her; but to plead for it no more -than mere passion, is to clothe it with its vilest dress.” - -“There are other reasons--many,” he said sullenly. “You wish to wield -influence in the rule of the people; I give you a chance. ’Twas but -yesterday I put the matter so to you.” - -“The baseness of the act is not lessened by wrapping it about with -specious pleas. And I will be frank with you; for frankness in such a -crisis is best. I could never feel to you as a wife should feel toward -her husband. The shame of this wrong to my friend would ever be a -canker to blight all other thoughts, and make my life--our lives--one -lengthened monotone of remorse and pain.” - -“I would leave that issue to time and my love. You did not think thus -until within the last few hours.” - -“I will deal with you frankly, as I said. I understand you; and in some -part you are right. I love this man who is in your power. I believe him -good and true and noble; I am not ashamed of my love. Love comes to -every woman at some time in her life, and she is powerless to resist -it. That is our nature. This has come to me. Could I then wed another -man while yet the love for him burns like a fever, filling my heart -with thoughts of him, gladdening it with hopes for him; and forming -already more, far more, than half my life?” - -“You are frank, as you say; but such frankness is ill hearing.” - -“If it be ill to hear me speak of it--and I am calm enough to speak -without temper and say this not to anger but to prevail with you--if it -be ill for you to hear me speak of it, what would it be in the after -time to live ever with the knowledge of it? Think you that happiness -lies that way? You with the knowledge that my heart is given to another -man; I with the bitterness of remorse for the wrong you would have me -do, relieved only by the ever aching sorrow of a broken heart?” - -“I wish to hear no more.” - -“Nay, but you must hear me. Only a coward would shut his ears to the -truth; and you at least are no coward. You have not thought what kind -of thing this really is that you would do. Were I to wed you as you now -wish, we should grow to hate one another. Your passion would cool and -you would come to feel the bitterness of the mistake, the galling yoke -of the load on your life and would look on me as the cause.” - -“You little know me, Gabrielle.” - -“Then at least I know myself. I am but a girl and very human; and in -the long dark hours of my misery and unavailing remorse, my spirit, -unbroken--for we Malincourts are not easily broken--would revolt -against you as the cause. Would yours be happier? Have you thought what -life would be to be mated with a woman who hated you, as we Malincourts -can hate?” - -“I love you. I think of naught else,” he said doggedly. - -“Love! Love! What sort of love is that which would blight and destroy -the object that has kindled it? What is it in me you think you love? My -face? My form? Would these retain their comeliness in your eyes when -you knew that beneath them burnt the fire of hate? When I could never -suffer you, without a shudder, even to look into my eyes? When at your -approach you found me shrink; when your lightest touch would seem to -be repugnant? Oh, put this cowardice away from you, and understand the -truth as it is. If there be this feeling for me that you deem, have -courage to see that it is wrong and evil. If it were love it would be -selfless, and you would seek my happiness, not your own mere desires. -The flame will burn out and die down; and if you will but act as a man -should act, you will grow to hate the thing you now desire, and thank -me for having kept you true to a man’s better part.” - -“Do you mean you would have me see you marry this man? I would see you -dead sooner. And he shall die,” he cried fiercely. “My mind is made up. -If you will not save him, his blood will be on your head.” - -Gabrielle had not hoped to move him, and his decision stirred no -surprise. She had pleaded urgently and sweetly; but with another -thought than that of prevailing with him. She had to disarm his -suspicion so that time might be gained, and now began to let her alarm -make itself evident. - -“He must not die; he must not,” she said, after a pause. - -“You can save him by a word.” - -“I must have time. I have told you I love him; and I swear to you that -if he were to die now I could not--nay, I would not survive him. I -would take my own life. My God! I could not bear it yet,” she cried, -wildly and vehemently. - -He had not looked for this; and the thought, impressed as it was by the -conviction that she was in deadly earnest, alarmed him and kept him -silent. Before he could find any words to reply, she continued with -equal vehemence. - -“Yes, yes, it shall be so. You are right, you are right. His blood will -be on my head. I shall be his murderess. His murderess!” She changed -her almost hysterical passion to a low tone of intense earnestness as -she repeated the words. “His murderess! Then it is right that I should -die. Who kills, dies. It is the law of the universe. And how I should -welcome death! Do this thing. Kill him; kill him. Do not stay to give -me time to learn that he is unworthy; and let me die, loving him, -trusting him, and believing him to be the noblest and best man in all -fair France. Then indeed can I die happy and be happy to die.” - -The outburst prompted just the thought she designed. - -“If I prove him first to be the scoundrel that he is?” - -“You cannot. That you cannot do. Oh, I can bear no more,” she cried in -a voice vibrating with pain and distress. “He is in your power to do -with as you please. Do what you will and so let me free. If he be the -man I believe, he will welcome death before my dishonour; and if he be -not, at least you can spare me the pain of knowing it. You will not be -merciful in one way, then, for the sake of God, be merciless in all. -The sooner the end, the more welcome death in such a case.” - -“I must think of this,” he said sullenly. - -“What would you do?” Eyes and face and manner all full of fear. - -“You shall know this man for the scoundrel he is. You must not cast -your life away for a worthless villain. I will have the truth made -plain to you.” - -“Ah, now I see how you hate him,” she cried distractedly. “You would -blacken his name even in my memory. How hard and harsh a man you are!” - -“It is right you should know the truth.” - -“I do not seek to know it. Spare me. I cannot bear the suspense. My -very courage to die may be killed by delay; already I can feel it -waning. A week of suspense and I should be coward enough even to wish -to live.” - -“You shall know the truth. I will find it out; and when his rank -unworthiness is proved to you, you will see the folly and madness of -this last wild resolve. You will live to thank me yet, Gabrielle.” - -“Oh, why did I speak it, fool and coward that I am!” she cried, -despairingly. - -“It is well you did,” he answered; and with this he left her. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -IN THE “TIGER’S DEN” - - -While all these plans were being hurried forward for his release, -Gerard took his imprisonment very philosophically. There was but one -circumstance which caused him uneasiness--the doubt whether Dubois -could have had time before he was placed under arrest to pass on the -instructions he had given him. - -But he had no serious fear. If Dubois had been able to set things in -motion there would soon be some effort on foot to secure his liberty; -while if not, the worst could only be that he himself would be driven -to announce his real rank to the Governor. - -He was indeed more than half disposed to regret having maintained -silence at the moment of arrest. He had measured the lengths to which -the Governor was prepared to go; and the brutal command to cut him down -if he resisted was one not to be forgotten. That and the indignity to -which he, Bourbon’s son, had been subjected by this tyrant should be -paid for heavily. - -He had a recompense, however. Gabrielle had answered nobly to the test -he had made. She loved him. He was sure of her now; and with that as a -consolation to sustain him, the hours of his retirement passed lightly. - -When his gaolers entered and led him from the cell in which he had -first been placed to one in which stood the instruments of torture, he -regretted no longer that he had not avowed his identity. - -Rumours of the Governor’s savage treatment of his prisoners had -reached him, garnished with many a horrible story of torture and -violence. He had now the evidence of this before his own eyes; perhaps -to be threatened even against himself; and these things he might never -have been able to prove had he declared himself earlier. - -That they were there to intimidate him he was soon to know, for a -warder entered and began to make them ready for use. - -Gerard watched him curiously from the spot where he sat bound, and at -length broke silence. - -“You ply a strange trade, my friend,” he said. - -“Prisoners must be silent,” answered the man. It was Pauline’s father, -Pierre, who had received orders from de Proballe in the Duke’s name to -have the ghastly instruments in readiness, and to do the work before -the prisoner’s eyes. - -“Silence, too, eh? Is this another of your Governor’s pleasant methods -of hospitality?” - -“I tell you to be silent,” replied Pierre gruffly. He had been both -troubled and alarmed at the command which his daughter had brought from -the Duchess. Fully prepared to do her bidding, he was nevertheless -anxious so to do it as to prevent suspicion falling on himself. To him -the event might mean life or death; and however strong the Duchess’s -intentions might be to shield him in the event of discovery, she might -lack the power, should the Governor get proof of his treachery. - -“So you are the Governor’s torturer,” said Gerard next. “I don’t envy -you your trade.” - -“A man must live,” returned Pierre. - -“A pretext for villainy and cruelty as long as the world has been a -world, I suppose. Yet were I a lusty fellow like you, I’d find some -honester use for my muscles than to maim my fellow-men and drag their -joints asunder, Master Torturer.” - -“I am no torturer,” said Pierre. “I am the warder.” - -“Warder only, eh? You get the torture ready and stand aside for some -one with a tougher stomach to do the mangling. Yet by the look of your -face, I think I’m wronging you. Those eyes of yours have a light in -them that speaks of a better nature than your words imply.” - -“I have to obey my orders. You are a soldier they say, and should know -that. Why are you placed here?” - -“That’s a question I could better put to you. To watch you set those -instruments running smoothly for my poor bones, maybe.” - -“’Tis a sight many a brave man has quailed at seeing. But I mean, what -is your crime; what have you done?” - -“As much as many of the Governor’s prisoners probably; that is, -nothing.” - -“Then these are to find the offence.” - -Gerard laughed lightly. - -“You’ve a pleasant wit, warder. What’s your name?” - -“Pierre Delmont.” - -“And so you think, Pierre, that I am to be put in the embrace of some -one of those pretty toys of yours in order to induce me to confess -to something I haven’t done? And I suppose you speak after some -experience.” - -“I have counselled many a man to confess to some light crime rather -than face these; and more than one has scoffed at my words to his after -sorrow.” - -“Then you are here to frighten me with thoughts of the torture.” - -“You are a brave man, I am told; yet many a man brave enough on the -field of battle has made his first acquaintance with fear in this cell. -God forgive the cruelty of it!” - -“I am in no danger, Pierre.” - -“Yet not for any reasons you know of.” - -“Surely that sentence has a double sound.” - -Pierre left his work, crossed toward Gerard, and answered in a low tone. - -“It means what I did not purpose to tell you yet--that I am your -friend at the bidding of others. We shall set you free, you and the -other prisoner, the monk. My work here I must do; otherwise I might be -suspected; and I meant to hold my tongue until it profited to speak.” - -“Who are those others?” - -“Some one is coming. Silence,” said Pierre hastily, as he withdrew to -the other end of the cell and busied himself again with his gruesome -task. - -Presently a knock sounded on the door, and Pierre let drop the irons he -held with a clanking sound. The knock was repeated; and he opened the -door. - -The Governor and de Proballe entered. - -“Why did you keep me waiting?” demanded the former angrily. - -“I was working yonder, my lord, and did not hear you.” - -“I heard the clanking of irons,” said de Proballe. “I ordered him to -have all in readiness.” - -Pierre went back to his work, and the two stood looking down at Gerard. - -“You can see now what comes of defying the Governor and playing me -false, M. Gerard de Cobalt,” said de Proballe, with an evil smile. “And -this is only the beginning; unless you are in another mood.” - -“It is worthy of the Baron de Proballe to gloat over a helpless man,” -answered Gerard contemptuously. - -“Exactly, helpless is just the right word, prisoner.” - -“The Duke of Rochelle has surely some other motive in coming here -than to allow this carrion to insult me,” said Gerard, turning to the -Governor. - -The Governor smiled at de Proballe’s start of anger. - -“I have come to you with a merciful object.” - -“I seek no mercy at your hands, monsieur. If you have come to do tardy -justice it will suffice for me, for you will order the gaoler there to -unbind my hands and set me free.” - -“Not so fast, prisoner, not so fast,” cried de Proballe. - -“I addressed you, monsieur,” said Gerard to the Governor. - -“What would it be but mercy that should impel me to pardon the -murderer, Gerard de Cobalt?” - -“I am no murderer, neither am I M. de Cobalt.” - -“Admit that you are he and no harm shall come to you. I will keep my -word and pardon you for the affair at Cambrai.” - -Gerard paused. The turn in things surprised him; and he could not see -the motive of it. The Governor mistook his silence for hesitation. - -“Write the admission that you are Gerard de Cobalt and guilty of that -crime, and on my oath you shall go from Morvaix a free man.” - -“Why?” - -“It is not for you to question. But I gave my word before you came and -I will keep it even now.” - -“Why should I confess to a crime I never committed and blacken--ah, -I think I see. You would show the confession to Mademoiselle de -Malincourt. Is that the motive for this unexpected mercy, as you term -it? I might have guessed it.” - -“Your answer?” - -“I would sooner cut my hand off than write the lie.” - -“It is well that I told Pierre to be prepared,” said de Proballe. “We -know that you are Gerard de Cobalt, and that you devised the scheme of -that letter to make us doubt you when you saw the danger in which you -stood. But we have means at hand that will make you speak.” - -“Who, then, do you say you are?” asked the Governor. - -“For what crime am I made a prisoner and threatened with the torture?” - -“Prisoners are to answer, not question.” - -“Is it your custom here in Morvaix to imprison men first and ascertain -their crimes afterwards? And to use the rack and the boot to drive them -to make a false confession? This is not the law of France, my lord -Duke, and you will beware how you threaten me with such iniquity.” - -“Will you speak and say who you are?” - -“I bear a name, my lord, which, were I to mention it, would make even -you pause in the contemplation of this outrage. It is enough that I say -I am a soldier and a man of honour and standing, with full right to be -in your city. If I withhold my name now, it is only that I may see how -far report has belied the evil reputation of your rule, and to what -lengths you will go in wronging an innocent man.” - -“Brave words, brave words,” sneered de Proballe. - -“As for you, monsieur,” said Gerard, turning upon him. “Your notorious -life in Paris prepared me to find you playing the part I see you -filling in Morvaix. Having wormed your way with lies into your niece’s -confidence, you were ready to betray her in the vile scheme your own -lips confessed to me. Coward, bully, cheat, liar, and scoundrel, the -part of procurer was still open to you in baseness; and you filled it -with a treachery worthy even of you. Have no fear: you shall have your -reward.” - -“’Fore God, this is too much,” cried de Proballe, rushing forward to -strike Gerard in the face. But the Governor prevented him; he was none -too sorry to hear de Proballe abused. - -“Stay, monsieur,” he said with cold contempt. “You take the truth -badly. If you are minded to strike that blow, I will have the prisoner -set free for your benefit.” - -“I have not deserved this at your hands, my lord,” said de Proballe; -but the Governor let the protest pass with a sneer. - -“Your name, prisoner?” he said, sternly. - -“You shall hear it, my lord, never fear; and hearing it, shall -understand all that this means to you.” - -“I hold you for the man you have already declared yourself. As Gerard -de Cobalt you came here; you yourself gave that name, and in it you won -your way into Malincourt; and as Gerard de Cobalt I will treat you. -I give you two hours to decide whether you will admit this to be the -truth, or compel me to have it dragged from you.” - -“Stay, my lord Duke,” cried Gerard sternly, as he was turning to the -door; “let me have this in plainer terms. If I do not admit that I am -Gerard de Cobalt, you propose to put me to the torture to drag such a -confession from me?” - -“I will have the truth one way or the other. Use the time of grace well -and be thankful that I concede it;” said the Governor with a heavy -threatening frown, and motioned to Pierre to open the cell door. - -“As there is a God, I had not believed that any man, even you, could -be capable of such infamy,” exclaimed Gerard, as the two went out. The -Governor whispered a word or two of instruction to Pierre who came back -and resumed his work, making much noise over it. - -Presently he crossed to Gerard, holding a set of heavy irons which he -clanked loudly. - -“In his present mood he is a fiend, monsieur. He ordered me to seek to -break your nerve with the full view of these things, and then to leave -you in solitude that your fears should gather.” - -Gerard smiled. - -“Clank them as much as you will, I heed them not. My nerves are tough -enough to withstand a greater strain than that.” - -“He would keep his word, monsieur. In this mood he is iron.” - -“Are you in truth an honest man? The breed seems rare in the Castle.” - -“I hope so--as men go, monsieur.” - -“And you heard what passed?--my last question and his reply.” - -“I could not help it.” - -“I am not this Gerard de Cobalt, and he knows it; yet you heard him -declare that if I would not confess to this lie he would torture me -until I did confess. If all else slips from your memory, at least -remember that; for the time may come when I may need your testimony. -Now do what you will; I am tired and would sleep;” and Gerard lay back -on the pallet. - -“Not there where you lie, monsieur, safer here;” and to Gerard’s -surprise Pierre made him shift his position. - -Presently Pierre left the cell, and Gerard fell asleep, to be wakened -by a sound at the door. He sat up thinking the two hours had passed -and that the Governor had returned; then started with an exclamation -of delight and surprise, as he saw Gabrielle enter, dressed in a loose -black cloak. - -“Gabrielle! You!” - -“I have come to set you free,” she said, pausing with blanched cheeks -as her eyes ran round the cell. “What a fearful place.” - -“You have run this risk for me!” and he smiled. - -“I run no risk; but if risk there were, you must be free.” - -“Shall I go, mademoiselle? The door must be locked,” said Pierre. - -“Yes, go, good Pierre. Keep watch and warn us of any danger.” - -“There is a full half-hour and more, mademoiselle. But I will watch;” -and he went out and locked the door behind him. - -“How you trust me, Gabrielle,” said Gerard. - -“We must not speak save in whispers; and there is much to do and to -tell you.” As she spoke she slipped off the cloak and disclosed a -somewhat bulky roll fastened cunningly about her. Then she took a knife -from a sheath, and with it cut the bonds which bound Gerard’s arms and -legs. - -He tried to rise, but fell back helpless. - -“You are ill!” she cried in quick alarm; and glancing at the torture -implements, which showed gaunt and gruesome in the slanting rays of the -moonlight, she caught her breath and added--“They have not dared----” - -“No, no. It is but the rush of blood through my numbed veins. It will -pass in a moment.” - -She sighed in relief and then cut loose the roll. - -“A ladder of fine silk rope that will reach to the courtyard below,” -she exclaimed, as she laid it on the pallet, while Gerard was chafing -his arms and legs. He glanced at the window bars. “They can be moved,” -she added, catching the look; and gave him rapidly a description of the -place. - -“Another devil’s trick, indeed,” he muttered, with a frown; and watched -her while she sought for the spring to release the bars. Before she -found it he had regained the use of legs and arms, and went to her help. - -“I have it,” she said at length, and pressed upon it with all her -strength while he tugged at the bars. Success soon crowned their -efforts, and then a place was found where the grappling hooks of the -ladder could be fastened. - -“Now the way is clear,” said Gerard. - -“Not yet. There is a guard below. But we have done our part so far. -Your friend, whom you call Pascal, will be here soon--should be here -now indeed, to surprise the man and clear the path for you below. -He will come in by the breach made for the repair of the walls, and -he has friends posted there. Look if you can see anything of him. -Cautiously, or the moonlight on your face may betray you.” - -Gerard peeped from the casement. - -“There is no sign of Pascal. There is a guard below; he is leaning on -his musket just underneath this spot. Listen!” - -Listening almost breathlessly, the sounds from below came up. They -heard the soldier stamping his feet as if chilled with the night air; -then his musket was grounded; and a moment later the stillness was -broken as he began to sing in a sweet tenor voice the ballad which -Lucette was fond of carolling-- - - “There was a maiden in Arcady - Whose lover both feal and true, - Came riding forth from the sullen north - Her sweet white hand to woo.” - -As the simple words were borne to their ears they both smiled. - -“Apt words,” whispered Gerard gently, as he captured Gabrielle’s hand -and carried it to his lips. - -“How shall I thank you, Gabrielle?” - -“You are not yet free, monsieur,” she answered, withdrawing her hand. - -“Monsieur?” he whispered. “Was it not you who once reproved me for -calling you mademoiselle?” - -“If I think of you as Gerard, yet do I not know how to call you now.” - -“I am Gerard, in truth.” - -“Oh, I am so glad,” and she sighed. - -“And sigh for gladness?” - -“Sigh partly for gladness--that is a woman’s way, Gerard; yet not all -for gladness, but partly in fear lest even now this plan of ours should -in some way miscarry. Your Pascal lingers, and yet I urged him so. Pray -look again.” - -“He will come surely. Never yet has he failed me. But if he were -prevented, it would be no grave matter.” - -“No grave matter?” she repeated anxiously. - -“I have learnt all and more than all I came to learn, and there is no -longer need for concealment. Parlous as my plight seems, yet I am not -in such peril as you deem, Gabrielle.” - -“I do not understand. What came you to learn?” - -“You do not ask me who I am.” - -“You will tell me in your own time, I know.” - -“What a trusting heart is yours, Gabrielle! What proof you have given -me of your love! Yet I know how I must have tried you. Have you not -even guessed why I came?” - -“I have tried, but failed hopelessly,” she said with a smile. “For me -it is enough that you did come.” - -“You sent certain messages to the Duke of Bourbon. Have you not -wondered that no answer came?” - -“Are you from great Bourbon? And this Pascal? And the monk who is -a prisoner? And the others of whom Pascal spoke? You are to go to -Malincourt, where he has gathered a force of men--monks they were, -Lucette told me. Is this all a part of it?” - -“All,” he replied. “We came to gather for ourselves the truth as to -this Tiger’s doings.” - -“And you are the leader, then. Oh----” she paused and looked in his -eyes. - -“I am Bourbon’s son.” - -At this she fell back from him in great concern. - -“My lord----” - -“Nay, Gerard to you, Gabrielle, my dearest; always Gerard to you, as -you will always be Gabrielle to me. My Gabrielle;” and he stretched out -his arms and folded them about her. - -“I am frightened, my lord,” she cried, burying her face on his -shoulder. - -“My lord cannot hear that, Gabrielle,” he whispered tenderly. - -“Gerard,” she murmured, and lifted her face and gazed upon him with -eyes of love. - -“Thus then I break my pledge. I said I would not seek a betrothal kiss -till I came for it having freed Morvaix from the claws of its Tiger; -but--” and stooping he kissed her on the lips. “My Gabrielle.” - -“My Gerard, my knight, my love,” she whispered, and of herself with -love’s sweet rapturous abandonment sought his lips in return. - -They stood thus in silent happiness too deep for words, when the -stillness without was broken. - -“Who goes there?” It was the voice of the guard. - -“Pascal has come,” said Gerard. - -“And we shall have to part. I could almost grudge his coming. But look -down, Gerard, and see what passes.” - -“There are several soldiers,” he reported, his head at the casement. -“Ah, it is a ruse. Good Pascal.” - -The sound of a moment’s struggle came up; a weapon fell with a clang -upon the courtyard stones; the press of heavy footsteps; and then again -silence. - -“Done without bloodshed,” said Gerard; “and well done, Pascal. He sees -me and motions. Give me the rope, dearest;” and he flung it out far -into the night. - -“Go, Gerard, go,” cried Gabrielle, excitedly. - -“And you, Gabrielle? Where do you go?” - -“Back to the Duchess. She has planned this and is our staunch friend. -To-morrow I shall return to Malincourt.” - -“I would rather you went with me. You would be safe at Malincourt. This -rope would bear us.” - -“I shall be safe with my friend. Go, Gerard, for the love of God, go. -Every moment is precious.” - -“I do not like to leave you.” - -“No harm can touch me with her.” - -“But first I must know that you are safely out from this cell. Call -Pierre. I cannot leave you here. The rack would be a gentler punishment -than the suspense till I knew you were safe.” - -“I will go then.” - -“God keep you, dearest, till we meet at Malincourt.” - -He threw his arms round her and they kissed again; and then both -started back in alarm. - -Some one tried the door of the cell, and a voice harsh and stern called -loudly-- - -“Pierre, Pierre, come here at once and open the door.” - -“God have mercy upon us both, it is the Duke’s voice,” whispered -Gabrielle, clinging to Gerard. Then with intense agitation in her voice -she added--“Fly, Gerard, if you love me; fly, or it will be too late.” - -“Nay, it is too late. I cannot leave you now,” he answered, in a tone -of calm strength. - -“Then let us go together.” - -“That also were useless. He would be in before ever we could reach the -courtyard; and he would either cut the rope and we should go to our -death, or summon his soldiers and we should be caught. I will await him -here.” - -The Governor’s voice was heard again then, oathing and cursing at -Pierre’s delay and calling to him in strident tones to hasten. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -A LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE - - -It was indeed a desperate situation in which Gerard and Gabrielle found -themselves, and for a few moments Gabrielle could do no more than cling -to her lover and stare at the door, overcome by terror. Then, shaking -off her lethargy, she once more begged him in an impassioned whisper to -fly. - -“You must not ask it, Gabrielle; nor will he dare to harm either of us -when I tell him I am Bourbon’s son.” - -“He will; he will, I know him and you do not,” she urged strenuously. -“Within the last few hours he swore to have your life, if I would not -consent to marry him. If he finds us together he will have you slain -before my eyes. For the love of God, fly while there is yet time.” - -“Will you risk it with me?” - -“Yes, yes, anything; anything rather than that he find you here,” she -answered desperately. - -At this moment they heard the key fitted into the lock and Pierre’s -voice as he replied to the Governor’s reproaches. But before the key -could be turned, Gerard dragged the pallet to the door and wedging it -against an angle of the wall, improvised a barrier which jammed the -door fast. - -The key was turned and those outside strained to thrust the door back; -and Pierre’s deep voice was heard declaring that the lock was wedged. - -“Come, Gabrielle, quick.” Gerard drew her to the window and, getting -out, stood upon the ladder and held his arms waiting in a fever of -impatience for her to follow. She went to the window and looked out, -but with a gasp of fear shrank back, appalled by the far descent, and -shuddered. - -“Heaven help me, Gerard, I dare not,” she cried. Her nerve failed at -the look of yawning darkness, and when at the same moment a great -knocking sounded against the cell door, she fell on her knees on the -floor and buried her face in her hands. - -“Come, Gabrielle, courage,” said Gerard. “Trust yourself to me and all -will be well.” - -“I cannot, I cannot, I dare not. I cannot die that way. I am a coward, -Gerard. But do you go! Oh go, if you love me.” - -“That I will not,” he answered and climbed back into the cell, to the -dismay of Pascal and his companions who were watching below. - -Then the clamour at the door ceased. - -“What does it mean, Pierre?” asked the Governor. - -“The lock has jammed, my lord,” was the reply. “I have known it so once -or twice before and reported it. With your lordship’s leave I can get -another key that may open it.” - -“Quick then, man, quick. And have up some men with bars to break the -lock in lest you fail.” - -“His entrance will be your sentence of death, Gerard,” whispered -Gabrielle. “When roused he is too recklessly desperate in his fury to -let aught stand in his way.” - -“He will not dare to harm me, Gabrielle,” he answered calmly. - -“When he finds that I have come to rescue you, he will kill you. He -would do it were it the King of France himself who stood in his way.” - -They heard the Governor muttering to himself as he fumbled at the lock -impatiently while awaiting Pierre’s return; and then a plan leapt into -Gerard’s thoughts. - -“We will see,” he said. “Quick, Gabrielle! Rouse yourself, my dearest. -I have a plan that will yet save us both. Where is the knife you -brought? He shall come in.” - -“What would you do, Gerard?” she whispered, in a voice of awe, rising -and peering into his face in the dim light. - -“Not murder; but I have a plan. Stand over there in the shadow and be -ready with the knife when I call to you. Give me your cloak. Quick, -now, for the love of God. Seconds are priceless.” - -Gabrielle slipped off the cloak and handed it to him, and stood back -where he had directed. - -“When I have moved the pallet stand as still as death, till I call to -you.” - -Making as little noise as possible he wrenched the pallet from the door -and placed it ready for use again, and holding the cloak in readiness -took his stand behind the door. - -As he did so he heard Pierre in the distance. - -The Governor tried the door again then and, finding it yield, pushed it -open and entered the cell, all unsuspicious of any danger. - -In a moment Gerard threw a cloak over his head and, smothering his cry -of alarm in the folds of the cloak, dashed him violently to the ground. -Then leaving his prisoner for a moment he thrust the bed once more -against the door just in time to prevent those outside from entering, -or indeed seeing what had occurred. - -The Governor finding himself free, however, began to shout for help, -when Gerard sprang upon him again, gripped him by the throat, and -clapped a hand roughly over his mouth. - -The Governor was a powerful man, and he fought with frantic efforts to -free himself from Gerard’s grip. A desperate struggle in the darkness -followed--Gerard bent on preventing a single cry from escaping his -adversary’s lips, and the Duke writhing and straining to cast off -the sinewy hands which clutched his throat and mouth, threatening to -suffocate him. - -The silence, broken only by the hard breathing of Gerard and the -convulsive movements of the pair as they were locked in the deadly -embrace, added to the weird terror of the scene. - -“The knife,” whispered Gerard at length, as he felt the strength of -his enemy beginning to give out; and Gabrielle, whose courage had now -returned, crept across the cell as near to him as she dared, and held -it out. Waiting his opportunity he released the grip on his opponent’s -throat, and taking the knife held it over the weakening man’s heart. - -“My lord, my lord!” called Pierre, puzzled at not finding the Governor -at the door. “Where are you?” - -Then the other men whom Pierre had summoned came up and spoke to him. - -Tearing the cloak from the Duke’s face, Gerard let him see the gleam of -the knife in the moonlight. - -“My lord Duke, a single sound from your lips other than I direct, and -as I am a man, the blade goes straight home to your heart.” - -To further the threat he pressed the dagger until the sharp point -entered the flesh; and withdrawing it, he dragged him to his feet and -held him. - -At Gerard’s fierce tone and menacing gesture, and still more at the -slight wound inflicted, the Governor’s courage gave, and he stood -trembling in deadly fear for his life. - -At that moment the clamour began again at the door. - -“You are in my power; but I do not seek your life unless you force me -by treachery,” breathed Gerard into his ear. - -“What do you want?” The harsh strident voice was feeble and husky as -the question came from trembling lips. - -“Send those men away, all of them. Say all is well, and bid them cease -their efforts.” - -Realising his helplessness and too appalled by his imminent peril to -attempt treachery, he turned toward the door and called to Pierre by -name. But his quavering voice was drowned by the din and clatter those -outside were making. - -“Louder, louder,” whispered Gerard. - -“Pierre, Pierre,” called the Governor; but the call was still unheard, -and with the hilt of the knife Gerard knocked angrily at the door. - -The clamour ceased and all was still as the grave. - -“Are you there, my lord?” asked Pierre. - -“Yes, Pierre. Cease your efforts.” - -“Is that really you, my lord?” - -“Louder, and in your natural tone, or--” threatened Gerard. - -“Who should it be, fellow? Send those men away, I say,” cried the -Governor with an effort. - -“It is the Governor. You are to go away,” they heard Pierre say to the -others; and their footsteps were heard as they went, growing fainter -until the distance swallowed them. - -“Tell him to go too, but to leave the keys in the door,” prompted -Gerard next. - -“Are you there, Pierre?” - -“Yes, my lord.” - -“I told you all to go away. Leave the keys.” - -“You have saved your life,” said Gerard, releasing his hold; and the -Governor fell prone on the prisoner’s bed, as Gerard gave a deep-drawn -sigh of relief. The first part of the struggle was over and had ended -in victory. - -But there was yet much to do, and what course to take was a hard -problem to solve. - -Could Gabrielle have ventured to trust herself with him on the rope, -the way would have been easy enough; but her nerve had so failed her -that he feared to ask her again. - -There was nothing for it, therefore, but to put a bold face on things -and to find their way out together as best they could. Leave her he -would not, come what might. After what had occurred, nothing should -induce him to let her stay within reach of the mad fiend this Governor -would be when once he was liberated from the cell. - -He had prevented her being seen, it was true; but the Governor would -set such inquiries on foot that her presence in that part of the Castle -would be surely discovered; and what would follow the discovery no one -could attempt to say. - -Yet the time was pressing with cruel insistence. Any minute might bring -de Proballe upon the scene with the men who were to apply the torture. -And under the spur of this thought, Gerard made his plan. - -With a threat to his prisoner to lie still on pain of death, he gave -Gabrielle her cloak with a sign to put it on, and tearing off his coat, -he whispered to her to take it, find Pierre, get Dubois liberated, and -tell him to give her his monk’s garb. - -“Lose not a second,” he whispered earnestly. “It may mean our lives.” - -He opened the cell door, saw her speed away on her errand, and turned -to finish his preparations. - -Hauling in the rope ladder, lest it should be seen and rouse -suspicions, he cut the ropes, and having bound the Governor securely -hand and foot, improvised a gag with part of the bedclothes. - -He had just finished his task, working with desperate haste, when -he heard a heavy footstep in the corridor. Fearing it might be de -Proballe, he seized the knife and stood in readiness behind the door. - -With intense relief he saw Pierre’s bearded face. In silence Gerard -pointed to where the Governor, thus bound and gagged, lay in a corner -of the cell, and then donned the monk’s gabardine which Pierre had -brought. In this guise he left the cell, locking the door and taking -the key with him, and followed Pierre along the gloomy corridor. - -“They are close here, monsieur, watching,” whispered Pierre; and a -moment later they came upon Dubois and Gabrielle. - -A hurried consultation followed as to the least hazardous means of -getting out of the Castle. Gabrielle was for going to the apartments of -the Duchess; but Gerard, all unwilling that she should remain a minute -longer than was necessary, would not consent. - -“No, we must get you beyond this Tiger’s reach, at any hazard. What say -you, Dubois?” - -But Dubois having heard the Governor was a prisoner, had another and -much bolder scheme. - -“I am with mademoiselle, so far as staying here,” he said. “I would -take the bold line, my lord. Keep the Governor a prisoner; let me -collect our men together, declare yourself openly, and by a bold stroke -seize the Castle itself in the name of your father. At best we should -have half the garrison on our side; and at worst should only have to -hold this part of the Castle for some two days. With our hundred men -we could maintain it against half an army, especially with the army -disorganized and leaderless. Mademoiselle could remain with the Duchess -in perfect safety, because the Governor would be in our hands.” - -“It is like you, Dubois, and might succeed; but I see a thousand -difficulties.” - -“There are difficulties every way; but as I told you to-day, I know the -disaffection among the men here; and the difficulties stoutly faced -would yield.” - -Gerard thought earnestly a moment and then shook his head. - -“The hazard is too great. If we can but once reach the courtyard, -Pascal is there with a force enough to get us through the breach in the -wall I noticed to-day; and we can then leave the city. Can you guide us -by a safe way to the courtyard, Pierre?” - -“It may be done, my lord; but ’tis now close on the hour for the change -of guard.” - -“Then I decide for that,” broke in Gerard. “Lead the way.” - -“It is full of risks, my lord. There is an iron door on every landing, -and a sentry posted at each.” - -“Go you on ahead then; and if any difficulty is made about our passing, -leave it to us to force the way.” - -They started at once--Pierre some little distance in front, Dubois -next, and Gerard with Gabrielle following. The stairway, narrow and -pitch dark, wound down the western tower of the prison fortress; and -the light from the lantern which Pierre carried scarcely reached those -above. - -Not a word further was spoken, and each of the three trod as lightly as -the broken uneven stairs would allow. - -Soon they saw Pierre’s light stop and heard some one speak to him. - -“Who goes? Is that you, Pierre?” - -“Who else, Armand?” was the gruff reply. Then a faint chink of -something falling on the stone and an exclamation from Pierre. “Diable! -I’ve dropped my key. Lend me your eyes, Armand.” - -A musket was set down; and a moment later the sound of a heavy blow and -a low groan, at which Gabrielle caught her breath and shuddered. - -“Quick, my lord,” called Pierre; and running down they found him -bending over the unconscious form of the sentry. “There was no other -way,” he said. “He would have fired his musket and roused every guard -in the Castle had he caught sight of you.” - -“’Twas cleverly done,” said Dubois. “Make sure of him;” and he picked -up the soldier’s musket, glad to get a weapon so easily. - -“Not cleverly; treacherously, monsieur,” replied Pierre regretfully; -“but there was nothing else for it;” and he opened the iron door for -them to pass. - -“You will have to leave with us now, Pierre,” said Gerard. - -“Pray Heaven we are as lucky at the next gate,” he answered, and again -went on ahead. - -Fortune was with them at the next gate. The sentry was asleep, and -Pierre opened the gate and let them through. - -“Naught but luck put the sot Crateau on guard to-night of all nights,” -he said. “If the Governor hears of it his head will ache no more with -liquor. There is but one more gate, my lord, and there we may have -trouble; but once passed, a few steps only remain till we reach the -courtyard.” - -They continued the descent as rapidly as practicable until Pierre -stopped them. - -“I think you had better come on with me, monsieur,” he said to Dubois; -“and leave my lord and mademoiselle to follow when we have seen the way -is clear.” - -The two went down together, and Gerard felt in the darkness for -Gabrielle’s hand. - -“You are not frightened, Gabrielle?” he whispered. - -“I am with you,” she answered, pressing to his side. - -“You are trembling, sweetheart.” - -“It is for you, dearest. If we were but free of this dreadful place!” - -“Courage, dear one; all will come right.” - -“Pray God it may,” she said fervently. “What peril I have caused you.” - -“Nay, it is I who have brought you to this pass. But you may trust -Dubois to carry us through.” - -“It is you I trust, Gerard. Ah! something is happening!” - -Pierre was right in anticipating trouble. As they neared the gate they -heard the voices of several men. - -“Assembling for the change of guard, monsieur,” he whispered to Dubois. -“They will let me pass, and I shall say you are one of the new officers -who joined the Castle force recently.” - -“I am one, Pierre.” - -“I thought as much,” was the pithy reply. “Some of your men may be -amongst them. But I know not what to do.” - -“Put a bold face on it and leave it to me,” said Dubois; and the next -moment they found themselves among half a dozen men clustered by the -gate. “It is a fine prison, friend Pierre, but I don’t envy you your -warding,” said Dubois aloud, in an easy tone, as he reached the bottom. -“And these men, who are they--the guard?” - -At the sound of his voice the soldiers looked round, and two of them -drew themselves up instantly and saluted. With intense satisfaction -Dubois recognized them as his own men, returned the salute, and -addressed them. - -“On guard, Vauchamp, and you, Dentelle, learning your new duties? Good. -Open the gate, Pierre.” - -“Who is this, Pierre?” demanded the sergeant in command. - -“What, don’t you know your own officers, Vauban?” returned Pierre, in a -surly tone. “Out of the way and let me obey my orders.” - -“Not so fast, surly-tongue,” growled the man angrily. “No one passes -here.” - -“Surly-tongue yourself, you uncivil beast,” returned Pierre, and as if -with sudden passion, he dealt him a blow on the head which sent him -reeling to one side, and thrust the key in the lock. - -Recovering his surprise and furious at the blow, the man sprang at -Pierre to be met with the butt end of Dubois’ musket full in the face. - -“Back, you mutinous dog,” cried Dubois, in a voice of command, as the -man fell stunned and bleeding. “Is this the way you Castle men treat -your officers? You know better at least,” he said to his own men. “See -that there’s no more of this mutiny. Bring down the visitors, Pierre.” - -But there was no need to fetch them, for Gerard at the first sound of -trouble had hurried down with Gabrielle. - -The sergeant’s men, taken by surprise stood in doubt what to do; but -as two of their new comrades had recognized Dubois for an officer and -sided with him, and being as they saw outnumbered, they offered no -resistance, and the little party were through the gate, and the gate -itself was locked before their surprise had passed. - -The stairway now was broader and led straight to the open doorway, -which let out upon the courtyard; and they were hurrying down, Gerard -and Gabrielle leading, when the figures of two men showed in the -doorway, and Gabrielle clutched Gerard’s arm in sudden fear. - -“De Proballe,” she whispered, shrinking against the wall. - -At the same moment there came the sound of shots and angry voices in -the courtyard, and all the evidences of a fierce battle. - -“It is the guard changing, my lord,” said Pierre. “They have discovered -something wrong.” - -“They have run up against Pascal’s force,” he replied. “Dubois, we must -clear that doorway; or we shall be caught like rats in a hole.” - -“I’ll do it,” answered Dubois sternly, gripping his weapon. - -“Stay, monsieur, by your leave. I have a thought,” urged Pierre; and -without waiting to explain what it was he ran on down the stairway to -de Proballe. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -A DASH FOR THE WALLS - - -Dubois looked after Pierre with some misgivings as he saw him accost de -Proballe. - -“I suppose he is to be trusted,” he muttered. - -“Hasn’t he given proof of it?” replied Gerard. - -“I would trust him with my life,” said Gabrielle. - -“And I would trust few men of Morvaix with anything,” returned Dubois. -“I am minded to go and hear for myself. While that din rages outside I -could get up unheard and would soon have the way clear.” - -But there was no need for suspicion of Pierre. He went up to de -Proballe and addressed him openly. - -“By your leave, my lord, I was seeking you. The Governor sent me to -find you for the work in the turret cell.” - -“Where is he?” asked de Proballe. - -“I left him with the prisoner, my lord, and he ordered me, if I should -find you, to ask you to hasten to him at once by way of the upper -gallery. Jean of the Mask has gone thither and I am in search now of -the surgeon.” - -“Then the prisoner will be racked?” asked de Proballe, in a tone of -satisfaction. - -“Rack for the one, my lord, and the weights for the priest,” answered -Pierre, so glibly and readily that de Proballe never thought he was -lying. “The Governor is full of impatience, my lord,” he added; and de -Proballe hurried away, making an excuse to his companion. - -“What is the trouble, captain?” asked Pierre. - -“A quarrel with some of the new soldiers which will end in work for -you, I fancy, Pierre.” - -“It seems serious, captain; and I’ve work enough with my last birds not -to need more. They are to be questioned to-night.” - -“Who are they, Pierre?” asked the officer eagerly. - -“If you will walk with me I’ll tell you. I am seeking the surgeon.” - -He led the officer away with this pretext, and the doorway being thus -cleared, Gerard and the others ran down into the courtyard. - -“Which way now?” asked Dubois. - -“I can find the road,” said Gerard. “But where is Pierre? We cannot -leave him after what he has done.” - -“If we wait for him we shall have the place swarming with men,” -answered Dubois. - -And this seemed true enough indeed. Attracted by the news of the -fighting, soldiers were beginning to pour out of the doorways into the -courtyard, laughing and oathing as they ran in the direction of the now -receding sounds of conflict; and Gerard saw to his disquiet that the -stream was setting in the direction of that part of the walls through -which he hoped to make his escape. - -“Pascal has had to retreat,” he said. “But we must go. Pierre or no -Pierre,” and giving a last glance for the absent gaoler he set off at a -brisk pace across the courtyard. - -No one seemed to heed them and they were turning a corner of the -building when Pierre came running after them. - -“This way, my lord; not a moment must be lost,” he said, breathing -hard. “I had to get rid of the captain yonder and to find you swords. -There may be some fighting to be done.” - -They raced along for a short distance at full speed, Pierre guiding -them through deserted ways until at a turn of the walls they came in -full view of the fighting, when Pierre stopped abruptly. - -“We are too late,” he said hurriedly. “It would be madness to attempt -it. See, they are already close to the breach.” - -He was right, as Gerard recognized at a glance. - -“What can we do?” he asked. “Is there another spot by which we can get -out?” - -“I know of none, my lord.” - -“How say you, Dubois? Dare we risk it?” - -“With mademoiselle it is hopeless,” he replied. - -“Then leave me, Gerard. You can get through alone, and I can find my -way safely either to the Duchess or out through the main gateway. No -one will stop me.” - -“You wrong me in that thought, mademoiselle,” said Dubois hastily and -earnestly. “God forbid that I should think of leaving you.” - -“We would not dream of it,” declared Gerard. “We must wait where we are -until matters have quieted down, and then go.” - -“There is an old guard-house close by, my lord, where we can wait -unseen,” said Pierre. “Unused now, save as a storehouse for the -workmen.” - -“I see the plan of the fight,” said Dubois. “It is Pascal, right -enough. See, he is drawing off his men in good order. He knows his work -when put to it, gabble-tongue though he be.” - -“We may be spied out and suspected, my lord,” said Pierre. “Any minute -may find the escape known now,” and he told how he had got rid of de -Proballe. “If the Governor be found in your cell, hell will soon be -loose in the Castle.” - -“Come, Dubois, to cover,” said Gerard. - -“Good, good,” cried Dubois, the soldier in him rejoicing; “they are -through the walls to a man,” and reluctantly he obeyed Gerard’s -injunction and followed him to the shelter. - -“You can watch matters from here, monsieur,” said Pierre, as they -entered the place. “The window up there commands a view of that part of -the battlements.” - -In a moment Dubois had clambered up, and the others waited anxiously to -hear his report. - -“All seems well,” he said, after a minute’s observation. “Pascal must -have made off. The Castle men are not following. They are clustered -round the place like bees, but hesitate to follow for some reason. -Pascal must have had more men posted there. That’s it. Some of the -men are straggling back. Yes--yes. Good! What’s that?” he broke off -suddenly as guns were fired from the Castle, followed by a trumpet -sounding the assembly. - -“The escape is known,” said Pierre. “Now, Heaven help us all.” - -“The men are rushing back in a body,” reported Dubois. - -“We must take the risk and go,” said Gerard. - -“Let me go first and see the way is clear,” replied Dubois, jumping -down and darting into the night. - -“Cautiously,” whispered Gerard. - -As they left the old guard-house they saw the soldiers running back to -the Castle in hot haste to obey the call and learn the news; and in a -minute the place where they had swarmed in such numbers was deserted -except for sentries. - -“We must take our chance,” said Dubois, staying for the others. “Come -on with me, Pierre;” and the two ran forward, followed at a few paces -distance by Gerard and Gabrielle. - -The Castle itself was now the scene of great commotion. Lights were -flashing everywhere, men hurrying in all directions, trumpets sounding, -and guns booming at intervals. Everything showed that events of deep -import had occurred and preparations on a great scale were in progress. - -Dubois, with Pierre at his heels, crept up the steps and with the -utmost coolness made his observations and laid his plan. Four men were -standing together close to the breach talking eagerly. - -“There are but four men,” he whispered to Gerard; “and we have the -advantage of a surprise. We had best attack before any more come up.” - -Gerard nodded his assent, and dashing up the three sprang forward and -attacked the soldiers. Two of them went down before Gerard and Dubois, -and the others broke and ran for the Castle with shouts to raise an -alarm as they sped. - -But the way was won, and before the men could reach their comrades to -tell their news the four were safely out and speeding away through the -moonlight toward the city. - -The distance was short, fortunately; but short as it was, Dubois, -knowing that pursuit would soon be hot on their heels, cast many an -anxious look behind him at the Castle. - -“Would to Heaven we could have met with Pascal,” he muttered. - -“He has gone to Malincourt,” said Gerard. - -“Should we not follow him? The pursuit will spread out like a fan and -every inch of the ground will be scoured.” - -“We could not reach Malincourt, I fear,” was Gerard’s verdict, and then -Gabrielle was ready with a suggestion. - -“I can find shelter and help in a hundred houses while we make our -plans. In the city I am sure of my people.” - -“Our plans should not take long to form,” answered Gerard. “To leave -the city by the gates is impossible, of course, and we need but a guide -who will lead us to some spot by which we can get out. Once outside we -can trust to ourselves to find the road to Cambrai.” - -“To Cambrai?” asked Gabrielle. “Why to Cambrai?” - -“Because at Cambrai lies a Bourbon force strong enough to break the -Governor’s power.” - -“Would we were safely housed in Malincourt to await him,” said Dubois. - -“Better were we safely out of Morvaix altogether,” replied Gerard. - -Under Gabrielle’s guidance they hurried through the streets, in which -the citizens were beginning to assemble, attracted by the Castle guns. -Groups of townsfolk stood at the corners and in the roadways discussing -the meaning of the unusual disturbance in more or less eager tones and -with many a sign of fear lest it boded ill to the city and themselves. - -Now and again a soldier or two, who had been loitering late in their -revels in the city, would dash past them scurrying Castlewards. -Everywhere excitement and uneasiness prevailed. - -Many curious glances were cast after the four as they hurried on -their way, and once or twice, when Pierre chanced to be recognized, a -question would be flung after him as to the meaning of the trouble at -the Castle. But no one sought to stay them, and a good distance had -been safely put between them and the Castle when Gabrielle stopped -before a long, low-gabled house in a dark by-street. - -“I can get the guide we need here,” she said. She knocked at the door -and entered, to return in a couple of minutes. - -“There is bad news, I fear,” she said. “You remember the man who was -slain in the market place, Babillon the smith. This is the house of his -brother; he is entirely to be trusted. He knows every inch of the city -walls and is often passing in and out by secret ways when the gates are -shut. He says that something has occurred which has put the guard on -the alert, and that to-night it is scarcely possible to pass.” - -“Let me question him,” said Gerard, and they went in together. - -“Greeting, good friar,” said Babillon, a strong, lithe, hard-faced, -keen-eyed man, saluting Gerard respectfully. - -“I am no monk, my good fellow,” said Gerard, “but a soldier, and -together with mademoiselle here need your help to get from the city. -What is this you say has occurred?” - -“A command was sent by my lord the Governor, to-day, monsieur, that the -gates were to be closed and no one permitted to leave without a license -from himself. Soon after that I was at the south gate and having been -stopped was hanging round in curiosity, when a courier rode up and was -stopped likewise. A monk, whom I recognized, was with him, and seeing -both were much disconcerted, I followed them and offered my services.” - -“Can you describe either?” asked Gerard quickly. - -“The monk was tall, erect, spare of figure, with a blue eye sharp to -read your thoughts, quick of tongue, and customed to command, as I -found afterwards. A noble, monsieur, and yet of winning condescension -and with a laugh where many another would have a curse.” - -“It might be Pascal,” said Gerard to Gabrielle. “What next, Babillon? -You say you recognized him?” - -“I had seen him before, my lord. It was he who stood between you and -the soldiers when my brother was killed, mademoiselle. He told me that -if I could get him two men in secret from the city he would reward me -well; and when I showed him it could be done, he carried me with him -and left me in charge of some monks--at least they were dressed as -monks, monsieur, though my ears being trained to catch sounds readily, -I heard more muttered oaths among them than one looks to hear from men -of holy life. I served him, monsieur, and he paid me well; but ’twas -this work which has caused the city to be shut like a bear’s cage with -the door barred.” - -“You got them away then?” - -“Two separately while the light lasted and two together after -nightfall, but the last piece was hazardous. They were seen, and I -escaped capture by no more than a hair’s breadth. And since then at -every doubtful point where such a thing could be attempted soldiers -have been posted.” - -“This is both good and ill news you give, friend. You have done that -which will earn you a higher reward than at present I can name. But -now, can you increase my gratitude, and get us past these guards? -Think. It is Pascal, of course,” he said to Gabrielle, while Babillon -stood thinking. “He has trebled the messengers to Cambrai. Now, -Babillon, how say you?” - -“There is the river,” he answered, shaking his head doubtfully. “Men -might do it, but----” he glanced toward Gabrielle and shook his head -again. - -“Tell me,” said Gerard quickly. - -“It runs for some three hundred yards by the walls between the north -and east gates: the walls are high there and no one would look for an -attempt at such a spot; and so the guards are but sparsely set. I have -done it, but I have swum the stream. I can scale the walls and could -plant a rope ladder for you all--but there is the stream,” and once -more he shook his head as he glanced toward Gabrielle. - -“You can go that way, Gerard,” she said instantly. “I can lie hid if -need be----” - -“We shall not part,” he answered. “Could we not get a boat or even some -planks?” he asked Babillon. - -“It would be full of hazard, monsieur. With such a watch set as there -is to-night we should almost surely be seen before we had crossed. They -would fire upon us and, even if we escaped their shots, they would -send round a party from the eastern gate to cut us off. But if you -wish it, I am willing.” - -“When the disease calls for it, only a coward shrinks from the knife,” -said Gerard. “We must make the attempt and leave the issue to Heaven.” - -“You had best wait here, monsieur, while I make such preparations as I -can. I may be away some time,” said Babillon, and he hastily outlined -his plan. - -Dubois and Pierre were brought into the house and Babillon left. Gerard -explained the nature of the desperate position to Dubois, and the three -men discussed it anxiously with many secret misgivings, while Gabrielle -went to Babillon’s wife, Gerard urging her to seek rest. - -“I doubt we should do better to seek refuge at Malincourt,” was Dubois’ -judgment. “This is a scheme for men, and not for a dainty girl like -Mademoiselle de Malincourt.” - -“We can but try it,” was Gerard’s reply. - -Babillon was absent so long that all began to grow uneasy; but when -he came he explained that he had had much to do, and he brought less -cheerless news. - -“I have been to the spot, monsieur, and found, as I hoped, that it is -scarcely watched at all. I have got help, too. A man on whom I can -rely as on myself, a fisherman, has his boat on the other bank of the -river some distance from the spot, and he will help us. He scaled the -wall while I was by and swam the river without being seen, and he will -have his boat moored ready for us right under the place where we shall -leave. I hope now that we shall win the way out.” - -“Are there many soldiers abroad?” asked Dubois. - -“Yes, monsieur, search parties, I learnt, hunting for some of your -prisoners, friend Pierre, who have escaped from the Castle. But they -will not trouble us,” answered Babillon. “I can lead you by ways they -will never suspect. Have no fear on that score.” - -Gabrielle was roused, and after some words of caution from their guide -they set out, Babillon leading them through narrow devious streets and -alleys where they met no one. - -“We are close to the spot now,” he said at length. “Remain here in the -shadow and I will go forward to see that all is well.” - -He was absent some few minutes. - -“All seems quiet, monsieur,” he reported to Gerard, and they started -again. “The wall is yonder,” he said, pointing to it. “I shall climb it -and fix the rope in position, and I need not urge you to make all haste -in following and to keep silent.” - -They watched him dart across the intervening space at top speed, stand -for a moment in the deep shadow of the wall, and then begin the ascent. -Gabrielle’s heart began to beat fast with excitement and hope, and even -the men’s pulses quickened as his black shadow crept nearer and nearer -to the parapet at the top. - -“What is he doing?” whispered Gabrielle; for Babillon stopped suddenly -and flattened himself against the black wall. - -“It is nothing,” answered Gerard. “See, his head shows above the top -now. He is as cautious as he is daring, and does but seek to make sure -all is well. Wait, he sees some one. Ah, and he has been seen, too!” -he exclaimed, catching his breath. The call of one man to another came -to their ears, and the figures of two soldiers running toward Babillon -were silhouetted against the sky line. - -At the same moment a jingle of arms was heard close at hand. - -“One of the search parties,” said Dubois in a deep undertone. - -At that moment they saw Babillon spring on to the parapet, rush at one -of the soldiers, and deal him a blow which felled him to the ground. -Then seizing his musket he turned upon the man’s comrade. But the -latter, instead of staying to meet the attack, fired his musket to -rouse the alarm, and in an instant Babillon had fastened the rope to -the parapet and came sliding to the ground. - -But the search party now came up at the run, attracted by the gunshot, -and just as two of them dashed off to intercept Babillon the leader -caught sight of Gerard and Dubois, who had stepped forward incautiously -into the moonlight in their anxiety at their guide’s peril. - -“Who goes there?” he challenged, and in a moment the guns of the rest -of the soldiers were levelled point blank at them. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -AT MALINCOURT AGAIN - - -“We can’t let him be taken, Dubois, after what he has done,” said -Gerard under his breath. - -“By Heaven, I should think not. They are only five to four, and we have -them divided.” - -“Feign a surrender,” answered Gerard, and they walked calmly up to the -soldiers, Pierre following. - -“What is it, sergeant?” said Dubois, in a quiet tone of authority. - -“Ho, it’s you again and Master Pierre, is it? You don’t fool me twice -with your tale of captain. You are our prisoners now.” It was the -sergeant, Vauban, whom Dubois had knocked down in the escape from the -Castle, and his tone betokened intense satisfaction. - -“You mutinous dog! do you dare to speak to me like that?” was Dubois’ -reply in a voice of thunder. - -“Mutiny or no mutiny, you will come with us and explain to the -Governor. If you’re not one of the escaped prisoners, I’m no man.” - -“There can be no objection to that, monsieur,” said Gerard quietly to -Dubois. - -“And who are you?” demanded the sergeant roughly. “With so many of your -cursed brood in the city, there’s no room for honest men.” - -“Rough words are no proof of honesty, my friend,” answered Gerard so -quietly that the man had no inkling of his intention. - -“A little change of language will do your holy ears good, if you are a -monk,” was the answer. - -“Where do you wish to take us?” - -“Why, to the Governor.” - -“Come, then,” said Gerard in a tone of almost submissive readiness. - -“Have they caught the rascal yet, Louis?” asked the sergeant, and the -man addressed turned his head to look. - -“Now,” cried Gerard, and on the instant hurled himself on the sergeant, -who was taken entirely by surprise. Gerard wrenched his musket from him -and clubbing it, knocked him senseless to the ground. Dubois, divining -Gerard’s intention, had edged close to the second man and dealt with -him in much the same fashion, while Pierre engaged the third. - -The struggle lasted scarcely more than a few seconds, and as soon as it -was over, Gerard and Dubois ran to the assistance of Babillon, whom the -soldiers had captured. - -Seeing help coming, they released him and levelled their muskets at -the onrushing men. But Babillon with ready wit jostled one against the -other so that the shots were fired in the air. - -The rest was easy. The two men broke and fled, but were soon caught and -treated like the rest of the party, in order to prevent the danger of -pursuit. - -“Now for the wall,” said Gerard. - -“It is impossible, monsieur. The boat must have been seen, and the -further bank of the river is alive with soldiers,” said Babillon, “and -they have seized the boat. It was that made me return.” - -“We must get away, then. Those shots will soon bring a whole company to -the spot. Did the men know you, Babillon?” - -“No, monsieur.” - -“Good! then lead us back to your house. You have served us -magnificently, my good friend; and that last trick of yours may have -saved our lives.” - -They ran to Gabrielle and explained the failure of the venture, and -started to return to Babillon’s. - -It was a galling disappointment, but neither Gerard nor Dubois was -likely to waste time in fruitless repining; and by the time they -reached Babillon’s house, both had thought their way to the same -decision. They must make for Malincourt. - -Gabrielle wished it also. - -“The two points are--what has happened there, and can we hope to -reach there safely?” said Gerard, as he and Dubois sat discussing it, -Gabrielle having again gone to seek rest. - -“I would that I had been in the cell with the Governor,” growled -Dubois. “It would have gone hard with me if I had not found a way to -end his power to do us more evil.” - -“We are soldiers, Dubois,” said Gerard. - -“We shan’t be soldiers long if the Tiger can get his way with us.” - -“My cousin will be up in forty-eight hours.” - -“Forty-eight minutes may suffice for what he may do if he but gets his -hand on us.” - -“He will not dare to use violence to me,” said Gerard. “His head would -pay for it.” - -“But it wouldn’t put either yours or mine back on our shoulders, my -lord, if he’d struck them off first. And as for daring--what won’t -a madman dare? And a madman he is. My advice is to keep out of his -clutches so long as we can.” - -“And what we have to consider is the best way of doing it. Tell me, -Babillon, what chance have we of reaching Malincourt undiscovered, and -what is the distance?” - -“Twenty minutes would take us there, could we go direct, monsieur; but -the road is a very open one, and I----” he finished the sentence with a -doubting shake of the head. - -“Is there no other road?” - -“Yes, monsieur, but it trebles the distance; and miladi is already -overwrought.” - -“And the devil of it is that we don’t know what we should find when we -get there,” said Dubois. “Mademoiselle can’t tramp the city all night. -I have a thought. Let me go and find out what is passing there, and -smell out the chances of safety. Could the rest lie safe here, think -you?” he asked Babillon. - -“For the night, I should think, yes,” was the reply. “But I can best -go. I could get into the house and carry any message.” - -“You can guide me,” said Dubois, “and get me a workman’s blouse. It is -best so,” he added to Gerard. “If Pascal is there holding the house, I -can gauge the chances of our getting in and arrange for him to send out -to meet us. What say you?” - -“I could do it all and better alone, messieurs,” urged Babillon. “One -can get through where two may well be stopped. And if they were to -arrest me, I am known to be frequently at Malincourt. I have a daughter -there in miladi’s service; and if I were seen every one would deem it -but natural for me to be anxious for her at such a time.” - -“There is wit in what he says, Dubois.” - -“True,” he assented, and then murmured, “but there is little to please -my wit in sitting inactive here.” - -“Shall I cry you patience, good friend? Go, Babillon, and make all -speed,” decided Gerard. “It will not be long now before the dawn -breaks, and we must be inside the house while it is yet dark, if we are -to get there at all.” - -“If all goes well, an hour will see me back.” - -“He is a shrewd, nimble-witted fellow,” said Gerard when the man had -left. - -“And you will be shrewd, my lord, if you fill the time by snatching a -soldier’s nap. I’ll keep watch.” - -“By your leave, my lord, let me watch,” put in Pierre. “Watching is my -business,” and with that the other two lay down on the floor and were -soon asleep. - -Babillon was as good as his word, and in less than an hour and a half -he was back and brought good news. - -He had seen Pascal and learned that the house had already been searched -by the Castle troops, and a small body of soldiers left to guard it. -These Pascal was prepared to overpower at any moment. Babillon had -found the road thither fairly clear also and had ascertained the best -route to take. - -“In half an hour at most we can reach the woods of Malincourt, my lord, -and the captain will be there with a strong force to meet us.” - -“Then we’ll be off at once,” said Gerard; and once more Gabrielle was -roused and they set forth. - -Misfortune appeared to have dealt her last blow at them for that night, -in foiling the attempt to escape; and under Babillon’s guidance they -reached the woods of Malincourt without mishap. - -“You will come to the maison, Babillon,” said Gabrielle. “You may be in -danger in the city, and you have rendered us a service I shall never -forget.” - -“By your leave, miladi, I will return. Suspicion will not fall my way; -but should there be danger I can then seek your protection. Trouble is -already in the making in the city, and when the men of Morvaix learn -how your ladyship has been treated, I know nothing of their tempers if -there be not deep resentment and wrath.” - -“A timely thought,” interposed Dubois, overhearing this. “A diversion -in the town would help us much at Malincourt.” - -“But it might lead to violence and perhaps to bloodshed,” said -Gabrielle. “I would not have that on my account.” - -“By your leave, I would rather return,” repeated Babillon. - -“How shall we thank you?” asked Gerard. - -“Miladi’s safety is enough reward for any Morvaix man, my lord,” he -answered sturdily, and with that he turned and went. - -“Such a fellow changes one’s judgment of the men here,” declared Dubois. - -“Ah, monsieur, we have many such men, true as steel to their friends -and honest as the daylight,” replied Gabrielle warmly, as they hurried -on to the house. - -There was much to be explained on both sides, and when Gerard had told -Pascal briefly how things had gone with them, he questioned him as to -his doings. - -“It’s a wonder we were not trapped at the Castle. But no one seems to -have looked for an escape, and we had very little difficulty in gaining -admission to the courtyard. We were taken for a party of the new -troops. Had you come, we should have got away without suspicion, for I -had the sentries safe. But when I saw the rope ladder pulled up back to -the cell, I knew something must have miscarried, and despatched one of -the men to those whom I had in waiting outside the walls, telling them -to creep as close as they dared.” - -“I see it,” exclaimed Dubois. - -“Yes, it saved us from capture. We were waiting in the shadow of the -wall, with a growing impatience I cannot describe, when the fresh guard -turned out and came on us. The officer at first mistook us for his -own men and was more angry than suspicious; but he soon saw something -was amiss and was for arresting the whole of us there and then. There -was nothing for it but to rush through him. They fired a volley for -assistance and attacked us; and soon a swarm of men came rushing out -of the Castle. But we managed to draw off to the breach in the wall, -and when they saw we were in force they stopped where they were--to my -fellows’ disappointment. And that’s all.” - -“But what did you do next?” - -“Then there came a deuce of a commotion in the Castle, caused, as I -judged, by the fact that you had escaped some other way and the fact -had been discovered. So I drew off and made my way here. I was sorely -puzzled, on my word. I heard you had not come to Malincourt, and I -posted the men in the woods. I judged that Malincourt would be the -first place to be searched for you, and thought that if we could let -the Governor feel satisfied no one was here, it might make it all the -safer as a hiding place when you did come; whereas, had I resisted the -search, I should only have brought his troops swarming here and so have -made it impossible for you to get in at all, besides subjecting the -house to be knocked about for no good.” - -“It was cleverly thought, Pascal,” said Gerard, with a smile. - -“It was more a lucky guess than aught else, but the guess was right. -His men came and satisfied themselves you were not here and left a -guard behind strong enough to overawe the household, but weak enough -for me to deal with in a few moments. I was growing desperate at the -approach of daylight and still no news of you, when that good fellow, -Babillon, who had helped me before as it turns out, arrived with your -message. Then I had up a force strong enough to put the Governor’s -guard in the cellars and came to meet you.” - -“Can we hold the house?” asked Dubois quickly. - -“The walls are strong and we have close upon a hundred men, but----” -and he shrugged his shoulders. - -“But what?” was Gerard’s eager answer. - -“I would give half the men and choose a weaker house for more arms and -powder.” - -The other two were silent for a while at this ominous reply. - -“Do you mean we can’t stand our ground even for the hours until my -cousin can arrive?” - -“We are men and can try. But it depends on the Governor--if he learns -that you are here, and when he learns it, and what he does when he -knows.” - -“He thinks we are in hiding in the city. We had a brush with a search -party near the walls, and they will soon carry the news to the Castle.” - -“Let us pray that he remains in that belief; for if he swoops down on -this place with a strong force it will be an ugly business. We could -not hope to resist for many hours.” - -“Let us go round and see, Dubois,” said Gerard. - -Dubois and Pascal went out and Gerard stayed a moment with Gabrielle, -who had listened with intense interest to the discussion. - -“So even Malincourt is not to be a refuge, Gerard,” she said. - -“We are far from beaten yet. Have courage.” - -“I have courage; but how bitterly I regret that moment of cowardice -when I could not face that descent with you.” - -“It would have made no difference. The watch was already set on the -city walls and we should have come straight here with Pascal--when -matters would have been at an even worse pass. We have gained hours -that may prove invaluable.” - -“You are brave to be so hopeful.” - -[Illustration: “GOD BLESS YOU, GABRIELLE, FOR THIS FAITH OF YOURS”] - -“If it comes to regrets, Gabrielle, it is I who am to blame. Had I -taken Dubois’ bold counsels and tried to seize the Castle when the -Governor was in my power, I believe it would have been best. But at -that rate, I may as well go farther back to the mad thing I did in -coming to Morvaix in the way I chose.” - -“True--all might have been very different,” she said, and glanced up -and down again, and then smiled as she added, “And would you have me -regret that too?” - -“I did not mean that,” he said quickly, taking her hand. - -“I care not what happens,” she answered softly. - -“Nor the trouble and danger I have brought to you?” - -“There is something other than danger or trouble, Gerard; it is of that -I think. At this danger we shall smile together when it is over; and I -know you will find a way to safety.” - -“Which means that I had better hurry after Dubois and Pascal,” and he -smiled again. - -“Nay, it means rather my unbounded trust in you. So confident am I, -that I am going to be quite prosaic and seek rest. And I shall sleep, -secure in my faith in you.” - -“God bless you, Gabrielle, for this faith of yours,” he said, drawing -her to him and kissing her. - -“And God bless you, my Gerard, for all you are to me.” - -It was a long and anxious conference that followed. The men that formed -their guard were picked and seasoned soldiers who had fought under -Gerard in more than one tough campaign; his to a man, heart and soul, -ready to do anything at his bidding, willing to lay down their lives in -his cause, and burning with resentment at the treatment he had suffered. - -They were glad to have laid aside now the monkish garb and to scent the -prospect of a fight; and he found them grouped together laughing and -jesting in the intervals of abusing the Governor. - -Had all else been as reliable as his men, he would have had no doubt -of the course to take, and none as to the result. But Pascal’s fears -were only too well grounded. Without ammunition the house was little -better than at the mercy of the Governor should he send a strong force -to attack it. And they had neither enough muskets to arm the men, nor -enough powder for the scanty guns. - -“At the last gasp we shall have to take the chance of a fight, of -course,” he said when he had completed his inspection; “and the -fighting must be done from the north wing of the house. But we must -first exhaust every other means.” - -“In that wing we could keep them at bay for a month if it were only -hand to hand work; but the Governor has cannon,” said Dubois. - -“We must hope that the news of our presence does not reach him until -too late. See to it that nothing about the place raises suspicions, -and if any messengers come from him let them enter the house and be -detained.” - -“Would God he would come himself,” exclaimed Pascal. - -“Ah, it’s easy to ‘would God’ a good many things,” growled Dubois. “You -had better rest, my lord, at any rate until the day is warmed. I’ll -have you called at the slightest sign of need. You may want all your -strength for the morrow’s work. We’ll set the watch and let the men -sleep too, Pascal. They’ll fight the better for it, if it has to come -to fighting in the end.” - -The two left him then, and as they stood in the great hall Pascal said-- - -“You mind my words in the market place, Dubois, that a woman had to be -reckoned with now. He has the fever badly. I know the symptoms.” - -“You ought to, you’ve had it yourself often enough,” returned Dubois. - -“And shall again, I hope. ’Tis a sweet malady, you old sour-heart; but -it doesn’t help a man to act; and it won’t help us now. Do you follow -me?” - -“Have I no eyes? I put a plan to him to-day--to hold this Governor a -prisoner when we had him safe, and seize the Castle itself. A week ago -he would have thought of it for himself, but to-day he would scarcely -hear it mentioned. He only hesitated out of fear for her. Love’s best -for a soldier when it crosses him.” - -“She’s a sweet and lovely creature; were his case mine I should feel -the same.” - -“I don’t gainsay it, but I’ve been married,” Dubois answered drily, -with a short grim laugh. - -“And that has made you the cynic you are, eh? I’m wiser than you, -Dubois. I stop short of the plunge into the abyss of disillusion; it’s -the easier side to laugh on. But now we must do something.” - -“There’ll be plenty doing before the day ends.” - -“And I propose to find out what is to happen. I’m going to the Castle -to spy out things.” - -“You’ll take your life in your hands.” - -“So long as it stops in mine, what matters? I can go as one of the new -soldiers and take my chance. Better that than taking cold here waiting -for something to happen.” - -“It’s a dare-devil step, but it’s a good one,” and after discussing -it earnestly they agreed upon it and agreed also not to mention it to -Gerard, and Pascal was soon on his way. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -PASCAL PLAYS SPY - - -Pascal dressed himself in the uniform of one of the Castle troopers, -and his intention was to pass as a soldier who had been merrymaking in -the city and, having just heard of the excitement at the Castle, was -hurrying thither to report himself. - -His aim was first to get into the Castle, then to find the Bourbon -commander, Captain Bassot, and explain the position at Malincourt, -and to learn such news of the Governor’s intentions as he could, and -arrange with the captain some little plan of action. - -He had but little fear of discovery in his soldier’s dress. Scarcely -any one in the Castle knew him, and even if the Castle men failed to -recognize him as one of the new troops, it would be no serious matter, -because the captain, when consulted, would soon set that right. - -As for the danger, it was to his liking. He was brave to the verge of -recklessness, and the thought of tapping the Governor’s plans under his -very nose as it were, pleased him hugely. - -As he was indifferent about encountering any of the search parties -who were patrolling the city, he made no effort at concealment, and -covered the distance between Malincourt and the Castle at a quick -speed, thinking over the matter and laughing at the venture as a kind -of pleasure jaunt. - -He resolved to make for the main entrance of the Castle, and had -reached within short distance of it when he encountered one of the -patrols. He was hurrying by, but the man in command challenged him. - -“Ho, there! Who are you and where are you going?” - -“To a mess of devil’s broth I expect, probably to arrest. I’ve just -heard hell’s loose at the Castle, and I’m going for my share.” - -“Who are you?” - -“Not one of your men, sergeant. Ambroise Tourelle of Captain Bassot’s -command.” - -“What were you doing in the city?” - -“Just seeing how you enjoy yourselves in Morvaix. You don’t manage -badly. Is the gate open?” - -“Don’t you know the news? Some prisoners have broken out and half -killed the Governor. The whole garrison’s in arms. You may look for a -warm welcome if old Tiger hears you’ve been absent.” - -“Here’s deafness to him, then,” answered Pascal with a laugh. “I’ll -hurry on.” - -“I’ll send a man back with you lest you lose your way,” returned the -sergeant drily, and detailed one for the purpose. - -“Did you say you’re one of the new lot?” asked the soldier, as they -went to the Castle. “I don’t know your face.” - -“Yet it’s one your Morvaix girls will know soon, I warrant,” laughed -Pascal. “It’s more to the matter if you know what the punishment is for -being out of the Castle without leave.” - -“It mayn’t be noticed at such a time, especially as you’re a new man. -If you take my advice you’ll go straight to your captain and just tell -him the truth.” - -“Yes, but where the devil shall I find him? To hell with the liquor and -the women, say I; they get us into all the troubles.” - -“Ah, and leave us to scramble out for ourselves. I know it.” - -“I take to you, friend; we must see more of one another,” said Pascal, -with a genial laugh. - -“I could show you some things in Morvaix,” chuckled the soldier. “Where -have you been to-night?” - -“The devil seize me if I know, but you breed some pretty faces in this -city of yours. Do you know a blue-eyed wench named Marguerite?” and -Pascal went on to invent a story for his companion’s benefit, making -him laugh and swear that Pascal was a man after his own heart. - -As they approached the Castle gates Pascal urged the soldier to go in -with him and find Captain Bassot, and in this way he passed the gate -and entered the guard-room without difficulty or question. - -But the captain could not be found, and, as his companion had to leave -again to hurry after his party, they separated with mutual promises to -meet again, and Pascal was left to his own devices. - -He stayed some time in the guard-room, and from the talk of the men he -ascertained that the soldiers were patrolling Morvaix on foot and that -mounted men in great numbers had been despatched to scour the country -round, lest the fugitives should have escaped from the city. - -No one took any notice of him beyond casting an occasional glance of -curiosity in his direction, and finding himself thus free to go where -he would, he left the guard-room and made his way into the Castle in -search of his captain. - -The excitement had largely subsided under the strict military -discipline, and so many of the troops had been despatched on the work -of search that he found the lower rooms of the Castle comparatively -empty. The few persons he met he asked for Captain Bassot, for whom he -now said he had news. - -He was sent fruitlessly in various directions, and at last when passing -through one of the corridors he met Lucette. She was hurrying by with -bent head and did not see him, so with a glance to make sure they were -alone, he accosted her. - -“Your pardon, mademoiselle, can you tell me where I can find Captain -Bassot?” - -“No, monsieur,” she answered, and glancing up as she recognized him. -“You?” she exclaimed. - -“I’m glad they are no other than your bright eyes that see me, -mademoiselle,” he answered smiling. - -“We must not speak here. Follow me,” and she hurried back along the -corridor until she came to a low doorway, through which she passed, -giving a quick glance about to see that no one was observing her. - -Pascal followed and found himself in a small antechamber bare of -furniture and overlooking the courtyard. - -“Tell me the news, monsieur,” urged Lucette. “This suspense is killing. -Where is Mademoiselle de Malincourt?” - -“First tell me why I find you here,” he said, cautiously. - -“Ah, you suspect even me,” she answered quickly, with some indignation. - -“Suspect is far too strong a word, but I am curious, I admit.” - -“You are grossly unjust. I am a prisoner. After I saw you for the last -time last night, I came here to be with Gabrielle, and was with the -Duchess awaiting her return from the prison, when the escape of the -prisoners was discovered; and since then I have been in a fever of -suspense to know that she is safe and where she is. The Duke was like -a madman. He came to the Duchess’ apartments in search of Gabrielle, -and raged like a fiend incarnate at not finding her. I thought he would -have flung us all into prison; and he threatened me with the rack if I -did not tell him where Gabrielle was.” - -“He is a chivalrous gentleman,” said Pascal. - -“He told us his life had been attempted, charged the Duchess with -having been a party to the escape, vowed that he would have the truth -out of us and make us pay bitterly in his revenge. The Duchess is a -noble woman and showed splendid courage and dignity; but oh, monsieur, -I was never so frightened in my life.” - -“But he has not actually ill-treated you; surely, he is not so base as -that.” - -“He vows that unless the prisoners and Gabrielle are in his hands -within twenty-four hours he will put me to the question; and he ordered -me not to leave the Castle and placed me in charge of one of his own -officers. But he shall kill me before I will say a word.” - -“You shall do better than that, mademoiselle; you shall leave the -Castle. But where is your gaoler?” - -The suspicion of a smile hovered about her lips for a moment, and her -eyes lighted as she answered-- - -“I will tell you that directly, monsieur. When the Duke had terrified -us in this fashion he called in his men, and actually had the whole -apartments of the Duchess searched. Oh, it was shameful! Even the rough -soldiers themselves were ashamed of their task, and hurried it. And -when he found nothing, there being nothing to find, he grew even more -violent, and taunted and insulted that noble woman till my heart ached -for her and my blood boiled at his cowardice and brutality. And when -at last he left us, it was only to send message after message telling -of the steps he had taken to recapture the prisoners; with lie after -lie; first that they had been taken, then that they were dead--any tale -which could serve to frighten us, coward that he is. But I have managed -to learn the truth in spite of him, monsieur.” - -“Through your gaoler?” he asked quickly. - -“Yes, monsieur. He put me in the care of Antoine de Cavannes,” said -Lucette demurely. - -“And who is Antoine de Cavannes?” - -“Ah, you do not know. He used to think I--I would marry him, monsieur.” - -“Oh, those bright eyes of yours, mademoiselle,” laughed Pascal. - -“But he is hateful, this Antoine. It was he who with M. d’Estelle tried -to kill Denys St. Jean when--when M. Gerard met Gabrielle.” - -“The devil he is! and you fooled him, so that he lets you go where you -will?” - -“He made me promise not to leave the Castle, and he keeps watch in the -courtyard by the gate. I was going to him for news--the Duchess is -almost dead with anxiety.” - -“Tell me what he has told you.” - -“They think the prisoners have got out of the city. They have searched -Malincourt and found no one there, but have left a guard in possession -of the house. They do not think that even Gabrielle will return there, -and believe either that the prisoners have escaped from Morvaix with -her or that they are hiding in the city.” - -“Long may they hold that belief!” exclaimed Pascal. - -“There have been many arrests, monsieur. You see Gabrielle is known to -almost every one, but M. Gerard and the monk to very few; so every one -who cannot be recognized is arrested to be identified. At first they -were brought here, but now they are taken somewhere in the city. Where -are they, monsieur?” - -“At Malincourt,” he replied readily. - -“Oh, and I cannot go to Gabrielle!” cried Lucette distressfully. - -“We will see about that. You are doing splendid service here, but you -must not stay lest this Tiger should seek to carry out his threat. -Besides, Mademoiselle de Malincourt would gladly have you with her. -Could you get this lover of yours to leave the Castle with you for a -walk, say in the grove on the way to Malincourt?” - -“He would take me to Malincourt itself if I asked him, I think,” she -replied with the air in which she had referred to Antoine before; and -Pascal smiled. “He offered once, asking if I did not need some things -from there.” - -“Good! Be there at noon at the gate by the cedars at the south end of -the gardens, and I will see to the rest. And now, you had better go. -Wait--one question. Do you know aught of de Proballe?” - -“He is with the Governor, and both are away in the city.” - -“And that spy of his, Dauban. When the soldiers searched Malincourt -they found him where I had put him in one of the cellars, and carried -him away with them.” - -“He is here in the Castle, monsieur. I’ve seen him.” - -“The devil he is! He must not see me. Twice he has slipped through -my fingers, but it shall go harder with him the third time. He is -dangerous.” - -“He is not dangerous to me, monsieur.” - -“What, another?” cried Pascal, laughing. “Why, mademoiselle, I begin to -fear for myself.” - -“Monsieur!” said Lucette, using her eyes. - -“You are a witch, Lucette, with those eyes of yours. But if you can get -hold of this Dauban, lead him away from these lower rooms for an hour -while I am still here, or you may have one admirer the less.” - -“You mean--M. Dauban?” she asked coquettishly. - -“On my soul, it’s in your very blood, mademoiselle. But I am -shot-proof,” he laughed, shrugging his shoulders. - -“At noon, then, by the cedar gate--that is how we call it.” - -“Yes, at the cedar gate; and till then--good fortune to you.” - -With a last coquettish glance and a smile, Lucette went to the door, -opened it cautiously, peeped out, and stepped back hurriedly. - -“Antoine and Jacques Dauban are together at the far end of the -corridor, monsieur, coming this way. Have a care,” she whispered -hurriedly. - -“Is there a hiding place here?” he asked. - -“Alas! no, monsieur.” - -“Very well; then if they come in some of us will not go out again,” he -answered coolly, and stepping behind the door he loosened a knife he -had concealed under his coat. “Leave the door open.” - -Lucette stood where she could not be seen by any one passing; and they -waited thus in suspense as the sound of footsteps on the stones without -came nearer. She turned pale and clenched her hands and began to mutter -a prayer as the steps came close and the murmur of the two men as they -talked in low tones reached their ears. - -They were discussing the one absorbing topic--the prisoners’ escape and -the subsequent events, and they paused close to the open door. - -“I tell you it is not possible, Master Dauban,” Antoine said. “There -is not a spot in the walls ten yards wide that has not one or more -soldiers.” - -“Aye, now that they are safely outside. Did they not get out of here? -Answer me that, monsieur. And if out of here, why not from the bigger -cage? I tell you they are many a league from Morvaix long ere this.” - -“But the whole belt of country for leagues round has been scoured by -our horse. And they were away from the city within an hour after the -prisoners had fled.” - -“Have it as you will, monsieur; but those who could not hold may be no -better at finding. A hen’s egg would be hard to find hidden in this -Castle, but not harder, methinks, than two men and a woman concealed in -a belt of country leagues wide and where every man and woman would be -their friend. I speak but what my master thinks and what the Governor -thinks too.” - -“Nay, they will be found in Morvaix, Master Dauban; and if I were but -given leave I could find them,” and Antoine laughed confidently. “There -is one in the Castle, in my charge, too, who knows the secret, I’ll -wager; and I am but waiting.” - -“There will be a fat reward for the man who tracks them. I heard the -Duke and my master speak of it. A thousand crowns will be offered: a -goodly sum, but fifty thousand won’t find in Morvaix what is not there -to seek.” - -“A thousand crowns!” repeated Antoine in a tone of greed. “A valiant -sum, in all truth, and I know how it may be earned, and with it my -revenge.” - -“Two heads are better than one in a thing of this kind, Master -Antoine,” said Dauban cunningly. - -“But one pocket can hold the reward and would be fuller than two, -Master Dauban,” replied Antoine with a laugh, and they passed on. - -“There is one in the Castle who knows the secret, eh, Antoine?” -muttered Lucette when they had passed out of earshot. “If I do not read -that I am no woman,” and her eyes had a light that boded no good to -Antoine de Cavannes. - -“Something of the huckster in this admirer of yours, mademoiselle,” -laughed Pascal. “He would turn this admiration of his for you to a -profit. You must act warily, for if he suspects the object of your -visit to Malincourt he may get the tidings to the Duke.” - -“You may trust me, monsieur,” said Lucette confidently. - -“This Dauban, too. You heard how he pricked his ears at what was said. -Mark me, he will watch your Antoine, or I am no reader of a man’s -voice. And he is a born spy.” - -“Be at hand at the cedar gate at the hour you named, and maybe I will -bring them both, monsieur,” and with that she peeped out cautiously and -then sped away. - -Pascal waited a few seconds and then sauntered back in the direction -of the gate. He had learned enough and was anxious to get away. As he -crossed the courtyard luck favoured him: Captain Bassot with another -officer came out of his quarters. - -“I have to report myself, captain,” said Pascal, with a salute. - -“What madcap folly now?” said the captain sternly, repressing -astonishment at seeing Pascal. - -“Nothing serious this time, captain.” - -“Well, let me hear it,” and with an excuse to the officer he turned -aside with Pascal. “In the name of the saints, why do you venture here? -How is it with the young lord Gerard?” - -“All well, so far. Housed safely at Malincourt yonder, where, had we -but powder, we could hold out against the Governor’s forces for days. -Can you think of any means of getting us some?” - -“What, in broad daylight from here?” - -“Without it we are like to be in a sorry plight.” - -“There is no thought of his being at Malincourt. They are searching for -him in the city but believe he has fled. Hundreds of horsemen are out -on the hunt on every road and in every direction.” - -“And our men?” - -“Are mostly here. It was held they were too new to the place to be much -good in hunting for the fugitives.” - -“How many men other than ours are here?” asked Pascal eagerly. - -“Some two or maybe three hundred.” - -“God, what a chance!” cried Pascal. “See, Bassot, couldn’t we get the -men together and while the Duke’s away seize the Castle itself? It is -Dubois’ plan. While you are getting ready here I could fetch the rest -of our fellows from Malincourt. It would be a stroke worthy of us.” - -“A firebrand scheme; but it could be done if the Duke will only keep -the men away.” - -“D’Alembert will be up with the troops by to-morrow night, and we could -hold the Castle till then. We’ve every reason, too, to look for a -rising in the city among the burghers; and in that case my lord Tiger -Duke would find his claws nicely cut, and his tail trodden on at the -same time.” - -“There is a breach in the walls here. I had forgotten. A hundred men -would be useless there against his thousands,” said Bassot. - -“There is a flaw in every plan. We should have two hundred, not one; -and besides, if they carried the walls, there is the Castle. We will -try it,” said Pascal decisively. “Find me a horse and I’ll ride to -Malincourt and in an hour we can be back.” - -At this moment a mounted man rode up to the gates at a gallop and the -soldiers clustered round him for his news. The captain went across to -learn it, and came back crestfallen. - -“The Governor is returning with a strong force. The man says they have -news that the fugitives have been traced to Crevasse, a hill village -away to the north, and their capture is now looked upon as certain.” - -“A thousand devils!” exclaimed Pascal in his disappointment, and then -with a shrug of the shoulders he added lightly, “Ah, well, there died -a good scheme, and we must find another. Get me out of this, Bassot, -before the Duke arrives. Just walk with me through the gates, and I’ll -manage the rest.” - -They passed out together, the captain appearing to be giving him some -orders, and as soon as they were clear of the Castle, Pascal started at -a quick pace to carry his news back to Malincourt. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -LUCETTE AS DECOY - - -The Governor returned to the Castle in a somewhat less violent mood. -The report that the fugitives had been seen and identified at Crevasse -was so precise and definite that he was confident they would now be -recaptured, and it was in this confident mood that he himself carried -the news to his wife. - -Lucette was with her and had just told her that Gabrielle was safe at -Malincourt, when he arrived, gloating at the thought of his coming -triumph and brutally profuse in threats as to the punishment he would -inflict. As soon as he had left, Lucette slipped away to put her own -plan into operation. - -She did not go to Antoine at once in the courtyard, but hung about -until she saw Dauban and then put herself, as if by chance, in his way, -and when she was sure he had seen her she made a great show of surprise -and turned as if to hurry away from him. It was well acted. - -“So you avoid me, mademoiselle?” he said, going after her. - -“How dare you speak to me?” she cried indignantly. - -“Fine airs for a prisoner,” he retorted. - -“You are a noble fellow, indeed, to taunt a poor girl, Master Dauban. -But have a care what you say. If I am a prisoner, I am in the charge -of one who won’t see me insulted. Antoine de Cavannes is a man with a -stouter arm than Master Dauban, any day,” and she tossed her pretty -head and turned again on her heel. - -This had just the effect she had calculated. He had been pondering -over Antoine’s words, speculating who it was in his charge who knew the -whereabouts of the runaways, and he chuckled now at his own cleverness -in making the discovery. - -“Not so fast, mademoiselle; I mean no harm. I am sorry for you and -would help you. On my honour, I meant no insult,” he said, following -her. - -She stopped, but with an air of reluctance. - -“Yet you did taunt me,” and she gave him a reproachful glance, with -just enough suggestion of tenderness in it to make him uncomfortable. -But with a sudden change her eye flashed and she cried contemptuously-- - -“You help me! Why you are too great a coward! I thought once----” and -she stopped. - -“I am no coward,” he answered, with none too easy a laugh. - -“I would have sworn that once,” her tone was now regret with the -suspicion of a sigh, “but you let even Denys beat you.” It was a daring -reference, but she felt very sure of her power with him. - -“You lured me then,” he declared, with an angry flush. This was her cue. - -“Master Dauban! How can you!” and she fixed her large dark eyes upon -him with a look of pained reproach, changing gradually to indignation -as she added, with mounting vehemence, “Did I not say you were a -coward? To blame a poor girl for what was none of her fault, and never -to have spoken a word to her since. Oh!” and she stamped her foot now -almost viciously, “were I not a girl you should pay for the cruel -slander and--aye, and all your neglect.” Then as if the thought of his -neglect wounded her, her anger passed and she sighed in sore distress. - -He was visibly disquieted, and in an indecisive, self-exculpating -manner he asked-- - -“But you did lure me, knowing he was there, didn’t you?” - -“Oh, Master Dauban, how can you say such cruel things! I would have -thought the words would burn your lips. Do you think I would have had -you maltreated; you?” and again with excellent inconsequence she took -fire again, using her eyes all the while with deadly effect. “But I am -glad now. Yes, I am glad, glad, glad; do you understand? You are one -of those men who think they can play with a girl as they will; and you -shall pay for it. Aye, you shall, if I have to go on my knees to beg -some one to do me justice. You shall fool me no more.” - -He was thoroughly perplexed, as well he might be, indeed. - -“I don’t understand you. You are going to marry Denys.” - -She laughed recklessly, almost wildly, stamped her foot at him again, -and flashed glances of anger at him. - -“Marry Denys! Yes, I will marry any man now; any man who will avenge -me with you. Look to yourself, I warn you. Oh, my God!” and as if in -passion she hid her face in her hands and turned away. - -“Lucette, Lucette,” he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. She shook -it off angrily and started from him. Other feelings were roused in him -now than greed and cunning, and he found them very flattering to his -vanity and very delightful. “Don’t do this, Lucette. I had no idea, on -my soul, I hadn’t,” he said. - -The words appeared to add fuel to her anger, and uncovering her face -she turned upon him, the traces of tears in her eyes. - -“What a coward’s speech; oh, what a coward’s speech!” she cried -vehemently. “Who but a coward would make such a plea! But I ought to -have known you better--aye, as I know you now. You spoke me gently, -gave me soft speeches, led me to think I know not what, you won my--but -I will not lower myself to say more; and then like a coward and all -unlike the man I deemed you, you fawn on me with your ‘I had no idea.’ -Shame on you, shame on you. I could hate you for such words.” - -“_Could_ hate me, Lucette; but you do not?” It was plain, indeed, from -both her words and agitation. - -“If I do not,” and she held him with an intent look for a pause until -she appeared to master her emotion, and said quietly, “I have forgotten -my resolve. I meant not to speak to you again, Master Dauban. It will -be better so; and in time I may forgive and--forget,” the last word -died away in a sigh which went straight to his heart. - -“As God is my judge, Lucette, I had no thought of this. I wronged -you. I believed you did but play with me and took me that evening to -the pine-walk that Denys St. Jean should see us. Why, I love the very -ground you tread on.” - -“No, no, I won’t hear it. I won’t believe it; I cannot.” - -“It’s true, it’s true, I swear it is.” - -Again she looked at him long and searchingly until the lustre of her -eyes seemed to daze him. - -“And condemned me without a word,” she said, with a sigh of exquisitely -tender reproach. “Is that how a man trusts the girl he loves? Nay, -Jacques, you may think you love me, but you would have come to me in -candour and trust, not have flung an angry taunt at me.” - -“Did I not trust you? Did I not warn you against this Gerard de Cobalt? -Was I not ready to betray even my master for your sake? Was I not -telling you everything that evening?” - -She continued to hold him with the magnetism of her look, and when he -stopped she answered slowly and deliberately-- - -“I shall marry Antoine de Cavannes. He loves me, I know, and is as true -as steel in his love. He guards me here and will see I come to no harm.” - -He moved uneasily under her glance, and then looking about him lowered -his voice. - -“He is not true to you, Lucette. He is going to betray you.” - -“Jacques, Jacques, how dare you! Would you slander him, too? Have a -care lest I tell him.” - -“Listen to me; what I say is the truth. He thinks you know where -Mademoiselle de Malincourt can be found and the prisoners; there is a -price of a thousand crowns on their heads, and he means to use you to -find them and win the money.” - -“Holy Virgin! now am I a miserable and desolate girl,” cried Lucette in -a fresh paroxysm of distress. “Oh, it cannot be true, it cannot!” - -“It is true, I swear it,” he replied very earnestly, and gave her a -garbled account of what had passed between himself and Antoine. - -As she listened her agitation mounted, and when he finished she -exclaimed, as if unstrung in her emotion-- - -“I will never tell him, I will never tell him.” Then as if realizing -she had betrayed herself, she stared at him in distress and alarm, -and protested with excited, voluble earnestness: “I did not mean -that, Jacques; I did not mean that. Do not misunderstand me. I meant -nothing,” and she clung to his arm with piteous entreating glances. -“What I meant was I know nothing. You understand that, don’t you, don’t -you? Oh, thank Heaven, you warned me. Jacques, dear Jacques, I thank -you from my soul, I thank you. Oh, what might I not have done in my -blindness!” - -So she did know after all, thought Dauban; and his selfish love being -satisfied by what she had done and said, his greed began to grow -stronger again. - -Her sharp wits read him like an open book, and with a dexterous change -of tone and manner she said as if speaking her thoughts aloud-- - -“A thousand crowns! And for a scoundrel like this Gerard de Cobalt!” - -“Miladi is infatuated with him and should be saved from him,” said -Dauban, with a cunning glance. “Else she may be ruined.” - -“No, no, Jacques; don’t tempt me with such thoughts. Yet, how true, how -shrewdly true! No, no, it would be vile baseness.” - -“You would save her from a villain,” he urged. - -“And for my reward she would never look at me again. Oh, Gabrielle, -Gabrielle!” - -“Our reward would be a thousand crowns, Lucette. A thousand crowns -would be a fortune for us.” - -“A million crowns would not tempt me to such treachery. How dare you, -Jacques! I am not thinking of money, but of Gabrielle. Oh, if she is -now in his power!” - -“The money is on his head, not hers,” he said. “If he were taken, -miladi could be left free--and she would be saved from him. You know -where she is?” He put the question very gently. - -“Yes, no; oh, I am longing to go to her. I don’t know what I am saying, -or whom I can trust. Oh, Jacques, if I could but trust you!” and she -clung to him again in her distress and looked wistfully into his face. - -“I swear on my life I am true to you, Lucette. Let us go to her. She is -in the city?” he asked, pushing his point a little further. - -“When I think what she must be suffering I am mad. If I could but get -to her with what she needs from Malincourt, I might save her yet. I -could take her some disguise and fly with her. But I am a prisoner. A -prisoner, my God, a prisoner at such a time!” Her agony at the thought -was perfectly acted. - -“I could go to Malincourt,” he suggested. - -“But there is Antoine; and even were I free from the Castle and got -what I need from Malincourt, I could not pass the city gates. Oh, what -can I do! What can I do!” - -“I have a permit to leave the city when I will, and could take you. -See,” he answered in the same sleek, smooth voice, as he took it out -and showed it to her. “Then she is not in the city?” he added, when -Lucette seemed to hesitate. “They say that all have been seen at -Crevasse.” - -“But they will not be found, save by those who know where to look. If -I could make sure that only he would be taken, I should not mind then. -And there is the money, Jacques. Oh, was ever a poor girl so troubled!” - -“I could manage it, Lucette, and manage Antoine, too. Listen. Go to him -and pretend that you need certain things for yourself from Malincourt; -say nothing of miladi, and we will all go together. If both Antoine and -I are with you, no questions will be asked as to where you go. You can -then get the disguise and whatever else you need for miladi, and I’ll -find a pretext to get rid of Antoine, and you and I alone will go to -miladi.” - -“How cunningly you plan, Jacques; how shrewd! You make it seem so -simple,” and Lucette thanked him with a radiant smile. Her face clouded -again instantly, however, as she added, “But Antoine is a dangerous -man, Jacques.” - -“I will manage that. At need, I will have him recalled from Malincourt, -or we will return to the Castle and then I will get him away. But mind, -not a syllable about miladi.” - -“You give me courage, Jacques. Let us go to him. He keeps his ward of -me in the courtyard, that I may not pass. You speak of Malincourt to -him. You can hide your thoughts; and he would read mine.” - -They went then together and found Antoine lounging in the courtyard -chatting with a group of soldiers. He left them at once and crossed to -Lucette, looking displeased that Dauban was with her. - -“You have kept me waiting,” he said. - -“And is that a crime, M. Gaoler?” she answered mockingly, with a toss -of the head. “Maybe I was in better company,” and she glanced at -Dauban, who smiled self-complacently. “Perhaps you would like me to be -gyved to you by the wrist.” - -“Nearer the finger-tips than the wrist would suit me better, Lucette,” -he laughed. - -“Well, a gaoler should be a judge of fetters, but I wear none.” - -“Not fetters, Lucette; a ring for the left hand,” he answered, looking -at her with a bold admiration that was little to Dauban’s taste. - -“We have come to ask you a question, Antoine,” he said. - -“We?” echoed Antoine, with a sharp glance at Lucette. - -“I said ‘we.’ Lucette has need of certain things from Malincourt and -would fain go there in quest of them. I told her there would be no -difficulty were you and I to escort her there and back.” - -“It was very thoughtful of you--but she is my prisoner.” - -“She will be nobody’s prisoner the moment the fugitives are brought in -from Crevasse.” - -“Then she will need no things from Malincourt,” returned Antoine -sharply, with a knowing smile. But Lucette struck in at once briskly-- - -“Do you mean I cannot go? Say so openly, if you do, and I shall know -what to think. It is when a poor girl is at such a pass as I am that -she can judge her friends. Master Dauban, who knows more of these -things in one tiny corner of his brain than you do in your whole body, -said there would be no difficulty.” - -“Dauban hasn’t been put in charge of you and isn’t responsible to the -Governor. I am,” said Antoine sulkily. - -“Master Dauban would take some risk to give a poor girl some pleasure, -wouldn’t you, Jacques?” Antoine winced at the name thus glibly spoken. - -“There is no risk; but if there were I’d run it, readily enough.” - -“I know you would, Jacques. I know a friend when I see one. I don’t -want to go now, monsieur,” she said to Antoine angrily. “If I know my -friends, I also know my enemies. You are my gaoler, very well; you are -afraid to do a little thing like this, very well. You make big promises -and refuse this, again very well. Perhaps my gaoler has some orders to -give?” and she looked at him with angry defiant eyes. - -“Lucette, I----” - -“No thank you. I don’t want to hear you. I won’t hear a word you say,” -she cried, with a stamp of the foot. She could put a deal of meaning -into that stamp of the foot. “I suppose a prisoner can go back into the -Castle. Come, Jacques,” and she made as if to turn away. - -“I didn’t say you couldn’t go, Lucette. You’ve such a fiery temper,” -said Antoine, all unwilling that she should leave like this. - -“Then you must find it very disagreeable to be with me,” she rapped -back. “Come, Jacques,” and laid a hand on Dauban’s arm. - -But Dauban was now less set upon love-making than seeking to gain the -thousand crowns, and he would not go. - -“Antoine did not say you should not go, Lucette; he only said there was -more risk for him than for me. And that’s true.” - -“But I don’t wish to go now. I know now who is not my friend; and that -knowledge is cheaply gained by the lack of just a few things I wished. -It does not matter to him what happens to me: he has his duty to think -of and his master, the Governor. Like Tiger, like whelp. He would like -to see me stretched on the rack.” - -“Lucette, don’t say that, don’t,” cried Antoine. - -“You could listen to my groans as my joints were stretched, and chuckle -to think how well you had done your duty. I know you now.” - -“For God’s sake don’t talk at random in that way,” he protested. “If it -comes to that I’d be the first to help you to escape. I would, on my -honour.” - -“Hear him, hear him,” exclaimed Lucette disdainfully. “The man would -not let me fetch a few tie ribbons from Malincourt, and yet would risk -his life!” Her contempt was splendid. - -“I’ll go with you to Malincourt; aye, and get you out of the city, -Lucette, if you but bid me.” - -“You hear, Lucette, he will take you,” said Dauban, stopping the angry -tirade which was hovering on her lips. - -She paused a moment, and then with a smile and a curl of the lip, said-- - -“No, monsieur, you had better not. I am a girl and you two are only -strong men and armed, and you might be hurt. I might kill you both with -my empty hands, and then escape. Pray be cautious.” - -Antoine laughed and shrugged his shoulders. - -“What a little devil you are, Lucette. May I be hanged if I know -whether you want to go or not. But if you do, you can.” - -“Let us go,” said Dauban practically. - -“Are you sure you both feel safe?” asked Lucette with mock sweetness, -and then glanced at Antoine with a smile which completed his conquest. - -“Come,” he answered; “you always get your way.” - -They crossed the courtyard at a leisurely pace and passed slowly -through the gate, the two men exchanging words with the guards, and -then turned in the direction of Malincourt. - -“If the Governor asks for me while we’re away, there’ll be trouble for -me,” said Antoine somewhat ruefully. - -“If he asked for me and I wasn’t away, there would be greater trouble -for me,” she retorted. “But if you repent, we’ll go back.” - -“Don’t spit such fire at me, Lucette; I meant nothing.” - -“We’d better hasten, I think,” said Dauban, and they quickened their -steps to a rapid pace. Lucette played the one man against the other -with great adroitness until they were near Malincourt and the cedar -gate was in sight, when she began to set them by the ears. - -“Jacques tells me there is a price of a thousand crowns on Gerard de -Cobalt’s head. Is that so, Antoine?” - -“Yes. It was announced in the Castle and has been proclaimed in the -city.” - -“Is it true you have a mind to earn it?” - -“A thousand crowns is a thousand crowns.” - -“And blood money is blood money, too. Is it not so, Jacques?” - -“If it has to be earned by somebody, why not one as well as another?” - -“I see no flaw in that reasoning either,” and Antoine laughed. - -“Is that why you told Jacques you could use me to earn it?” asked -Lucette, looking at him fixedly. - -“Did he say that?” asked Antoine, glancing angrily at Dauban. He bore -him no good will for having forced himself into this walk, nor for the -angry words Lucette had spoken to him, and her looks. - -“Indeed, he did. Didn’t you, Jacques?” and her sharp eyes were on him -now much to his uneasiness. - -“I didn’t say that exactly,” he replied. - -“Jacques!” cried Lucette in an indignant tone. - -“You mistook me.” - -“Well, what did you say then?” - -“Aye, Master Dauban, let’s have that. Let’s hear what you did say,” and -Antoine frowned darkly. - -“I don’t remember exactly what I said. And it doesn’t matter.” - -“By your leave, but it does matter.” Antoine was growing more angry. - -“Now, don’t begin to quarrel,” exclaimed Lucette, pouring oil on to the -flames with a dexterous hand. “Master Dauban only said that you meant -to use me as a decoy to find mademoiselle, and then I agreed to help -him to get the money for himself if he promised to save mademoiselle -and only capture this de Cobalt.” - -“A thousand devils! Is that true, Master Dauban?” cried Antoine in a -voice of rage at this proof of treachery. - -“Oh, what have I said!” exclaimed Lucette in distress. “Oh, Antoine, -don’t look at him like that. You frighten me. You must not harm him.” - -“Why are you so zealous for him? Do you care? By Heaven! look to -yourself there, you Dauban,” and out flashed his sword. - -“Oh, Antoine, Antoine, dear Antoine, you must not, you must not,” she -cried, clinging to his sword-arm. But he shook her off and turned upon -Dauban, who was deadly white. - -They stood now just within the gate of Malincourt. - -“Come, Master Dauban, if you’ve anything to say, say it,” said Antoine -in a very threatening tone. - -“I--I can explain all this,” answered Dauban anxiously. “There has been -a mistake. Let me speak alone with you.” - -“None of your lies for me, thank you. Speak out now,” and Antoine made -a step toward him and raised his weapon. - -As the sword flashed in the sunlight, Lucette shrank back as if -terror-stricken and gave a loud scream. At the sound some half-dozen -soldiers came running up from among the trees. - -“Ah, messieurs, messieurs, help, help! Stop them, or there will be -bloodshed,” cried Lucette. - -“What does this mean?” asked one of the soldiers. - -“Who are you?” said Antoine, looking at them in surprise. - -“We’re guarding the place for the Governor,” was the reply. “What’s the -trouble?” - -“Nothing that concerns you. Go your way,” he answered angrily. - -“Not so fast, my dunghill cock. Put up that weapon and come to the -house. And you, too, mistress, if you please.” - -“Don’t you dare to interfere with me,” protested Antoine. - -“Yes, we’d better go to the house,” said Dauban, secretly rejoicing at -the interruption. - -“Go you on with mademoiselle, then,” said the soldier, “and do you come -with me, monsieur,” and at a sign from him three of the men closed -round Antoine, and made it perfectly clear that they meant to use force -if necessary. - -At that moment Lucette turned and smiled. - -“You would have used me as a decoy, monsieur? Come then to the house -and we will see how it can be best done.” - -With a great oath in his mortification and bewilderment, he sheathed -his sword and seeing resistance was useless, marched on between the -soldiers. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -SUSPENSE - - -Jacques Dauban, in his pleasure at escaping from Antoine’s very angry -threats, hurried forward to the house with Lucette, unsuspiciously, and -said little beyond a word or two of rebuke for her disclosure of their -mutual plan. - -“You should not have said anything. It may increase the difficulty of -getting rid of him.” - -“But I would not have him think he could use me as a decoy.” - -“It would have been safer to have told him afterwards.” - -“Safer? You do not mean you are afraid of him, Jacques,” and look and -tone and gesture were alike eloquent of indignant repudiation of the -thought. - -“Afraid of him? Indeed, no,” he replied stoutly, but with a timorous -glance over his shoulder. - -“If you were a coward, oh----” and her disgust was intense. - -“I am no coward, but prudence is always valuable,” and in this way she -plagued him till they reached the house, and as they entered the door -they were met by Pascal. - -Lucette gave a little cry of pretended alarm, and Dauban changed colour -in alarm that was very far from pretence. - -“Ah, you recognize me, I see,” said Pascal, with an ominous smile. - -Dauban gazed at him a moment and then at Lucette, and in that moment -the truth dawned upon him. He saw how he had been fooled, and with a -cry of rage and despair, he raised his arm and rushed at Lucette to -strike her. But Pascal caught his hand and thrust it back. - -“Stay, little spy, stay. If you’ve a fancy for striking some one, -strike me, not a girl.” - -“So you are not a coward. Is this the proof?” asked Lucette. “Master -Dauban has brought me to Malincourt, monsieur, in order that I may -get a disguise for Mademoiselle de Malincourt, and then go with him -to Crevasse to find the fugitives there and hand over M. Gerard and -the monk to the soldiery after enabling miladi to escape. He will be -able to get me out of the city with a permit which he has thoughtfully -brought with him.” - -Pascal laughed. - -“You she-devil!” cried Dauban, white and trembling with his passion. - -“Both you and Antoine had a frenzy to use me as a decoy; well, you have -had your way--and a lesson,” and with a laugh she went away. - -“You seem to have made a mess of things, spy,” said Pascal. “Give me -the permit she spoke of.” - -“She lied, as she has lied all through. I have no such thing.” - -“Come, no nonsense,” said Pascal sternly. “Hand it over. I am in good -humour as yet, and may not hurt even you. But don’t put me in a bad -one.” - -“What does this mean?” asked Dauban. - -“That you have come back to Malincourt. Will you give me that paper or -shall I have it taken from you? I think you know whether I am safe to -trifle to with,” and he held out his hand. - -With trembling fingers Dauban drew it from his pocket and handed it -over; and Pascal called up a couple of men and gave him into their -charge. Antoine he did not even trouble to see, but gave orders that -he should be kept in safe custody, and then carried the permit to -Gerard to consult with him as to making use of it. - -Lucette first hurried to Denys, whom she found sufficiently recovered -to have been able to leave his bed, and having told him all that had -occurred at the Castle she went to Gabrielle. - -“How calm and strong you are, Gabrielle,” she said, when the first -greetings had been exchanged. “And I am in a perfect fever of -restlessness.” - -“We can do nothing yet but wait, Lucette.” - -“But what will happen? Can’t we do something? Tell me everything that -has happened. I am dying to know everything--everything.” - -Gabrielle told her as shortly as she could what had occurred in the -cell and afterwards in the futile attempt to escape from the city, and -then the return to Malincourt. - -“They think you are all at Crevasse.” - -“So M. Pascal brought us word when he told us to expect you. I am so -glad you have escaped, and to have you with me again. Now tell me how -you managed it.” - -Lucette made her recital very brief indeed, saying little or nothing of -the means she had employed to cozen the two men. - -“They must have been mad indeed to think you would betray me,” said -Gabrielle. - -“They were thinking most of the thousand crowns, and when a man’s head -is set money-wards, he is most easily blinded to other things.” - -“What a philosopher you are, Lucette--about men.” - -“And so M. Gerard is M. Gerard still, Gabrielle, but not de Cobalt,” -said Lucette, changing the subject. “How glad and proud you must feel.” - -“If only this danger were over; but the suspense is racking,” replied -Gabrielle, with a sigh. “Any hour, any minute may bring the Governor -to Malincourt with a strong force.” - -“But are we not also strong?” - -“In numbers, perhaps, strong enough; but our men are virtually without -arms.” - -“If he comes you can hold out as long as possible and then fly.” - -“Do you think he would leave us a way out?” - -“What do you mean, Gabrielle?” - -“Why, that Malincourt would be surrounded, of course, and every chance -of escape stopped. We have indeed been considering within the last -hour, whether it wouldn’t be best to risk a flight and seek concealment -in the city while there is yet time.” - -“Of a truth, it is well I came back,” exclaimed Lucette excitedly, -jumping up. “Where are your wits, Gabrielle? They say love sharpens -them in a woman and blunts them in a man; but this does not look like -it.” - -“Lucette!” cried Gabrielle, flushing partly in confusion at the words -and partly with the gathered infection of Lucette’s excitement. - -“Yes, you ought to blush for your forgetfulness when the man you love -is at such a dangerous pass.” - -“What do you mean?” cried Gabrielle, searching her memory vainly for -some clue. “What have I forgotten?” - -“Why, the passage that leads from the chapel crypt to the old burial -ground and out to the woods beyond. Were the Duke’s soldiers swarming -in thousands round the house, that way would still be clear for every -man and woman inside to pass out in safety.” - -“My wits must have been dull indeed not to think of it,” cried -Gabrielle, as excited now as Lucette. “You have saved us all, Lucette. -We must tell them at once. That it should have been left for you to -remind me of it!” - -“I have been in it: you have only heard of it; and it’s easy to -remember what one’s actually seen. I’ll go for them,” and she was -hurrying out when Gerard and Pascal came. - -Gerard held the permit taken from Dauban, and greeted Lucette with a -smile and many thanks for what she had done. - -“This will clear the way for us, Gabrielle,” he said then. “We can get -out of the city, and I have decided to go at once if you are willing to -run the risk.” - -“Ah, but Lucette has done more than bring that, Gerard. She has -reminded me of what, to my shame, I had forgotten,” and she told him of -the underground passage. “We can wait now in confidence for the coming -of the Duke and use that permit in the last resort.” - -“We are never to be out of your debt, it seems, Lucette,” said Gerard. - -“Shall I go and see that the way is clear?” asked Pascal. “Perhaps -Mademoiselle Lucette will show me?” - -“How quick and ready-witted she is,” said Gerard, when the two had left. - -“And how dull I am not to have thought of it,” replied Gabrielle. “I -feel almost humiliated. Lucette hit me harder than she deemed with her -words.” - -“She has a sharp tongue. What said she?” - -Gabrielle’s colour heightened and she smiled. - -“That with you in such peril my wits should have been specially sharp; -yet that very peril dulled them.” - -“There is no such peril. I have no doubt as to the end. See, we have -first the chance that the Governor may not discover our presence here -until it is too late for him to force us to yield before my cousin gets -up from Cambrai. Next, we have means of resistance for some hour or -two at worst. Then we have the means to get from Malincourt should he -drive us out. Then again, we have this permit to pass the city gates. -And besides, we have yet to see that he will dare to resist me when he -knows that I am here in Bourbon’s name. I have no fears of the issue; -my distress is that you have had to endure so much.” - -“But don’t you know we women like such trials, Gerard, even if our -hearts are not so stout to face them as yours? It is for you I -fear--yet not fear; I have too much confidence in you. Besides, there -is always a last resource.” - -“We are very far from any last resource,” he answered cheerily. “But -what is the one you have in mind?” - -“It is I who am the cause of all, Gerard; and in the last extreme I -could avert all ill even from you.” - -“We would die here in Malincourt one by one before that sacrifice could -even be thought of, Gabrielle,” he answered earnestly. “Do you think -there is a man of us Bourbons who would purchase his life at such a -price?” - -“I would let no harm come to you,” she answered, her tone as resolute -as his. - -“How you must love me,” he whispered tenderly, taking her in his arms -and kissing her. “You would suffer worse than death for me; but you -shall do better than that, dearest, you shall live for me.” - -“Pray God it may be so; but this Governor is a hard enemy.” - -“And we Bourbons are no easy ones. But how sweet to me this thought of -your infinite love.” She smiled up to him and whispered with rueful -self-reproach-- - -“Yet it could not spur my wits to remember what Lucette thought of on -the instant.” - -“Lucette is not as my Gabrielle. Her heart is under the discipline of -her judgment.” - -“And mine is all in all to me--all I have to live for; or so it seems -almost. I cannot understand this sweet wild change in me. I am as -one in a dream when I think of you, Gerard; self-centred, absorbed, -self-lost. I had not thought it possible--for me. And yet that great -blank past, when you were not in my life, is but a few hours ago. I -seem to have stepped out of the wilderness with a single stride into a -world all rich and lovely with delight. And it is real.” - -“It shall always be real to us, dearest.” - -“When these other shadows are past,” she sighed. “But they will pass I -know. If I have my moods of doubt it is only the dread lest the dream -shall be broken and I shall lose you.” - -“Nothing shall part us, Gabrielle, not even death,” he declared -earnestly. - -“No. Not even death. For if I lost you, I should die. I should wish to -die, indeed. And it is that which fills me with courage and energy to -fight out with fight and conquer.” - -“Spoken as I would have my Gabrielle speak and think,” he said. - -Some one came then saying that Babillon was asking for Gabrielle, and -he was brought in to them. - -“You have some news, Babillon?” asked Gabrielle. - -“I have not been idle, miladi. The news of your trouble has roused the -burghers of the city, and at a word from you they will rise in your -defence.” - -“Have you said aught that mademoiselle is here?” asked Gerard quickly. - -“No, my lord. The tale has spread from the Castle that you have all -escaped from the city and are hiding in the hills to the north. -That miladi should be thus driven to such extremities to avoid the -persecutions of the Governor has caused the present tumult, and I am -supposed to be able to communicate with her. Miladi has many adherents -even among the troops of the Governor, and from them has gone abroad -the story of her wrongs. The burghers have long had their bitter -grievances and have been arming themselves; and now this last news is -like to act as tinder to dry shavings and kindle the flame.” - -“I would that we had but some of their arms here in Malincourt,” -exclaimed Gerard. “It would save all other anxieties. Could you get us -muskets and powder and ball, Babillon, think you?” - -“Alone, I am helpless. A word from miladi would do all; but that might -involve the disclosure of her presence here.” - -“It is worth any risk,” said Gerard decisively. “If there is to be -fighting, it can best be done from behind these walls.” - -“There must be no rising in the city, Babillon,” said Gabrielle. - -“Indignation, on the top of wrongs so long endured, burns very strong, -and is spreading like a forest fire, miladi.” - -“It will be useless and worse, far worse than useless. Men untrained -to fighting, lacking in leaders, and ill armed, cannot prevail against -the Duke’s soldiers. The citizens would be massacred and their houses -sacked. It must not be,” she declared. - -“It need not be, if Babillon can but get the arms we want to -Malincourt. How soon could you do this?” asked Gerard anxiously. - -“We could get all in readiness, and as soon as night falls to give the -cover of darkness they could be brought here.” - -“By nightfall,” exclaimed Gerard in a tone of disappointment. - -“My lord, it would be hopeless to make such an attempt in daylight with -the city overrun as it is by troops.” - -“Stay, let me suggest,” said Gabrielle. “Push on the preparations, -Babillon, to do my lord’s wish, and if aught should occur to spoil the -venture and we should have to abandon Malincourt, have prepared some -place where we can lie hid, safely protected by the men of the city, -until the danger has passed.” - -“A shrewd thought,” said Gerard readily. “And now come with me, and we -will perfect the plan for getting the arms. I will speak with Dubois -and Pascal,” he added to Gabrielle, and led Babillon away. - -Dubois was found and a long conference followed, to which Pascal, -who had been strenuously engaged in clearing the secret passage, was -presently called. - -Both Pascal and Dubois agreed in urging that the citizens should be -encouraged to rise, but Gerard, in deference to the wish Gabrielle had -expressed, would not agree, and the utmost he would yield was that -Dubois should go with Babillon, taking with him written authority from -Gabrielle to consult with the chief burghers on the whole position, to -judge the chances of success, and to offer himself as a leader of any -movement. But he was to sanction no revolt without first communicating -with Gerard; and his chief efforts in the meantime were to be bent upon -getting the arms and ammunition so sorely needed. - -The gruff old soldier protested that it was no more than a one-handed -scheme. - -“We cannot fight a man like this Governor with one hand in irons, and -that the sword-hand,” he said. “A rising to-night in the city would -mean everything to us here. There might be bloodshed it is true; but -blood has been shed before and will be shed again in many a worse -cause. Nor could anything really serious happen before d’Alembert -reaches the city.” - -“We will fight if we are forced in self-defence, Dubois, but we will -not force the fighting from our side,” was Gerard’s reply. “This is -Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s matter more than ours, and her will must -prevail.” - -“It will fail, my lord,” was the answer bluntly spoken. - -“Then we’ll try something else that will succeed. I am quite resolved. -Let it be as I say.” - -“So much for a woman’s leadership,” growled Dubois to Pascal as he was -starting with Babillon. - -“He might take another view if he’d had as much married experience as -you,” laughed Pascal. - -“If he lives to marry her,” was the gloomy response. “To think he -should sacrifice a chance like this for the sake of a squeamish girl.” - -“Get those arms, man, and we may have yet a tough bout or two here,” -but Dubois shook his head discontentedly. Pascal looked after him and -shrugged his shoulders, as he muttered to himself: “Your husband never -sees the same light in a pair of bright eyes as your lover. Save me -from marrying, say I, Pascal de la Tour.” - -A soft laugh broke in on his soliloquy, and he turned to find Lucette -looking at him, her face severely demure but her eyes dancing with -quizzical light. - -“Are you then in danger, monsieur?” she asked in a tone of deep -solicitude. - -“Any man might well be at such short range as this,” he answered, -meeting her gaze and laughing. “So you heard me?” - -“I heard you calling on some one else to save you from some dreadful -fate, and the thought of any one in deep trouble appeals to me.” - -“Danger it might be and yet not deep trouble. I can well imagine there -would be compensations--when I look at you. You’re a born coquette, I -fear, Lucette. I shall have to read you a lecture or two.” - -“The experience of professors in any art is always to be welcomed, -monsieur.” - -“Do Dauban and de Cavannes agree in that? They’ve had a pretty fair -taste of the experience, at any rate,” he laughed. - -“Do you rate yourself on the same footing with them?” - -“In your eyes, do you mean?” - -“They are canaille, Monsieur Pascal.” - -“Some fishermen are so keen at the sport that when they can’t hook the -trout they are glad to take the minnows.” - -“And some minnows are so self-ignorant they do not know they are not -salmon,” she retorted, with a flash of the eyes. - -“A fair hit, mademoiselle. Shall we cry a truce?” - -“I came to ask what has been decided?” - -“Babillon has been here”--and he told her what had passed. - -“Ah, you soldiers always want to be killing something or somebody,” she -answered. “Gabrielle is right. She is always right. She will be able -to escape to this hiding place at any moment and can lie hid in safety -till the storm passes. Men never think a woman can be right except when -she says ditto to what they may decide.” - -“Until I met you I may have held to some such heresy. But did we not -cry a truce? I am waving the white flag of surrender.” - -“You are very provoking, Monsieur Pascal.” - -“And you are very charming, Mademoiselle Lucette.” - -At this moment a soldier came hurrying to them. - -“Another messenger has arrived from the Castle, Lieutenant. We -managed to mislead him long enough to get him to deliver his message. -He reports that the hunt for the fugitives at Crevasse has proved -fruitless; the men have returned from there to the Castle empty-handed -and he was despatched at once to ascertain whether anything had been -seen of them here.” - -“Well?” - -“We were sending him back with a message that all was quiet here when -his suspicions were aroused and we had to detain him like the rest.” - -“Did you question him?” asked Pascal, looking very grave. - -“Yes, monsieur. He would say but little; he made a dash to escape -and when we stopped him, declared that there would be plenty of his -comrades here to know why he had not returned.” - -“Keep him safe. That is all,” said Pascal; and when the man had gone he -turned to Lucette. “The beginning of the end, mademoiselle. We shall -soon know now which plan is right, the soldier’s or the woman’s?” - -They carried the ominous news to Gerard, who was with Gabrielle. - -“It had to come some time,” said Gerard. “Thank God it hasn’t come -earlier. Have all in readiness, Pascal, to close the house the moment -there is any sign of the Duke’s approach.” - -And when all had been made ready against a surprise, they waited, all -filled with anxiety for what was to follow. - -They had not long to wait. In less than a hour the men on the look-out -reported the approach of a strong party of troops, and Gerard and -Pascal hurried away to decide upon the next step. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -A RUSE - - -There was unfortunately no reason to doubt the correctness of the -ominous news, and for a moment Gerard looked very grave when he learnt -that the approaching force numbered between fifty and a hundred troops. - -“Are there likely to be any of our own men?” he asked Pascal. - -“I fear not. Bassot told me that they were not held of much use in this -search work owing to their ignorance of the place.” - -“Yet we might venture it. It would be a stroke. What say you, Pascal? -Shall we let them all enter and risk a struggle to capture them? We -should get some of the arms we want so badly. They are all carrying -muskets.” - -“That is more like you, Gerard,” cried Pascal enthusiastically. “A -stroke worth making, indeed, and if well planned easy enough.” - -“Quick, then. Here is the plan. Post men to command the great hall; -it is there we may take the main body of them, and dispose the rest -as secretly as you can in the upper floors. Let no one but men of the -household be about when they come to the door. Let them show fear -and surprise, and, delaying as long as they can in safety, admit at -last that we are in the house. The soldiers will not all enter at -once, but if a search has to be made for us, most of them will have -to be brought in for it. Let the search go on, and when the soldiers -are straggled in parties over the house, we can deal with them. -Mademoiselle de Malincourt and Lucette must go to the chapel crypt to -be ready to fly should the plan fail.” - -“One suggestion I have,” said Pascal quickly. “The shrewdest tongue in -Malincourt is between Mademoiselle Lucette’s white teeth, and if she -would meet the men on their entry she would be best for the purpose.” - -“I will sound her. Go you and post the men,” and Gerard hurried back to -Gabrielle and Lucette and explained his scheme. Lucette gladly agreed -to play the part asked, and listened carefully as Gerard gave her all -the necessary instructions. - -“Delay them all you can,” he said. “Every minute is precious. There are -but some two hours now to dark, and if we can hold the place through -the night the delay may save everything.” - -He led Gabrielle to the chapel crypt while Lucette ran down to the -great hall to wait for the coming of the troops. Their own men were -hurrying to their hiding places under the directions of Pascal and the -officers, all laughing gleefully enough at the prospect of the coming -tussle. But the dispositions were made very rapidly, and Lucette had -been alone some minutes before the tramp of the men outside was heard, -followed by a loud summons for admission. - -Lucette told one of the servants to open the door, and he was pushed -brusquely to one side as an officer with some dozen men filed into the -house. - -Lucette gave a cry of surprise and alarm. - -“What is the meaning of this, monsieur?” she asked. - -“I am sorry if I disturb you, mademoiselle,” said the officer, saluting -her, “but my orders are imperative.” - -“Are you going to shoot us all, monsieur?” He was young and -good-looking she found, as she brought the battery of her eyes into -action, and he answered her smile with another. - -“Not quite that, mademoiselle; pray be reassured. But some strange -things have happened----” - -“This is surely one of them, monsieur,” she interposed, with a shrug of -her pretty shoulders and a little grimace of dismay. - -“You know that we are looking for some prisoners who escaped last night -from the Castle and----” - -“Prisoners! And you look for them in Malincourt. Monsieur!” Admirably -assumed indignation it was, and every interruption meant a gain of -time. “Do you think we harbour thieves and malefactors here?” - -“These are no ordinary prisoners, mademoiselle,” he replied with -another smile. He found Lucette’s eyes very pleasing to gaze into. - -“And you are no ordinary thief-catcher, monsieur. A gallant captain -like yourself must find such work little to your taste.” - -“We have to obey orders, mademoiselle.” - -“And frighten poor girls out of their wits, it seems. I thought all -soldiers were as gallant as most of them are handsome,” and she pointed -this with a very telling glance. - -“You need be in no fear, mademoiselle, if you will but let us do our -duty.” - -“Then you are not going to arrest me?” and she laughed, and added as -she made more havoc with her eyes: “I think I could trust myself to -you, monsieur.” - -“Is Mademoiselle de Malincourt here?” - -“Mademoiselle de Malincourt!” This in a tone of intense astonishment. -“What will you ask me next? Is she one of your escaped prisoners?” and -Lucette burst into a peal of merry laughter. - -“His Excellency the Governor is anxious to see her at the Castle, and -we are to escort her there.” - -“You speak in riddles, monsieur. Do you mean that the Duke de Rochelle -invites guests to the Castle with a file of soldiers to see that they -accept the invitation? Surely I am dreaming.” - -“One of the prisoners who escaped was a friend of mademoiselle, and she -is asked for at the Castle in regard to the matter.” - -“Oh, you mean you would make her a prisoner. Then, if she were here, I -would refuse to tell you.” - -“It will be better to answer me directly,” said the officer. - -“Did you ever know a woman who could, monsieur?” - -“By your leave I must press for a decided reply to my question.” - -“And by your leave I deny your right to question me and expect any -reply.” - -“As you please, of course,” he answered courteously. “There is another -matter. A guard of men was left here this morning when the house had -been searched----” - -“Searched?” broke in Lucette. “Searched? Malincourt searched! There has -been no search of Malincourt while I have been here. True, I was absent -in attendance upon the Duchess de Rochelle this morning, but Malincourt -searched! Surely you are misinformed.” - -“It is as I say. The house was searched in the belief that the -prisoners were here, or Mademoiselle de Malincourt herself, and a guard -was left in case they should seek refuge here.” - -“Mademoiselle de Malincourt seek refuge in her own house! Monsieur!” - -“I think you must know of this,” he answered smiling. - -“I am sure you are too frank to deceive me. I would trust you.” - -“You are very good. I do not like this errand, it is true, but I have -no option save to perform it.” - -“I can understand that, monsieur,” she said, with a glance that made -him wish any one else had been chosen for the task. “You have too good -a heart to wish to frighten a poor girl like myself, or to persecute a -noble innocent girl like Mademoiselle de Malincourt.” - -“Several messengers have been sent here during the day and none of them -have returned. I have come therefore to learn the reason.” - -“Certainly, monsieur. It is very strange,” and Lucette looked at him, -almost sympathetically. “What do you wish me to do?” - -“I must see the guard for myself, mademoiselle.” - -“Certainly, monsieur. Where are they?” - -“Pardon me. You are either keeping matters from me--which I assure you -will be useless--or you are strangely ignorant of what has occurred -here.” - -“I think it must be both, monsieur, don’t you?” and they laughed -together at the reply. - -“I beg you tell me.” - -“Oh, am I the guard? Very well. What shall I tell you?” - -He made a gesture of impatience. - -“Where are the soldiers? My orders are to use all despatch.” - -“Oh, then I am not the guard,” she cried with a laugh, and then -seriously: “I give you my word, monsieur, I have been in the house some -hours and have seen neither the guard nor the messengers.” - -“Have you seen the prisoners, mademoiselle?” - -“Monsieur. That question is almost an insult!” - -“I mean no insult to so charming a lady, I assure you; but you leave me -no option save to search the house.” - -“What, again?” she cried in a merry bantering tone. “I did not know the -great Duke was organizing a game of hide and go seek. But, seriously, -monsieur, do you think your party is strong enough? We have a number of -very savage old men among the Malincourt retainers, and some younger -girls than I.” - -“There will be none prettier, mademoiselle, and none with more biting -tongues. I should wish to do it with the least inconvenience.” - -“Then I beg you have in all your men and search all the wings at once,” -said Lucette quickly. “I shall see you again when it is over,” a true -saying with another meaning than the young officer understood, and she -went away, having successfully used up an invaluable half-hour. - -Pascal and Gerard had heard it all from their post above stairs and -were ready with their plans. The officer lost no time now in bringing -in all but a dozen of his party, and he despatched them through the -house with orders to search every room closely from roof to cellars, -thus falling straight into the trap laid for him and them. - -He himself remained below by the door until he heard the scuffling -sound of a struggle somewhere on an upper floor. A voice called to him: -“They are here, lieutenant,” and at that he dashed up the stairs, the -rest of his men close at his heels. - -It was but a ruse to draw him away, and the moment he had gone, Gerard -sent a man to the door who beckoned excitedly to the troops outside -to enter, and as they dashed in, mistaking the man for one of their -comrades, they were seized, disarmed and hurried away in custody--the -blow being cleverly, quickly, and almost silently struck. - -Another false alarm was now raised in a different wing of the house, -and those soldiers who rushed to follow the sound were caught in the -same way. Other false alarms followed in various directions, until the -searchers, utterly bewildered and confused, ran first one way and then -another, only to be caught in the net so warily and cleverly spread. - -At length the young officer with the remainder came down to the -central hall, and with a ringing shout called his men to him. At this -Pascal stepped toward him. - -“I am sorry, monsieur, but I have found it necessary to detain your men -for a time.” - -At a word from the officer every musket was levelled point blank at -him, but he remained perfectly cool. - -“Who are you?” demanded the officer. “But whoever you are, you are my -prisoner, and if you move my men will fire.” - -“Your men can fire if you order, monsieur,” answered Pascal calmly, -“but it will be quite useless. You are covered by forty muskets,” -and he waved his hand round the place where his soldiers now showed -themselves. “For your own sake I urge you to avoid bloodshed.” - -“By God, I’ll not be trapped like this,” cried the officer furiously, -and drawing his sword he rushed to cut Pascal down. - -“I am unarmed and you are too brave a man to strike me,” said Pascal -very quietly, as with folded arms he awaited the attack, looking him -steadily in the face. - -His daring had its effect, and his opponent’s arm dropped even as he -was in the act of striking, and the next moment he and his men were -surrounded by three times their number. - -“I owe you an explanation, monsieur,” said Pascal. “Those you seek are -here in Malincourt, and it was impossible to allow you to obey your -orders. We are in strong force and, save for this ruse, we should have -resisted to the death. As it is, no harm will come either to you or -your men. On that you have my word as a soldier. But for the present at -least we cannot let you carry news back to the Castle. You will give me -your word not to resist or try to escape, and I will not ask you for -your sword. Your men’s muskets we have had to take, as we are short of -arms.” - -The officer made a great effort to imitate Pascal’s coolness, but he -was very young, and this humiliation before his men was unendurable. He -had to struggle for self-control and well nigh broke down. - -“I give no parole,” he said, his lips trembling. - -“I respect your courage,” said Pascal, with both dignity and feeling, -“and I beg you to spare me the distress of resorting to the only -alternative.” - -“Not the only alternative, by God,” cried the officer desperately, and -turning suddenly he hurled himself at the soldiers who stood between -him and the door. - -But they were tough campaigners, much too wary to be caught by -surprise, and in an instant his sword was knocked out of his hand by a -blow from a clubbed musket which disabled his arm and he found himself -in the grip of those who knew how to hold him. - -“I am very sorry, monsieur, but the fault is with you,” said Pascal, -and with a sign to the men he was led away. As he passed, Lucette met -him, but he would not look at her, and hung his head that she might not -see the traces of mortification in his face. - -“I am sorry, monsieur,” she said gently, “but I was fighting for those -dearer to me than life.” - -“I do not fight with women, mademoiselle, and pardon your deceit.” - -“But you are hurt; let me bind your arm,” she said solicitously, seeing -that it dangled at his side. - -He drew himself up and looked at her steadily as he replied-- - -“Thank you, mademoiselle; the wound to my arm is nothing, but you have -killed my trust in the word of a beautiful woman,” and he signed to the -men in charge of him to take him on. - -“I am sorry for him,” she said to Pascal. - -“He brought it on himself, the hot-headed young fool,” was the reply. - -“How brave you are, monsieur! I saw him rush at you and believed he -would have killed you. And you were so cool.” - -“We had to avoid bloodshed, somehow, and thank God we did so. And now, -what will be the next move from the Castle when this party like the -rest don’t return? How shrewdly you held him in talk, mademoiselle. You -wasted half an hour at least, and now another is gone. It will be dark -before the Duke gets here after all.” - -“I am almost ashamed of my part,” murmured Lucette. - -“Nay, ’tis all fair in war, and--some other things. But I am getting -more afraid of you than ever,” answered Pascal, laughing and turning to -meet Gerard, who had been to tell Gabrielle the news, and now came up -with her. She congratulated Pascal on the success. - -“We are strong enough now to hold the place throughout the night,” said -Pascal to Gerard. - -“Strong enough, too, to speak with force behind us. If the Governor -comes, I shall declare myself to him.” - -“He will come after this,” said Pascal drily. “And while the light -remains with us we can best use it by settling the plan of defence.” - -They were engaged in this when, as the dusk was falling, the approach -of more troops was announced. The house was soon found to be surrounded -and the Governor himself was seen, with de Proballe at his side, giving -orders to the troops. - -After some anxious minutes a demand that the door should be opened -was made in a loud voice. No answer was returned, and a second demand -followed, accompanied with the threat that it would be forced. - -Then Pascal showed himself at an upper window. - -“By what right do you threaten force?” he asked. - -“I threaten it,” cried the Duke, “as Governor of Morvaix.” - -“You have no right, my lord Duke. I am holding it by command of the -Lord Gerard de Bourbon under the authority of your Suzerain, the Duke -de Bourbon, whose officer I am.” - -“Where is this Lord Gerard?” - -“I am here,” said Gerard, stepping forward. - -The Governor laughed contemptuously, and de Proballe joined him. - -“Come out to me, then, that I may pay my homage,” he sneered. “Why -didn’t you announce yourself before, that I might have rendered it when -you were a prisoner in the Castle?” - -“I shall receive your homage in my own time, and when I come for it it -will be with sufficient force at my back to exact it.” - -“Your noble lordship’s caution is timely, yet a little suspicious, -considering all things. If you will not come out to me, open the door -of Malincourt that I may come in to you. I am more than wishful to -render you your due. I am anxious, I promise you.” - -“I am the bearer of a despatch to your lordship from my father, which -will prove the commission I hold from him.” - -“By all means bring it me.” - -“I am sending it that you may see great Bourbon’s seal and signature,” -and as he spoke a young lieutenant who had left the house secretly made -his way toward the Governor and handed him the paper. - -The Governor took it with a scowl and glanced at it. - -“Have you any other forgeries?” he demanded. - -“I await your answer and submission.” - -“Submission, in God’s name! And pray what are your noble lordship’s -commands for me?” - -“That you at once dismiss the force that you have wrongfully brought -against this house and leave me and all here in peace.” - -“Hell’s peace!” roared the Governor. “Here is my answer,” and he tore -the paper in two and flung it into the messenger’s face, bidding two -of the soldiers seize him. “I have a further answer yet. If you do not -surrender yourself and all in the house within an hour, I will order my -troops to take it by force and burn it as the refuge of a murderer.” - -“We are in great strength, and shall resist you. You will refuse my -demands at your peril.” - -The Governor’s reply was a threat, emphasized with an oath as he -wheeled his horse round and rode off. - -“There goes the last chance of avoiding a conflict,” said Pascal, as he -and Gerard watched him. - -“I am not so sure,” answered Gerard thoughtfully. “We have taken him -by surprise and set him a problem, and he is not so dull-witted as to -think the solution can be found with just a threat and a curse.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -AT THE CITY GATES - - -Gerard’s judgment that the unexpected position at Malincourt would be -found much too formidable to be dismissed with a curse and a threat was -quite correct. - -The Governor was furiously angry, and as sternly resolved as ever to -carry his purpose through; nothing should be suffered to come between -him and it; but the last few hours had revealed certain obstacles to -the importance of which even his selfish rage could not blind him. - -He had had convincing proof that in threatening Gabrielle he would -provoke far greater and more dangerous antagonism than any he had yet -encountered at any time of his government. - -The first sign of this had come from the Duchess herself. She had sent -for him soon after Lucette had left the Castle, and after avowing her -share in procuring Gerard’s escape, had met his storm of invective with -a stubborn resistance culminating in a solemn declaration that if harm -was done to a hair of Gabrielle’s head, she would have herself carried -in her bed out into the streets of Morvaix and denounce him and his -acts to the citizens, and if that did not avail she would take the -matter, if it cost her her life, to the King of France himself. - -He had laughed at her threats, but they had gone home, none the less, -and had rendered him ill at ease. - -More was to come, however. Babillon was right in saying the city was -roused by the news that Gabrielle was a fugitive from the Castle -troops. She was beloved in Morvaix by people of every class, rich and -poor alike; and hundreds of them were ready to spend their lives in her -defence. - -Those who had not had personal experience of her innumerable acts of -charity and kindness were bound to the House of Malincourt by ties of -allegiance which had stood the test of many years of turbulence and -crisis. In former troubles their attitude had been decided by that of -the Maison, and when Malincourt had stood aloof in any quarrel, they -had been neutral. And now every member of every family was stirred to -the depths by the report of her danger. - -The Governor’s agents in the city had brought him word of this, and the -citizens themselves had been to the Castle to seek assurances of her -safety from the Governor. Hot words had passed on both sides, but the -Governor had found it discreet to appease them by giving the assurances -of her safety and explaining that the object of the pursuit was merely -a prisoner, a murderer, who had escaped from the Castle. - -Hints had been given him, too, discreetly and almost timorously, by -some of his officers that the concern on Gabrielle’s account was not -confined to the city, but had also spread to such of the troops as were -Morvaix men, and that reliance upon them in any attack upon her could -not be fully placed. - -Considerations of this disquieting character could not but produce an -effect even upon the iron of his will, but he still saw a way to gain -his end without open conflict with the forces supporting the Malincourt -influence. He could coerce Gabrielle through her lover. If Gerard could -be recaptured he would have once more the means of secretly compelling -the consent which it might be dangerous to force from her by open -violence. She would consent to be his wife to save Gerard. - -And here it was that he found the position at Malincourt so -disconcerting. He did not doubt that Gabrielle was in the Maison with -Gerard and he had gone there anticipating no more opposition to his -entry than the presence of a large body of troops could at once remove. -But instead of that, he found the maison barred against him and held by -a force which his soldier’s eye showed him was both powerful and ably -disposed for purposes of defence. - -That he could carry the place with the resources at his command was -not, of course, open to question; although there would be a stout -resistance involving bloodshed and the loss of many lives on both -sides. It was not this which made him hesitate. But to batter the -maison to pieces and burn it while Gabrielle was inside with the -defenders, was at once to subject her to imminent personal danger and -to rouse every one of her supporters in the city to active interference. - -There was another course open, however: to starve those in Malincourt -to surrender. It involved delay, always distasteful to his impetuous -overbearing will, but it was less dangerous and in the end would be -equally effective. Thus he decided to adopt it, and at the same time to -keep up a sufficient show of force to intimidate those in Malincourt. -He could easily surround the house so that not a soul could leave it, -and by an occasional feint could harry those defending it and thus -hasten their submission. - -First, however, he would make sure that Gabrielle was really in -Malincourt, and at the end of the hour of grace he had allowed, he -caused another summons for admission to be made, and when as before -Pascal appeared in answer to it, he demanded to speak with Gabrielle. - -She came at once, with Gerard at her side, and very proud and defiant -she looked. - -“I wish you to understand the nature of the resistance you are -offering to me, mademoiselle, and the consequences,” began the Governor. - -“I understand it perfectly, my lord,” she answered resolutely. - -“You are harbouring at Malincourt a prisoner of mine, and this neither -the laws of France nor I myself can permit.” - -“There is no one in Malincourt, my lord, who can rightly be termed your -prisoner. Whom do you mean?” - -“The man who stands at your side, at whose escape from my prison you -connived.” - -“You mean the Lord Gerard de Bourbon. It is by his commands that the -doors of Malincourt are closed against you. And they will remain -closed, my lord.” - -“They cannot remain closed against the forces at my disposal.” - -“If you as Governor of Morvaix think you dare to use violence against -the son of your Suzerain, the great Duke de Bourbon, you must act as -you will.” - -“I demand that that man be given up to me.” - -“And I decline to listen to a demand I deem infamous.” - -“I wish no harm to come to you, mademoiselle, and if you will give him -up, I will at once withdraw my troops from Malincourt.” - -“No harm can come to me, my lord Duke. I am with those who know how to -protect me.” - -“The blood of those who may suffer if you drive me to use force will be -upon your head. I have told you you can go free.” - -“The blood of the Bourbon soldiers here will be shed freely in defence -of their master, and for the rest the responsibility is yours, my lord, -not mine.” - -“I give you this last chance to avoid a conflict.” - -Gerard whispered to her before she answered. - -“You ask me to surrender, and I am authorized by my Lord Gerard de -Bourbon to answer you thus. Cry a truce for forty-eight hours and we -will come to you voluntarily to the Castle.” - -“I will not give you forty-eight seconds,” was the angry reply, and -with that the Governor turned away. - -He rapidly completed his dispositions for the feinted attack which -commenced almost immediately. It was delivered with much show of force -from four different points round the house, and was accompanied by a -great deal of musketry firing on both sides. But this, owing to the -darkness, did little or no harm to either party. - -The result satisfied the Governor that there really was a considerable -body of men opposed to him, and he drew off his troops and surrounded -the maison, and left instructions with the officer in command to keep -up the pretence of an attack and to make one or two demonstrations -during the night. Then he rode back to the Castle, carrying with him -the conviction that in a day or two at most Gerard would be again in -his hands. - -Inside Malincourt a very different view of the position was taken. The -attack was regarded as the proof of the Governor’s intention to make -good his threat to storm the maison and burn it; while the ease with -which it was beaten off only served to rouse the suspicion that it was -no more than the preface to a much more serious effort. - -“His object is to test our strength,” said Gerard to Pascal, “and -to see whether we really are in any force. We may look for the real -fighting later. If we had known, we would have saved our powder.” - -“We could ill spare it. Slight as the thing was, it has made grievous -inroads on our supply.” - -“We need not be anxious. It will last out till morning, and then we -shall go. They are likely to try and harry us through the night, so -that we must be on our guard, but the real attack will be delivered in -daylight, and before it comes we must be out of the house. We have -gained our end, the delay of a night, and for to-morrow we can safely -trust ourselves to the burghers.” - -“I would rather have trusted to these walls if only Babillon could have -got up with the arms.” - -“But he cannot, in the face of the soldiery round the house.” - -“There is the secret passage. I could go and find him and guide him by -that way.” - -“But the risk, man. If a suspicion were roused we should have the one -chance of escape stopped. Not for an armoury full of guns and powder -would I have that way discovered.” - -“True enough; it is perhaps too great a risk,” agreed Pascal. - -“My plan is this,” explained Gerard. “We will hold the maison through -the night--unless I am wrong and we are to be driven from it by -force--and in the morning we will slip away secretly, Lucette and you -accompanying us, and make first for the gates to leave the city with -the pass we took from the spy, and if we fail we shall place ourselves -in the hands of the burghers.” - -“And the men here?” - -“Must remain until the last possible moment as a ruse. D’Artois will -stay in command, and every show of continued resistance must be -maintained. You’ll see my thought. The Governor knows we are here and -thinks he has us safely caged. In that belief the restrictions about -passing in and out of the city will probably be relaxed; the search -parties will be recalled from the city, and I am mistaken if a bold -front and a slight disguise will not be all that is necessary for us to -get away. Then by nightfall we shall be back with the troops to read -this Governor a lesson.” - -“D’Artois had better continue the resistance here?” - -“Only in form, of course. No lives need be thrown away. The only need -is to blind the Castle people. But when the attack grows serious he -can either surrender or escape by the same means we shall use, the men -scattering and resuming the monkish disguise. Even if they are captured -and taken to the Castle nothing will be done to them before we are back -with d’Alembert.” - -They were still discussing their plans when the second feint was made -by the Castle troops, and the ease with which this was also repulsed -confirmed Gerard in his belief that the night would see no serious -attack, and when matters had quieted down and the last shot had been -fired, he prevailed upon Gabrielle and Lucette to attempt to get some -sleep. They should be roused at the first sign of any real danger, but -what they had to do during the coming day made it imperative that they -should at least lie down, even if sleep were impossible. - -And impossible it was for all in the maison. A most vigilant watch had -to be kept, and Gerard and Pascal were constantly moving from point to -point, that no single precaution should be slackened and not a movement -of the troops outside pass unobserved. - -So matters remained until the dawn. When the light broke at length, the -great strength of the Castle force was immediately apparent, spreading -as it did all round the maison in imposing numbers that filled -Gabrielle and Lucette with consternation. - -Gabrielle was for instant flight, indeed, but Gerard decided for some -further delay. - -“We have to wait until the Governor shall have had time to give fresh -instructions to the captains of the city gates, or we cannot get -through.” - -Then Lucette suggested a serious objection. - -“Gabrielle is so well known that she will be recognized at the gates, -and although she might pass, any one with her would be at once -suspected and stopped.” - -“I am hoping that the gates will be open to all,” replied Gerard, “and -that no one will be stopped. But she will be disguised. We shall all -be, in fact--Pascal and I as monks.” - -“But if they are not open?” - -“Then we have this pass of Dauban’s and the disguises.” - -“Monks do not act as cavaliers to ladies, monsieur,” objected Lucette, -and despite the gravity of the situation they smiled. - -“There is M. de Proballe’s wardrobe,” suggested Gabrielle. - -“Aye, we might pass for rogues, Gerard,” laughed Pascal. “But for my -part, I’d rather take the risk and play monk.” - -“May I suggest?” asked Lucette. “A plain burgher’s or merchant’s dress -would be safest, with the monks’ gabardines carried for use in case of -need. And these could easily be furnished here in the maison.” - -“We must have weapons, Lucette,” said Gerard. - -“They could be covered with wrappings to look like staves or some part -of your merchandise. There is no difficulty there, surely. The real -difficulty is Gabrielle’s face, I fear.” - -“I like the plan,” was Pascal’s emphatic verdict. “But I would have a -change in it. Let Mademoiselle Lucette and myself, if she will trust -herself to me, try to leave the city first. If we are turned back, or -even held by the guard, it will be no grievous matter; and you and -mademoiselle can see how it fares with us. If we have to show the pass -to get through, we can go a short distance and I can return on the plea -that something has been forgotten, and can hand it to you.” - -This scheme was discussed at length to be finally adopted, -and Gabrielle and Lucette were left to settle the best device -they could fashion to conceal what Lucette had termed the real -difficulty--Gabrielle’s face. - -Lucette solved the problem by means of a large hooded cloak, such -as was not uncommonly worn by the burghers’ and merchants’ wives in -travelling. Drawn over the head and low down over the brow, it fastened -under the chin, but a little alteration by Lucette’s deft fingers so -arranged it that much of the lower part of the face was also hidden, -and when she was ready to start, both Gerard and Pascal smiled at the -little device. - -“A burgher’s spouse to the life,” exclaimed Pascal, whose irrepressible -spirits were as high as if they were all bent on a picnic. “And on the -pillion no one will know miladi of Malincourt!” - -“If Babillon can get us the horses, that is,” said Gerard, for they -were first to make for Babillon’s house. - -“Crowns are crowns in Morvaix, Gerard, and speak the same language as -everywhere else; and if he cannot, I will. Shall we start?” - -“We have told d’Artois everything?” - -“Oh, yes. I supplemented what you said with an hour’s lecture.” - -“Pray God we get away and do not find the Castle men have spread out -too far.” - -“I have made sure of that,” answered Pascal. “I’ve been out to look for -myself.” - -“Come then,” and they started. - -“I would poor Denys could be with us,” said Gabrielle. - -“I have seen him and told him all,” replied Lucette. “He is much -better, but knows he has not strength enough for this.” - -Gerard was very grave and anxious in his concern for Gabrielle, and as -they passed through the chapel, down into the crypt and along the dark, -mouldy, gloomy passage, scarce a word was spoken. But as soon as they -emerged into the fresh air, Pascal, who had gone on first to make sure -no one was about, began to talk. He walked with Lucette, Gerard and -Gabrielle being ahead. - -“We mustn’t look like a funeral procession, mademoiselle.” - -“If you were as anxious for me as M. Gerard is for Gabrielle, you too -might be solemn, monsieur.” - -He glanced at her and smiled. - -“Hadn’t we better settle the parts we mean to play?” - -“What are they?” - -“Well, to begin with, we’d better stop this ‘monsieur’ and -‘mademoiselle’ to each other. My name, as you know, is Pascal, and -yours is Lucette, and they are neither of them names to be ashamed of. -What say you--Lucette?” - -“Just as you wish--Pascal,” and she copied his pause and tone, and -laughed. - -“Good. Now we must be something to each other, because we may be asked. -Strangers don’t go riding about together as we have to; and we’re not -strangers either.” - -“I am beginning to know something of you, at any rate.” - -“And an excellent education I hope you find it. Now, what do you say to -brother and sister?” - -“We might have to quarrel with one another in that case, or at least be -discourteous. Is that what you wish--Pascal?” - -“That’s an excellent imitation of a sister’s manner--Lucette. But as we -don’t want to quarrel, and I am plain burgher and you Madame Burgher, -we might be husband and wife.” - -“It would be a loveless marriage, wouldn’t it?” - -“I’ve heard of them before,” he laughed drily. “But it would certainly -be a marriage of convenience.” - -“And many of those are but little more acting than this. But I think in -such a case I should be a scold.” - -“I am afraid you would, but as my back will be to you when you’re on -the pillion, I don’t know that that will matter. How clear the roads -are,” he said, breaking into earnestness for a moment. His eyes had -been cast sharply in all directions, despite his laughing manner and -words. - -“Do you think we shall get through? Poor Gabrielle is so anxious.” - -“Aye, that’s one of the troubles. She’s too anxious to play her part -well, I fear. She’s not like--Madame Burgher.” - -“Nor is M. Gerard like--Monsieur Burgher.” - -“Well, let us hope the husband and wife will get their two charges -safely through. We shall reach Babillon’s, at any rate,” he said soon -afterwards, as they came in sight of the house. “I pray we shall find -better luck than last time.” - -But they did not. The house was closed, and when they knocked and -Babillon’s wife admitted them, it was to say that her husband had not -been home all night. - -“It’s not a serious matter,” said Pascal, making light of it, as he -did of all difficulties. “Wait here, and I’ll go and find a couple of -horses somewhere.” - -“But Babillon could have given us news of how matters stand at the -gates and a hundred other things,” replied Gerard uneasily. - -“All of which we shall now have to find out for ourselves instead,” and -learning where he was likely to procure horses, Pascal went off on his -search. He was soon back, riding one horse and leading another. - -“The city is much quieter this morning. I had a talk with the man where -I got these,” he reported, “and he says all the soldiers who were -searching the city have been recalled to the Castle.” - -“And about the gates?” - -“He knew nothing, and I could ask no more than a general question, or I -might have stirred suspicion. Now, Madame Burgher,” he said to Lucette, -and there was some laughing between them over settling her in the -pillion. But Gerard was in no mood to see any objects for jesting, and -Gabrielle was so pale and anxious that Lucette declared it was a good -thing indeed no more of her features could be seen. - -“Now for a bold face on things and a laugh if you can, Lucette,” cried -Pascal, “and we’ll soon see whether an honest burgher and his wife -cannot ride abroad together in this uncomfortable fashion on a fine -July morning.” - -They rode slowly toward the city gate, Gerard and Gabrielle following -some distance behind. Pascal laughed and gestured over his shoulder to -Lucette, until coming in sight of the gate he said exultantly-- - -“God be thanked, it’s open, Lucette. We shan’t be husband and wife much -longer, if all goes well.” - -“A thought which seems to give you consummate relief,” she answered. - -“Aye, the responsibilities of a husband weigh heavily on me, good -wife--as heavily, maybe, as the double burden on this good patient -beast. Good morning, monsieur,” he broke off, as a soldier stepped in -the way and held up his hand. But Pascal made no effort to check the -horse, and was passing on with a nod and a smile when the man laid a -hand on the bridle and brought the horse to a stop. - -“What is it, monsieur?” asked Pascal. “Cannot an honest man and his -wife pass on his business?” - -“Yes, monsieur. All those who are known to us can pass. Dismount, if -you please, and come to the officer of the gate.” - -Pascal mumbled something in a discontented tone and then dismounted. - -He gave Lucette one glance with an ominous lift of the eyebrows. She -understood the look--that the check was a very ugly one--but with an -admirably feigned air of extreme vexation, she exclaimed-- - -“How you bungle things, Pascal. To bring me out like this! One might -as well have a wooden head for a husband.” - -“Peace, scold, peace. It is no fault of mine,” he answered crossly. - -And the soldier smiled. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -HUNTED - - -Pascal was agreeably surprised when the officer to whom he was -conducted, a man of some thirty years of age with a frank face, -commenced with a quasi apology. - -“This is not a very pleasant duty of mine, monsieur, but you’ll -understand it is a duty. I am here in place of Captain Boutelle, and -my instructions are not to allow any one to pass the gate who is not -known. But as I know scarcely any one while he knows many, it is rather -a hardship for the citizens. Your name, please?” - -“Pascal Tourelle.” The officer wrote it down, saying the while-- - -“I am sorry I do not recognize you, M. Tourelle. Your occupation?” - -“Merchant--chiefly in steel wares.” - -“You are not of Morvaix; your accent tells me that.” - -“I am of Paris; my master’s affairs have brought me to this district.” - -“Ah, Paris!” exclaimed the officer. “I envy you, monsieur. Married?” - -“My wife rides with me,” said Pascal. - -“Her name?” - -“Lucette.” The officer looked up with a quick smile. - -“Pardon the smile,” he said, “but the name is unusual and recalls -associations for me.” - -“The devil it does! Can she have been flirting here as well!” was -Pascal’s thought, but he looked stolidly at the questioner as he -replied, producing Dauban’s pass-- - -“I can save your time, monsieur, I think. I have a pass.” - -“The date is yesterday’s,” and the officer shook his head. “Did you -mean to start yesterday? I am afraid it is no use to me. But I need -not trouble you further except in one very simple thing. There will be -plenty of citizens who know you, and I will send a man with you to any -one who will identify you. I don’t distrust your word, of course, but I -am compelled to do this work. And the Governor of Morvaix, as you may -have heard, is somewhat exacting. I am really sorry,” he said, rising. -“Perhaps Madame Tourelle will await you here.” - -It was most courteously suggested, but none the less embarrassing on -that account. - -“I think not, monsieur. She has some matters to see to, I believe, -which our earlier departure caused her to put off until our return this -evening, and will no doubt prefer to see to them now while I fetch -a citizen to vouch for me. For the present, monsieur, good morning. -Accept my thanks for your courteous discharge of an unpleasant duty.” - -But the officer was not to be shaken off. - -“I should have been glad to speak with her of Paris. It is some years -since I was there. Ah, Paris!” and he sighed as if in pity for himself. - -“When I return, monsieur, it will give me pleasure to see you again. I -will not trouble you to send a man with me, but will bring back some -one who will satisfy you as to me.” - -“Nay, monsieur, it is no more than a form. I will send a man,” and -while he turned away to give the necessary instructions, Pascal hurried -out to Lucette. - -“Go back to Gerard, and tell him the way is blocked. I’ll find you at -Babillon’s. Go at once, for God’s sake. The officer here pricked up -his ears at your name and may know you.” - -Lucette drew the end of the shawl which wrapped her neck and shoulders -across the lower part of her face as the officer came out and looked -curiously at her. - -“I know him, indeed,” she said. - -“Ah, these flirtings of yours, Lucette!” whispered Pascal, as she -wheeled the horse around. “Yes, in an hour, here,” he added aloud, -“and don’t keep me waiting. It is as I thought, monsieur, my wife will -return to meet me here,” he said lightly, turning to the officer, who -was looking very intently indeed after Lucette. - -“Umph! Curious! A strange resemblance!” The words were muttered in a -low whisper, but not so low as to escape Pascal’s sharp ears, and the -officer gave him a quick suspicious glance. Pascal’s easy indifference -appeared to reassure him, however. “Here’s the man, monsieur,” he said. - -And again Pascal cursed his luck. It was the soldier with whom he had -made friends in going to the Castle the preceding day. But he put his -usual bold face on the matter and with a salutation to the officer went -off, leaving the man to follow him. - -The officer looked after him thoughtfully, re-entered the guard-house, -read over the replies to his question, and pondered them. - -“I must be wrong,” he mused. “But if so no harm can be done in having -her followed. ‘Pascal Tourelle of Paris--and Lucette!’ I’ll send the -names to Boutelle at the Castle too, and be prepared against their -returning--if they do return. No, there might be trouble that I didn’t -detain them. But I’ll have the wife followed.” He gave directions -for this at once, and thus laid a train that was to lead to serious -consequences. - -Meanwhile Pascal was cudgelling his wits how to get rid of his -companion, and felt none too easy under the sharp glances which the -man kept casting at him, as they walked side by side. - -“Did I hear your name was Pascal Tourelle, monsieur?” asked the soldier -suspiciously. - -“I don’t know what you heard, my man, but it is my name. Pascal the -First, that is.” - -“You’ve been a soldier, monsieur, haven’t you? I judge by your bearing.” - -“In the Paris train bands. But one twin was as much as my father could -spare to the army.” - -“Twin?” questioned the man doubtingly. - -“Yes, twin. Pascal the Second,” laughed Pascal. “A good soldier he is -too; and, like a good soldier, with a palate for good wine and an eye -for a pretty face. Lately come to Morvaix. His presence brought me -here. He’s at the Castle.” - -“I know him,” was the reply, with a smile and a nod and a knowing wink. - -“What! You know Pascal the Second!” and he stopped and held out his -hand. “Any comrade of his is my friend, and I can do what he very -frequently can’t, pledge the friendship in a flask of good wine.” - -“You’re wonderfully like him, and to bear the same name is curious -too.” He spoke as if still suspicious. - -“Ah, if you knew the devils of messes he’s got me into in Paris with -this same name which my father’s whim gave us, and this strange -likeness! But come, where shall we have the wine?” - -The soldier soon found a wine shop, and Pascal plied him freely with -liquor, a second flask quickly following the first. When the second was -still half full he rose and said-- - -“We’ve no time to finish it, I fear. We must find M. Grimaud, the -leather merchant, who will vouch for me at the gate.” He coined the -name at a venture. - -“’Tis a pity to leave it,” said the soldier, eyeing the flask -wistfully. “I don’t get such liquor every day.” - -“It’s a good reason for your staying to finish it, while I fetch M. -Grimaud.” - -“You’ll come back?” - -“Nay, if you wish it, I’ll stay,” and he threw himself back on to his -seat with an air of impatience. “Be quick, my good friend.” - -“You’d better go. It’s too good stuff to swallow in gulps,” and the -soldier winked appreciatively, as he emptied his glass leisurely in -sips and re-filled it. - -“Well, we’ll have a third reason in, then. Luck waits on odd numbers,” -and he ordered the third flask, paid the reckoning, and took half a -glassful. - -The “third reason” carried conviction, and when Pascal next rose to -leave, the soldier no longer raised any objection. - -What step to take next was a question of some difficulty. The -experience at the city gate had shown that Pascal could only hope to -leave if some burgher of importance could be found to vouch for him, -and the first thought was to try and find some one who would do this. -But where to go? He could not tell who were for the Castle and who for -Malincourt, and to look for Babillon was pretty much like looking for -a bullet that had missed its mark and buried itself somewhere in the -ground. - -He was standing in the market place gazing about him vaguely and -debating the thing when a stroke of fortune came his way. He caught -sight of Dubois and hurried after him. - -The old soldier was in a gruff mood. - -“These burghers are fools: you know the sort, Pascal. Babblers, -gabblers, brawlers, windbags, with never an ounce of resolution in the -lot,” he said in reply to Pascal’s question as to how he had fared with -them. “A cataract of talk and nothing else.” - -“Well, I want one of them to come and talk now,” and Pascal told him -what had occurred and what was needed. - -“They’ll come and make you a speech, a round hundred of ’em,” said -Dubois, with a gesture of contempt. “But I would not trust to one of -them to act like a sensible man.” - -“But can you find one to identify Gerard and get him away?” - -“No. They’d think I had some underhand plan and waste half the day in -talking about it, and another half in making up their minds and----” - -“Stay, man, don’t take example by them or you’ll split my ear drums -with your growling. Can it be done?” - -“Babillon might do it.” - -“Where is he?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Where are you going?” - -“Anywhere out of the reach of their cackling. They’re going to meet -again at mid-day for some more babble--babble. Why did you all leave -Malincourt?” - -“The Governor surrounded it and made two attempts to get it in the -night.” - -“These wise men say they waited on him after the firing and he assured -them there was to be nothing more done, and that he intended simply to -sit down before the maison and wait for you all to come out. To starve -you out, that meant. He’s recalled all the search parties; you can see -that for yourself.” - -“Well, we’re out now, and want to leave the city.” - -“Where are you to be found?” - -“At Babillon’s house. You know that?” - -“You’d have been safer in the maison. I’ll do this. I’ll try and find -Babillon, and if I succeed in getting some one to vouch for you, will -come to this house. You had better go there and explain things, and -what mouthing numskulls these precious burghers are.” - -“You’d better arrange some place of safety in case we have to leave -Babillon’s and can’t get from the city.” - -“You’ll be safe enough where you are, if what they say is true, that -the Governor thinks you are all still in the maison and means to keep -you there.” - -“You’ll lose no time?” - -“Am I a burgher?” and with this last growl he went away, while Pascal, -with a laugh, hurried to Babillon’s, and reported how matters had gone, -and that there was nothing to do but to wait. - -When a chance offered he spoke to Lucette alone. - -“I have said nothing yet, but I am not quite easy about that officer, -Lucette. He was very curious about--Madame Burgher; do you think he can -have recognized you? Does he know you well?” - -“Is it M. Burgher questioning now?” she asked, with a glance. - -“No. We’ve dropped that; and we’re waiting to see what next. Just now -it’s some one a good deal in earnest.” - -“Yes, he used to know me very well.” - -“Is he another of them?” He could not resist the jest, and she laughed -back with a toss of the head. - -“I don’t of course understand that. I won’t, I mean.” - -“Do you think he can have sent any one after you to make sure you were -Madame Burgher?” - -“Do _you_ think so?” She was serious now. “I don’t know.” - -“How did you get rid of the horses?” - -“M. Gerard did that.” - -“I must speak to him then. A very little slip may have very big results -to-day.” He called Gerard aside and told him his doubts. - -“I took the horses back to where you hired them. I dared not leave them -standing here. I passed a couple of soldiers, but they took no notice -of me; and of course I made sure that no one followed me here.” - -“It may be nothing, but when that soldier gets back and this tale gets -carried to the Castle about the two Pascals and the one Lucette, it may -be something--especially if de Proballe’s cunning ears get wind of it. -I wish you were away.” - -They were very soon to have proof that Pascal’s uneasiness had only too -solid grounds. They waited with much impatience for Dubois’ coming, and -when he came, about an hour after noon, he brought a grave face and -very serious news. - -The city gates had been shut again and the Governor’s troops were once -more searching the city; this time systematically from house to house, -and the efforts of the search parties were being in the first place -concentrated on that part of the city in which Babillon’s house stood. - -“I passed them at their work,” he said, “and only wonder I was not -stopped. You cannot stay here, or you will be trapped.” - -“There is but one course then,” decided Gerard. “We must get back to -Malincourt.” - -“There is a better plan,” said Gabrielle. “Do you go alone, Gerard, -in your monk’s gabardine. He has passed the soldiers, and you will do -so. I will wait for their coming. We know from what Babillon told us -yesterday and what Captain Dubois has heard from the burghers, that no -harm can come to me. Please.” - -“No,” answered Gerard firmly. “One thing I will not do. I will not -leave you within that madman’s reach.” - -“But it is you he seeks. Would it not be safer, Captain Dubois, for him -to go alone? And you, M. Pascal, what say you?” - -“It would be safer,” agreed the captain. - -“Dubois!” exclaimed Gerard. - -“I speak but my opinion, my lord. I should take miladi’s advice. I will -answer for her safety.” - -“I cannot consent.” - -“It will be too late to do anything if we dally in talking,” said -Dubois. - -“We will go together, but I will change my burgher’s dress for a -monk’s,” and he hurried from the room. - -“I am only a monk outwardly, and it may be well to have an officer -among the party,” said Dubois, slipping off his gabardine and revealing -his uniform under it. - -“It’s too late,” said Pascal, who was at the window as Gerard -re-entered. “The soldiers are already in the street. The chance is -gone.” - -Gerard looked very grave and Dubois smothered an oath in his moustache. - -“We are going to pay a heavy price for our mistake in leaving -Malincourt,” exclaimed Gerard. “Still, we can but make the attempt. -Come, Gabrielle.” - -“Monsieur, may I suggest?” put in Lucette hurriedly. “There is a -chance that these searchers may not know Gabrielle. Let M. Pascal and -me remain here to wait for them, playing your parts, while you hide -somewhere in the house. When they find us, they may be satisfied to -search no further than this room, and you will be free to leave when -they have gone. If M. Pascal will?” - -“It is well suggested,” declared Pascal. “If they will not know you, -mademoiselle,” he added, with a quizzing glance. - -“I do not know all the officers, monsieur,” she retorted. - -Gerard and Gabrielle both protested against the plan on the ground of -its danger to Lucette; but this was overborne, and the two were left -alone, while Gerard, Gabrielle and Dubois went with Madame Babillon to -an upper part of the house. - -“Rather reversing the due order, this, Lucette,” said Pascal lightly. - -“Due order?” - -“Man and wife an hour or two back, and now we’re only betrothed, you -see.” - -“M. Pascal!” she cried, laughing and blushing. - -“By your leave, not Pascal, but Gerard--Gabrielle.” - -“I wonder what we ought to be doing when they come. I fear my heart is -beating rather wildly.” - -“Fitting its beats to the occasion, that’s all. As to what we should -do, can’t you find a suggestion out of your experience?” - -“Cannot you?” - -“I think we ought to be making love--Gabrielle. That’s what Gerard -would be doing, I expect.” - -“We’re doing one thing that’s right, at any rate. We’re talking -nonsense--Gerard.” - -“Well, I think we ought to play our parts thoroughly.” - -“Do you treat everything as a jest?” - -“Not when I’m Gerard to your Gabrielle. It’s a part I could play in -real earnest.” - -“I think Gerard is an extremely ridiculous person.” - -“And I think Gabrielle a very charming--coquette.” - -“I wish they would come, and get it over. I’m a sad coward, and am -getting more frightened every minute.” - -“Ah, you’re anxious to break the engagement. You’ll break your Gerard’s -heart.” He was listening intently for the coming of the soldiers, and -jested merely that he might distract her thoughts and keep up her -spirits. “It will be awkward, by the way, if the officer in charge -happens to be--another of them.” - -“You seem to think the list a long one,” she retorted with a shrug. - -“Let me see. To begin with”--and he made as if to tell them off on his -fingers. - -“Never mind, thank you. I can count for myself.” - -“Your eyes make me almost wish I could count myself,” he laughed. - -“If my eyes were speaking my thoughts----” - -“Well?” he asked, for she stopped. - -“They would be asking how many hands would be needed to count--my -Gerard’s.” - -“Oh, my hands have long been full. Wait. I hear them,” he broke off, in -the midst of a laugh. “You had better be in my arms and, when the door -opens, break away and utter my name--I mean Gerard; and then act as -though it was what it will be--a mistake.” - -The tramp of men entering the house was heard, and he put his arm round -her. - -“Look sad,” he whispered hurriedly. “For God’s sake, don’t smile like -that.” - -“Oughtn’t I to like to have your arm round me? You are very clumsy -about it, you know--Gerard. One might think you had had no practice.” - -“You seem to know how things should be done,” he laughed. - -“My heart is beating like a wild thing.” - -At this moment a heavy hand was thrust against the door, which was -flung open, and the soldiers entered. - -“Gerard!” cried Lucette, “look, look, the soldiers,” and then staring -wildly at the men, she clapped her hand to her lips and with a cry of -fear fell into a seat. - -“Courage, Gabrielle, it is nothing,” he whispered, in a tone loud -enough to be heard, and bent for a moment over her as if in deep -concern. Then he turned to the men. “What does this mean?” he demanded -angrily. With intense satisfaction he recognized two of his own men -among the five who were in charge of a sergeant, and he shot at them a -warning look. - -“It means that we’re in luck, monsieur, I think. You must come with us.” - -“Come with you? Why? Cannot an honest merchant be about his business -without you soldiers hunting him?” - -“Your name, monsieur.” - -“Tourelle. Leave me in peace.” - -“Christian name, please?” - -“Pascal. You are an insolent fellow.” - -“And mademoiselle’s name?” - -“It is no concern of yours.” - -“I heard it, monsieur, and yours too. Gerard the one and Gabrielle the -other. That is enough for me. You must come with me.” - -“I will not. Don’t you dare to lay a finger on me,” and he made as if -to offer a resistance. - -“You can explain to those at the Castle, monsieur. I can only obey -orders.” - -“You touch me at your peril. I am an honest burgher.” - -“It’s no use, monsieur. You can see that,” and at a sign from him two -of the men stepped forward. - -“You shall pay dearly for this outrage, and if I had a weapon----” - -“Ah, but you haven’t,” was the blunt reply; and the two soldiers laid -their hands on him. - -“And you also, mademoiselle, please.” - -The little comedy was well acted to the end, and Pascal, full of -protests, and Lucette in tears, were led away; the sergeant unable to -repress a smile of intense satisfaction at the capture. - -They had not been gone long before the others came back to the room. - -“The ruse has answered, then,” said Gerard. - -“How brave of Lucette,” exclaimed Gabrielle. “I trust no harm will come -to her for this.” - -“It cannot. It is but a few hours now before we shall be in command of -the town and the Castle itself. And those hours will be consumed by -this search. Can we go, Dubois?” - -“I should wait a while.” - -“I am in a fever to reach Malincourt,” replied Gerard anxiously. - -“I should not counsel our going so far. Could you not find shelter in -some house already searched? Indeed, why not remain here?” - -“I could find shelter anywhere in Morvaix,” declared Gabrielle. - -“Then think of some place, mademoiselle. They have been working from -east to west, so that all east of this is safe. There were two of our -men in the party just now,” said Dubois, turning to Gerard. “They must -be using them to make up the number necessary.” - -“Good. I decide for Malincourt and should like an escort of them to -take us there,” he answered, and then asked again whether they could -start. - -Dubois went to the window. - -“A thousand hells!” he exclaimed. “They are coming back here. They must -have found out the mistake. Quick, my lord, to your hiding place again! -No, no, by Heaven! what fortune. Four out of five of the men are ours. -I see a way. Hide, but close at hand.” - -He threw himself into a chair while Gerard and Gabrielle left the room. - -The soldiers came hurrying in. - -“Well, what is it?” he asked coolly. - -“Who are you?” - -“I think that’s a question I should put to you.” - -“I am the officer in charge of the search party. We are looking for the -escaped prisoners, and my sergeant has just been fooled in this house. -Now, monsieur, who are you? And do you know of this?” - -“I am Captain Dubois, comrade of Captain Bassot, in charge of the -recently arrived troops. These are some of my men, I see.” - -The men saluted. - -“Do you know anything of this trick?” - -“Monsieur!” exclaimed Dubois angrily. “Of what do you accuse me?” - -“I make no accusation, captain. But I have to search the house.” - -“Well, send your men to search it,” and Dubois got up and stood by the -door, thus barring the way out of the house. If the officer sent the -Bourbon men they would find nothing, he knew; if he went himself, he -would find more than he would be allowed to take away. - -The officer hesitated a moment and then decided-- - -“I’ll search for myself and trust my own eyes this time.” - -“It’s all one to me,” answered Dubois with a shrug. - -Three men were called on to accompany the officer, and all four were -leaving the room, when Gerard, who had heard what had passed, met him -at the door. - -“Ah!” was the officer’s significant exclamation at sight of him, “as I -thought,” and he turned with a smile of triumph to Dubois. - -But the smile died away instantly. - -Dubois was standing before the door with his drawn sword in his hand. - -It was he who smiled now, and a grim, significant, dangerous smile it -was. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -A RISING AND ITS SEQUEL - - -The officer stared with growing anger, first at Dubois, then back at -Gerard, and lastly at the four of his men who had moved away and left -him and the one Castle soldier alone in the middle of the room. - -“Is this mutiny?” he cried furiously, drawing his sword. - -“I’ll answer that,” said Dubois. “It would be a mutiny if they were to -turn against their own officer. And they will not. This is my doing, -and the responsibility is mine. I will not let you take your prisoners -away.” - -“We’ll see to that. Jean, if that man does not stand from the door, -you will fire at him.” The musket was levelled. “Now, monsieur, if you -please, stand from the door,” he cried sternly. - -But the musket was not fired. Gerard stepped swiftly behind the man, -seized his weapon and dragged it from him. - -“We can have no firing here,” he said quietly. - -“You will resist capture at your peril;” and the officer turned on him. - -“I am quite prepared for that, captain,” interposed Dubois; “but it is -you who are in peril, not we. You will give me your sword.” - -The officer appealed almost fiercely to the four men. - -“Do you mean to stand by and witness this? You will pay for it if you -do with your lives.” - -“My soldiers are not trained to man-hunting, monsieur,” said Dubois. -“Come, we have wasted enough time. Will you surrender to us?” - -The answer was a swift rush and an attack, which Dubois parried with -the coolness of a wary and practised fencer. The four soldiers looked -on stolidly, and the one who had been disarmed watched the duel with -the staring gaze of bewilderment and alarm. - -It lasted but a minute or two, when Dubois, forcing the fight with -irresistible vigour, drove his antagonist back till, stepping on the -fallen musket, he tripped and fell, and his sword went clattering out -of his hand over the boards. - -Dubois picked it up, and sheathed his own weapon. At that moment the -Castle soldier made a dash for the door to escape, only to be stopped -by two of the Bourbon men. - -“You should not have driven me to this, monsieur,” said Dubois in a -tone of quiet authority. The officer had risen and stood with folded -arms, his face flushed with anger and his brow sullen with the chagrin -and humiliation of his ignominious failure. “You must accompany me. No -harm will come to you if you obey. But we are resolute men, and our -lives may be at stake.” He signed to his own soldiers to bring the -prisoner along, and all left the room. - -“What is he going to do, Gerard?” asked Gabrielle. “How terrible he -looked in that fight.” - -“He’s a strenuous antagonist to face at such a time; but he meant only -to disarm the other. He could have killed him half a dozen times had he -been so minded. He has done splendidly.” - -“But what next? We cannot stay here now.” - -“No, indeed, for we shall have more of the Castle men here soon to -learn the cause of the delay.” - -“What can have happened to Lucette? Dear, brave Lucette.” - -“We are fast nearing the end of our troubles, Gabrielle. D’Alembert -should be up by nightfall at latest if all has gone well with our -couriers, and we ought to be in Malincourt within an hour, where we can -wait for him in safety.” - -Dubois and the four soldiers returned then, Dubois dressed in the -uniform of a Castle man; and Gabrielle could not restrain a little cry -of astonishment at recognizing him, while Gerard smiled as he divined -his intention. - -“My plan is, my lord, that we use our men and play the guard to escort -you and mademoiselle as prisoners through the streets. We have secured -the captain and his man, so that they can give us no trouble.” - -“And a good plan it is, Dubois,” agreed Gerard. “We are well through an -ugly business, thanks to you. The sooner we start the better.” - -It was about two hours after noon when they left Babillon’s house; but -while they had been sheltered there events had occurred which had set -the whole of the little city in a ferment. - -The first cause had been slight: a very trifle; no more than the young -lieutenant’s curiosity at Lucette’s name at the attempt to pass the -gate. He had, in the first place, sent men to follow her; and although -she had reached Gerard and Gabrielle and got well away undiscovered, -the pursuit had been far from fruitless. Two of the men loitering about -had seen Gerard when he returned with the horses. - -They were making their report of this when the soldier whom Pascal had -tricked returned without him, and in a semi-intoxicated muddle had told -the story of two Pascals. Alarmed by this, the lieutenant had sent at -once to the Castle, with the result that instant and most vigorous -measures were taken to trace the fugitives. The fact that the horses -had been obtained at no great distance from Babillon’s house caused -that district to be searched first, while large numbers of patrol -parties were sent through the city. - -This step roused the citizens again, and despite Dubois’ opinion as -to the indecision of the burgher leaders, they had resolved to take -active measures; while the bulk of the citizens, inflamed by their -long-standing wrongs, were quickly on fire when the soldiers turned out -and the news spread that they were hunting for Gabrielle. - -All the elements for a collision were thus present, and the streets -were thronged with the people, who eyed the soldiers with lowering -looks of deadly hate, and needed but a little provocation to drive them -to open and violent revolt. - -And that provocation the Governor himself afforded at the very time -when Gerard and his little party were endeavouring to escort Gabrielle -to Malincourt. - -The Governor, hearing of the danger of trouble in the city, hurried -from the Castle with the intention of conferring with the chief -burghers and renewing the assurances already given that no harm -threatened Gabrielle; and he chanced to reach the market place just -when the crowd was in its most dangerous temper. - -In the centre of the market place the officers who were conducting the -search had taken up a position, guarded by a number of troops, and to -them all the prisoners captured by the patrols and search parties were -brought for purposes of identification. The crowd, constantly swelling -in numbers, watched the proceedings with intense indignation. Jeers -and groans greeted the arrival of every prisoner, and loud flouting -laughter went up whenever a prisoner was identified and released, -accompanied by threatening murmurs of discontent and anger. - -At length stones began to be thrown, and when one struck the officer in -command in the face the crowd raised a wild shout of delight. Smarting -under the blow, he ordered the crowd to be charged. Several were -wounded, and the sight so enraged the rest that volleys of stones came -from other directions just as the Governor rode up. - -His first command was for the market place to be cleared. This was -done, for the crowd broke and fled before the weapons of the troops; -and a great number of the citizens were caught, stones in hand, and -brought back to the Governor. His temper was up now, and threatening -them with heavy punishment, he ordered the whole of them to be marched -to the Castle by the troops. - -The fear of a rescue necessitated the escort being very heavy, and this -step left the troops round him comparatively weak in numbers. When the -crowd began to return, some one was quick to perceive this weakness, -and called on the rest, who came surging back in great strength. A very -ugly rush followed almost immediately, which the troops found great -difficulty in resisting, as the crowd had now armed themselves with -staves and bars and such crude weapons as they had been able to snatch -up in the hurry. Some very hot fighting ensued, in which fierce blows -were given and taken on both sides, and the soldiers seemed likely to -be overpowered. - -It was at this juncture, just as messengers had been sent to bring up -more troops, that Gerard’s little party reached the market place close -to the point near the statue, where the Governor stood watching the -fray with very anxious eyes as he saw his soldiers being beaten down -one by one. The crowd seemed to grow in numbers and fierceness every -moment, until after a last desperate rush the soldiers turned and -scattered in all directions to be hustled, struck down and lost in the -surging mass of the people, whose leaders had possessed themselves of -the soldiers’ weapons, and now threatened the Governor himself and the -handful of men who were clustered round him. - -“Long live Malincourt! Long live Malincourt! Down with the Tyrant! -Remember our wrongs!” were the cries in hundreds of strenuous voices on -all sides; and after a hot exchange of words between the leaders and -the Governor, one of those near him was struck, and the blow was the -signal for an attack on the rest, who were beaten back helpless against -the resistless anger of the populace. It appeared certain that the next -moment would see the Governor himself in the hands of the crowd, whose -passions, nurtured on their long endured wrongs and whetted now by -their victory, were roused to such a pitch of fury that they would have -torn him to pieces. - -The Governor, now fear-filled and terror-cowed, stood shrinking against -the statue from the sea of angry menacing faces which glared round him -when Gerard, who had forced his way through the throng, sprang between -the cowering figure and the mob, and with uplifted hand cried in a -commanding voice that rose above the din-- - -“Mademoiselle de Malincourt is safe. She is here.” - -He pointed to where, on the fringe of the crowd, Gabrielle stood with -Dubois; and for a moment there was a lull in the storm as the crowd -craned their necks for a glimpse of her. - -But the sense of wrong, the thirst for vengeance, the hate of the -Tyrant and the sight of him now almost within touch of the hands -outstretched to seize him, soon re-kindled the flame, and the clamour -broke out again, and now was directed also against this daring monk who -stood between them and their prey. - -“Down with the monk! Death to the Tyrant!” - -The cry began near at hand, and was caught up by those round until it -swelled into a loud roar, vehement, menacing and perilous. - -“Save me, save me,” said the Governor, cowering now between the -statue and Gerard, who, undaunted by the angry faces and clenched and -threatening hands, faced the mob, and again sent his voice ringing like -a clarion among them. - -“Peace! Are ye men that would do this violence? Miladi of Malincourt is -safe.” - -Once more his commanding presence and fearless calm stilled them for a -pause; and before the storm could break out again a strange change came. - -Gabrielle had seen Gerard’s peril, and believing that he would be the -next victim of the mob, had made herself known to the people around -her, who broke out into shouts of joy, and amid a storm of cries and -cheers she passed through the ranks, mounted the steps of the statue -and took her stand by Gerard’s side. - -A thunder of cheers greeted her appearance, and the air was rent with -cries of “Long live Malincourt!” - -But the danger was not over yet, for when the Governor, gathering some -courage from the changed temper of the mob, showed himself for a moment -at Gabrielle’s side, the cheers changed with ominous suddenness to -shouts and execrations and groans in the same deafening clamour. - -“For God’s sake, save me from them,” he said, shrinking again behind -Gerard. “They will tear me to pieces.” - -“May we promise them an end to their sufferings?” asked Gabrielle. - -“Yes, yes, anything. I will do anything. My God, anything!” - -“Down with the Tyrant. Give him to us. Death to the Tiger of Morvaix!” -came the cries, with even fiercer vehemence. - -Again Gerard stood with uplifted hand. - -“Peace!” he called. “Miladi of Malincourt will speak to you.” - -At this the cheers came again as Gabrielle, with heightened colour, -waited for silence. - -“I beg you listen to me. I bring you peace, and in the name of the -Governor I promise you an end to your wrongs and sufferings.” - -The cheers rang out again, and as they died down some voices called: -“We are starving. What of the tax on our food?” - -“It shall be repealed,” said the Governor. - -“The Governor pledges his word it shall be repealed,” cried Gabrielle. -A deafening storm of wild joyous shouts burst out with mighty cries of -“God bless Malincourt! Long live Miladi of Malincourt!” - -“Will he keep his promise?” cried a stentorian voice. - -“I pledge my honour.” - -Gerard repeated this in his ringing tone. - -“The Governor pledges his honour as a noble of France to repeal the -tax--a pledge no man dare break.” - -“You have saved my life, mademoiselle, you and this monk,” said the -Governor, not recognizing Gerard, who had kept his face carefully -averted, and now drew his cowl closer. - -“We have saved the people,” answered Gabrielle, whose eyes were shining -with the excitement of the scene. - -“Get me away if you can,” said the Governor next. “Oh, thank God, thank -God, at last!” he cried with a sudden change of tone, as a volley of -musketry was heard, and a large body of mounted troops dashed through -the crowd and mustered in force round the statue, on the base of which -the three stood. - -With the troops round him, the Governor’s courage returned, and as his -fears vanished his true nature reasserted itself. He scowled at the -crowd. - -“Charge them, charge them, the canaille!” he cried passionately. “Cut -them down, the dogs. To threaten me! Give them the steel!” - -“My lord, is this keeping your pledge?” asked Gerard indignantly. - -“You did well, sir monk, you saved my life, and shall have fitting -reward; but this is my business.” - -“You pledged your honour as a noble of France, my lord Duke,” protested -Gerard. - -At this moment de Proballe broke through the troops and came hurrying -to the Governor. - -“You are not hurt, my lord, I trust,” he cried. - -“It is not your fault that I was not torn to pieces by the mob. But for -mademoiselle, your niece, and this good monk, who stopped the mob in -the moment of frenzy, I should have been.” - -“My God!” exclaimed de Proballe, recognizing Gerard. “Do you know who -that monk is? The villain de Cobalt!” - -The Governor, who stood close to Gerard, stepped back hastily, as if in -fear of some treachery, and when at a safe distance scowled at him with -eyes of hate. - -“It is well,” he said between his teeth. “I promised you a fitting -reward. You shall have it.” He smiled, and turning to the soldiers near -him, he ordered: “Arrest him.” - -“You will not do this, my lord. You cannot be so cowardly,” cried -Gabrielle, putting herself before Gerard. But this act only served to -infuriate him. - -“Arrest him, I say,” he repeated. “It is I rule here, mademoiselle, not -you. You shall not protect him and cannot save him from the fate he -merits. You have done enough ill for the people already.” - -“This injustice shall not be done,” declared Gabrielle indignantly. - -“You will answer for this to me, my lord Duke, as the son of your -Suzerain,” said Gerard, stepping forward. - -“Yes. I will answer to you and for you; and answer now, in this way.” - -He signed to the soldiers, who then laid hands on Gerard. - -“I will appeal to the people,” cried Gabrielle vehemently. - -“There shall be substance for your appeal, too,” he replied. He was -like a man beside himself with passion. “He shall not escape me again. -Have a space cleared there,” he thundered to his men. “Bring up a file -of men. This man is a spy and the ringleader of all the tumults to-day. -He is condemned to death, and shall die now.” - -Even his officers stood aghast at this. - -“I demand, at least, the appearance of a trial,” said Gerard calmly. - -“You have been tried already. I know your crimes, and have tried and -condemned you. Do as I say,” he thundered to the officers, “or by the -God of Heaven I shall know how to deal with those who mutiny against -me.” - -“I am the son of the Duke of Bourbon, and in his name I command you to -disregard the Governor’s order,” said Gerard in a loud, firm tone. - -“It is a lie, a lie. Disobey me at your peril.” - -Two of the officers approached and were venturing upon a remonstrance, -when the Governor, mad with his rage, struck one of them a violent blow -on the face and himself called up a file of the soldiers. - -“Bring that villain here,” he said to the men who held Gerard. They -were too frightened to disobey him. - -Gabrielle watched with bated breath, and was springing forward to again -interfere when de Proballe put himself in her way. - -“My lord, my lord,” she cried in an agony of distress and fear. “I urge -you, I beg you not to do this thing.” - -But the Governor was deaf to her entreaty, and having drawn up the file -of men, stood by them, and himself gave the command in a voice thick -with rage. - -Gerard faced the men without a tremor. - -“There will be a heavy reckoning for all concerned in this,” he said; -and his voice was as calm and steady as before. - -The Governor’s command rang out stern and sharp, and the guns went up -to the men’s shoulders. - -Then, with a scream, Gabrielle tore herself from de Proballe, and -snatching a sword from an officer as she passed, rushed in front of -Gerard and held it to her heart. - -“If he dies, I will plunge this to my heart, and my blood, with his, -shall cry for vengeance upon you.” - -The Governor listened, his angry eyes fixed on Gabrielle. - -“And if he lives?” - -“I will do all you have asked.” - -“No,” cried Gerard loudly. “I will not take my life on such a -condition.” - -A moment’s pause of acute suspense followed. Then the Governor nodded -and said curtly-- - -“It is enough. You have saved his life, mademoiselle. He shall go free. -But first take him to the Castle.” - -And in a few minutes the troops were on their way to the Castle, with -Gerard in their midst, once more a prisoner. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -IN THE HALL OF AUDIENCE - - -Some three or four hours after the rioting in the market place, Pascal -and Lucette, who had been hurried to the Castle from Babillon’s house, -were led to the Great Hall of Audience and placed in the midst of the -large crowd of townsfolk who had been taken prisoners by the troops. - -They were all herded together in a space about mid-way down the -southern side of the Great Hall, in a space set apart by strong -barriers and guarded by a ring of soldiers. Two other companies of -soldiers were present, each about fifty in number, and they were drawn -up one on each side of the daïs at the eastern end, where stood the -Governor’s seat of audience and judgment. - -Nearly all the prisoners had been injured in the conflict, and carried -some grim evidences of the strife. Those whose wounds were serious wore -such blood-stained bandages, dressings and slings as they had been able -to improvise; but for the most part the wounds were undressed, and the -men appeared just as they had been taken, with hair and faces grimed -with blood and dirt, and clothes torn and jagged by the soldiers’ -weapons, making a gruesome sight, which moved Lucette alternately to -shrinking repulsion and tender pity. - -“There must have been terrible fighting,” she said to Pascal, for they -knew nothing of what had passed, and had been told merely that they -were to be tried immediately, with the rest of the prisoners, for -their share in the day’s work. “I wonder what has happened.” - -“We can find that out; I will question some of the men,” he replied. -“But I would rather know what is going to happen.” - -“I am afraid we shall find that out too quite as quickly as we wish;” -and Lucette glanced nervously about her at the men who were guarding -the prisoners. She gave a little shiver of fear as her eyes fell on -the Governor’s seat, and speculated anxiously what the ceremonious -and somewhat terrifying preparations boded to them all. From that -her gaze passed to the soldiers gathered about the daïs, whom she -scrutinized closely; and just as Pascal returned from questioning their -fellow-prisoners, she uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure. - -“Monsieur Pascal,” she whispered eagerly, “there is Captain Dubois.” - -“Dubois? Where?” - -“There, among the soldiers on the right of the Governor’s seat: -thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth--yes, fifteenth in the second row, -counting from the daïs to the right. I am sure it’s he. Do you see him?” - -“See him? I see more than him. Every man in the ranks there is ours, -and Bassot himself is in command. We shall see something before we are -many hours older, or I am no Bourbon.” - -“Where can Gabrielle be? And M. Gerard?” - -“So far as I gather, he is a prisoner; but the men here know little. -There has been a riot in the market place; and these are some of the -rioters. They have been told only that they are to be tried now.” - -“Then they cannot have reached Malincourt. Oh, I wonder what they will -do to us,” cried Lucette. - -“I know how I would punish you were I the judge.” - -“I would trust you,” she smiled. - -“You wouldn’t like the punishment any more than I like the results -of your act.” His tone was half earnest half jest; and she looked up -puzzled. - -“What is my crime?” - -“You have given us splendid help in many ways; but I’m sadly out if our -last mischances are not to be traced to that habit of yours--of making -fools of us men.” - -“_Sadly_ out! I’m sadly out if you did not say that with a rare spice -of relish. Sadly, indeed! Is this one of M. Burgher’s curtain lectures?” - -“If you were still Madame Burgher, it might be,” he laughed. - -“But I’ve gone back to Lucette, thank you, monsieur.” - -“Aye, the Lucette whom the officer at the gate recognized.” - -She understood him then. “You don’t think----?” she said eagerly. - -“What I don’t think is not of much account. But I do think that any -man who has once been under fire from your dark eyes would not readily -forget them. He had not forgotten them, and they set him thinking too.” - -“Oh, how cruel you are! To blame me in this way.” - -“Blame you? It is the fortune of things. But if you think there’s -a lesson in the thing, that good fellow of yours, Denys St. Jean, -mightn’t be sorry if you learnt it. A thing of that sort is pretty much -like a forest fire: you can start it easily, but you never know what -may be burnt or how far it may spread before it’s put out.” - -“I ought to be grateful to you for first frightening and then lecturing -me at a time like this,” cried Lucette angrily. - -“My punishment to you would be to sentence you to stop it for the -future. That’s all. And now I’ve said my say,” he answered; and then, -with a reassuring laugh, added: “As for this, it will be nothing. Have -no fear. We may have a farce of a trial and a sentence after this -Tiger’s manner; but before he can do anything, the tables will be -turned on him, and he is not unlikely to find himself where we are. -Have no fear, and don’t be surprised at anything that happens.” - -Lucette was silent for a while, her manner a mixture of vexation and -regret. - -“Shall I say I have learnt my lesson, monsieur?” she asked with a look -half mocking, half serious. “Your words have hurt me.” - -“I fear you’ve but a poor memory for lessons, Lucette.” - -“Ah, you are unendurable! I don’t like this lecturer’s mood of yours.” - -“Then it’s fortunate I don’t wear it often. You are too brave and true -a girl at heart, Lucette,” he said earnestly, “not to make your good -will worth having for any man. And now I’ll be serious no more.” - -But Lucette looked serious then, and twice turned to him as if to say -something; although in the end she shrugged her shoulders and remained -silent. - -“Something is going to happen now,” said Pascal after a minute, as a -number of the Governor’s suite entered and ranged themselves near the -daïs. Both were watching them when Lucette cried suddenly-- - -“There is Gabrielle. Oh, how sad and pale she looks!” - -“She takes it all very seriously,” replied Pascal; and pushing through -the prisoners, he forced a way for Lucette and himself to the front. -Gabrielle saw, and hurried to speak to them, when one of the guards -stopped her. - -“You cannot speak to the prisoners, mademoiselle,” he said. - -“Nonsense, fellow,” exclaimed Pascal angrily. - -“Silence, prisoner.” - -[Illustration: GERARD BORE HIMSELF WITH GREAT DIGNITY] - -“Not at your command, I promise you;” but Gabrielle making a hasty -gesture to them, fell back, and at the moment there came a blast of -trumpets heralding the approach, as they thought, of the Governor. - -But to their amazement, it was Gerard, dressed in Bourbon uniform and -preceded by two courtiers, who backed before him, bowing deeply as if -in profound respect. One of them was d’Estelle, whose sallow sardonic -face wore a smile of mockery; and as they entered, a herald called in -loud tones-- - -“Place, there, place, for the most noble Lord Gerard de Bourbon.” - -At the announcement the men about the Governor’s seat made a profound -obeisance, and formed a lane to the steps leading to the daïs. - -Gabrielle trembled, and showed such agitation and pain that Lucette was -full of concern for her, while Pascal smiled and muttered to himself: -“In the name of the devil, what can this mean?” - -Gerard bore himself with great dignity, though understanding the thing -little better than Pascal. He saw the smiles of derision which the -Governor’s favourites exchanged one with another, but paid no heed to -them, and acted as though the scene were no mockery, but earnest. - -He was bowed to the Governor’s chair, and as he took his seat the -Bourbon colours were suddenly unfurled, one on either side. - -“His Grace the Duke de Rochelle entreats your lordship to be seated -here, and will wait upon you to make his homage to your lordship as -the representative of the illustrious Duke de Bourbon, the gracious -Suzerain of Morvaix.” It was d’Estelle who said this, and his cynical -smile was answered by the sneers of every courtier near. - -“I shall be glad to receive his homage,” said Gerard as he stood by -the Great Seat and looked about him. In his surprise he had not noticed -Gabrielle when entering; but in a moment he saw her and went to her. - -“What can this mockery portend, Gerard?” she asked nervously. - -“Nay, I know not. The Governor seeks to amuse himself, I gather; but I -care not so long as he does but waste enough time over it.” - -“It has some sinister meaning.” - -“So he will find, if he will but mock long enough,” he answered drily. -“Meanwhile, we will play up to him in a way he will find little to his -liking. Come. I will have a seat placed for you by my side.” - -“No, no. Let us not anger him further,” she said, shrinking. “It is not -prudent.” - -“His anger is nothing to us. In an hour or two at most he will be on -his knees to us, in no mocking mood, I promise you. Come;” and he took -her hand, and leading her to the daïs he ordered d’Estelle to place a -chair for her by him. - -“I have no commands of the kind, most noble lord,” he sneered. - -“I command here now. Do as I bid you,” answered Gerard sternly; and -after a second’s hesitation it was done. - -The moment after Gabrielle had taken her seat the soldier next Dubois -let his musket drop, and at the clanging noise Gerard looked round and -saw Dubois. It was a device to attract his attention to the fact that -the whole of Bassot’s company were present. - -Dubois, with a meaning glance, looked across to the prisoners, and -Gerard, following the direction of his eyes, saw Pascal and Lucette. -His face maintained its grave set expression; but his eyes were full of -meaning as he met Pascal’s and glanced first at the prisoners and then -at the men guarding them. - -“We are well prepared, indeed, Gabrielle,” he whispered to her. -“Dubois has conceived a plan daring even for him. Pascal is among the -prisoners.” - -“I have seen him, and Lucette too; but they would not let me speak to -her.” - -“It needs no speech. He understands. He will lead the prisoners when -the moment comes, and they will overpower the men in charge of them.” - -“But the soldiers here.” - -“Are Bourbons to a man and Dubois is among them--eating out his heart, -I will wager, for the moment when he can strike. Ah! here comes the -Governor.” - -“I have seen the Duchess, Gerard, and she is coming hither,” whispered -Gabrielle quickly. - -“Good; it will all help to waste time.” - -The Governor, with de Proballe and others in attendance, entered then, -and he gave a start of anger at seeing Gabrielle by Gerard’s side. He -suppressed it quickly, however, and made his way with an affectation -of respect toward Gerard. De Proballe, save for an occasional smirk, -was preternaturally grave as he followed close to the Governor, bowing -at every step with a grotesque, exaggerated obsequiousness that drew -smiles from all. - -Not an act or gesture of all this escaped Gerard, who saw through the -childish contemptible burlesque by which it was designed to insult and -humiliate him; but he continued to act precisely as he would have acted -had the ceremony been genuine. He remained seated while the Governor -approached the daïs and said, with a last low bow-- - -“I desire to offer my most humble greetings to my lord Gerard de -Bourbon, and to bid you welcome to Morvaix.” - -“Your recognition of my right and rank as the son of Morvaix’ Suzerain -comes somewhat late, my lord Duke, and my previous reception at your -hands was but an indifferent preface to this more fitting sequel. That -preface yet remains to be explained.” - -“I had not then convinced myself that you were indeed Great Bourbon’s -son.” - -“You are, then, now convinced?” - -“Should I be here and you where you sit were it not so, most noble -lord?” - -“What, then, has convinced you? Your answer does not satisfy me.” - -“That is a matter to be more conveniently discussed between us in -private. All is well with our illustrious Suzerain?” - -“My purpose in Morvaix is not concerned with the passing of mere idle -compliments, and I bear no other greeting to your lordship than that -you have already received and destroyed--an act you may now be anxious -to explain.” - -“Your noble lordship’s--condescension amazes me,” said the Governor, -with a pause before the word, easy for all to understand. “You speak of -a purpose. Will you be good enough to explain it?” - -“I am indeed glad to do so to all present,” answered Gerard readily, -rising. He welcomed the chance of letting the prisoners hear it. “My -father, the Duke de Bourbon, the Suzerain of Morvaix, had heard ill -reports of your government here: that your rule was harsh; that the -people were oppressed by your soldiers; that justice was denied to the -citizens, who were crushed and ruined by the imposition of iniquitous -taxation; and further, that many dark and evil practices prevailed. -He has sent me here, therefore, bearing full powers to inquire into -the methods of your government and to redress the grievances of the -suffering people.” - -The Governor and those round him sneered and laughed; but the prisoners -listened intently to every word, and not understanding that the scene -was no more than burlesque, one of them cried in a loud voice-- - -“God save your lordship! Long live Bourbon!” and the cry was caught up -by the whole body of prisoners and of Bourbon troops swelling into loud -shouts, which, for the moment, the guards tried in vain to silence. - -The Governor paled with anger. - -“Your lordship knows how to appeal to the passions of such canaille,” -he said, when silence had been partly restored. - -“The passions have first been provoked by your misrule, my lord Duke,” -answered Gerard in his stern ringing tone, to the delight of every one -of the prisoners, who believed that justice was indeed at last to be -meted out to the ruler they detested. Gerard observed the change in -them, and saw, with intense satisfaction, that their mood was now such -as would make them ready helpers in the scene to follow. “Who are these -prisoners?” he asked the Governor. - -“Their presence here is in accord with half my present purpose, most -noble lord. I have deemed it best that they should be tried before -you, illustrious Bourbon’s son, that you should know their crimes and -yourself decree their punishment, you being, as I know you to be, the -essence of justice and purity itself.” - -At this de Proballe laughed audibly; and the sneer passed round the -courtiers. It was he who had suggested to the Governor this mocking -masquerade and the burlesque treatment of Gerard, and the irony of the -scene delighted him. - -But Gerard gave not a sign that he even saw the sneer. - -“It was well arranged, my lord,” he said gravely. “And the other part -in your purpose?” - -“Is a personal affair, personal to the lady at your side and myself.” -His look conveyed his meaning, and Gabrielle flinched. - -“I think I know your meaning,” answered Gerard with unmoved composure, -“and shall be glad to assist in furthering such a matter. But first, -the prisoners. What is the charge and the evidence?” - -De Proballe stepped forward here. - -“Most noble and puissant lord Gerard of Bourbon,” he began with an -insolent air, when Gerard interrupted him. - -“Stay,” he said, with an imperious gesture. “I will not hear the Baron -de Proballe. I know him to be incapable of telling the truth.” - -De Proballe fell back at this insult, and in a voice vibrating with -passion exclaimed-- - -“Will your lordship endure this insolence longer?” - -But the Governor was rarely troubled when any one other than himself -was humiliated. He was now, in truth, rather inclined to rejoice at de -Proballe’s discomfiture, and replied with more than a dash of contempt-- - -“We must not forget, monsieur, that the lord Gerard comes from -Paris with special knowledge we do not possess in Morvaix;” and the -favourites round, taking their cue from this tone, sneered one to -another with significant shrugs and glances. - -“The evidence, my lord?” said Gerard with a show of impatience. - -The Governor called up one of his officers then, who spoke of the -affray in the market place; and Gerard, under cover of a desire to get -at the truth, questioned him at considerable length, and so consumed -much invaluable time. Two other officers followed, and some of the -soldiers who had been injured by the crowd. - -Having prolonged the matter as long as practicable, Gerald said-- - -“There is one point on which none of the witnesses have spoken. The -provocation which drove the people to revolt? I would hear that.” - -“There was none,” answered the Governor, who was now wearying of the -farce. “And, moreover, these proceedings have lasted long enough.” - -“We will, then, hear the prisoners themselves.” - -“That is not the law in Morvaix,” was the curt reply. “They were caught -red-handed, and can make no defence.” - -“Is that your Morvaix justice, my lord? I am not surprised there -is discontent, therefore. I will consider the matter I have heard, -and give my judgment on the morrow. Meanwhile the prisoners will be -released.” - -They broke out into joyous shouts at this, and again the cries of “Long -live Bourbon!” rent the air, to the intense mortification and anger of -the Governor. - -“This is too much,” he said with a scowl. “Your lordship will not be -here on the morrow. I am sending you to-night on your way with an -escort.” - -But Gerard having his own end in view, affected not to hear him. - -“And now the second matter you mentioned, my lord?” he asked; -“affecting Mademoiselle de Malincourt here and yourself.” - -“It is one that will doubtless please you,” answered the Governor. The -burlesque so far had brought him far less pleasure than mortification; -but he was now sure of his ground. He intended to make Gerard the -medium of announcing his betrothal to Gabrielle, and the thought of -this triumph of ingenuity appealed to him. “Mademoiselle de Malincourt -has been pleased to consent to betroth herself to me, most noble lord; -and your gracious presence makes this a fitting opportunity for the -fact to be announced. You will be good enough to announce it.” - -His tone was a threat, and as such Gerard understood it. - -“Betrothal?” he repeated, with an excellent simulation of surprise, as -if ignorant of the whole matter. “But is there not already one Duchess -de Rochelle?” - -“You know the facts well,” answered the Governor, dropping all form in -his anger. “Do what I say, or there may be bitter reasons to regret -it.” - -But Gerard was a far better actor than he, and replied in a very loud -tone, as if more surprised than ever-- - -“Do you wish me to announce to all present that, having already one -wife, you propose to take a second? This is against the laws of France, -my lord. I cannot make such an announcement.” - -The Governor bit his lip and frowned, and said, in a threatening -undertone-- - -“If you wish to leave Morvaix to-night with your head on your -shoulders, you will announce it.” - -“You are tearing off the mask, then, at last,” said Gerard, as calmly -as before, with a smile. - -“The Duchess herself has agreed to a divorce, so that this marriage may -take place.” - -“It is a union I cannot and will not sanction,” declared Gerard in a -loud firm voice. “In the name of the Suzerain of Morvaix I forbid it. -It must and shall not be.” - -“We will see to that and have an end to this mockery,” cried the -Governor, turning to give an order to his officers. But before he could -deliver it an interruption came. The Duchess de Rochelle was borne into -the hall on a litter. - -Dead silence fell on all as her litter was set down at the foot of the -steps. - -“Here is the Duchess to speak for herself,” said Gerard. - -She was pale and fragile, but her eyes were burning, and her soft voice -thrilled all as she spoke. - -“I have heard what has passed, my lord,” she said to Gerard; “and I -have come here to protest against this contemplated wrong--the last -of many I have endured at my husband’s hands. I will not have that -innocent girl sacrificed. I protest solemnly against this infamy, in -the name of God, the Holy Church, and of the laws of France.” - -The effort seemed to exhaust her strength, and as she fell back faint -and white, Gabrielle ran and knelt beside her. - -Gerard paused for the Governor to speak, but rage deprived him of words. - -“What say you now, my lord?” asked Gerard. - -“This is a plot against me--a damnable scheme to try and put me to -shame here,” cried the infuriated Governor. “You shall have an answer, -never fear; and one little to your liking. Seize that man,” he cried to -his officers, pointing to Gerard with a hand that shook with rage. - -“Should not the hall be cleared?” said de Proballe, roused to great -alarm for himself now at the fiasco of his plans. - -The answer came from Gerard in a loud tone that resounded through the -vast hall. - -“No,” he cried; “not until the infamy of this thing has been made -public.” - -A profound hush of expectancy fell upon the great throng, each man -holding his breath in wonderment and suspense; and before it was -broken, an officer entered hurriedly and approached the Governor-- - -“My lord, my lord,” he said excitedly; “I crave your lordship’s pardon. -Captain Boutelle has sent me to report that a large force of troops are -approaching the city.” - -“At last,” whispered Gerard under his breath, with a deep sigh of -relief. - -The Governor turned to two of his captains near him-- - -“Go at once, Des Moulins, and you, Courvoir, and see what this means. -Close the gates against them, and hold them in parley till I come.” - -The men hurried out in company with the officer who had brought the -news. - -“Clear the hall, Captain Fourtier; drive these canaille back to the -prisons until I can deal with them.” - -“Stop,” cried Gerard, springing to his feet. “No one leaves the hall -except at my orders. The force you hear of is a Bourbon army coming -here under my command. Your power is broken, my lord Duke. Who disobeys -me now will answer to the Suzerain Duke, Great Bourbon, for his -disobedience. Bear the Duchess away. Gabrielle, you had better leave -with her.” - -“By God, you shall rue this insolent presumption! Let the hall be -cleared, I say. It is I, the Governor, who order it.” - -The Great Hall became now the scene of intense excitement and commotion. - -The guards commenced to obey the Governor’s command to drive the -prisoners back to the cells. Groans and hooting broke out, and in the -confusion Lucette contrived to slip past the soldiers and hasten to -Gabrielle, and with her left by the side of the Duchess’ litter. - -“Pascal, now,” called Gerard. “Captain Dubois, post your men at the -doors, and see that no one enters.” - -“To me, those who are for Bourbon,” shouted Pascal. “Down with the -guards!” and he flung himself upon the soldier nearest to him, and -wrenching his musket from him, began to use it vigorously. This was the -signal for a fierce conflict between the prisoners and the guards; and -in the meanwhile Dubois, sending half his men to guard the entrance to -the hall, drew up the remainder as a bodyguard to protect Gerard, who -had left the daïs and was now threatened by the officers and courtiers -of the Governor. - -The two bodies faced each other with fierce menacing looks: the -Governor heading his courtiers, and Gerard his men, Dubois close at -his side; while the din and clamour of the fight between prisoners and -soldiers rendered it impossible for a word to be heard. - -The struggle was not long. The prisoners outnumbered their opponents -by three or four to one, and fought with the courage of men fighting -for their freedom. They had Pascal to lead them, moreover; and he had -clubbed his musket and laid about him with an energy and strength which -none could resist wherever he went. And he was everywhere where the -fight was thickest; and the stronger men, inspired by his example, -seized the soldiers’ weapons and fought shoulder to shoulder with him -with terrible effect. - -The tables were soon turned, and the guards were beaten and overthrown -or held prisoners by the men who a few minutes before had been cowering -before them. - -Before it ended, however, another struggle commenced. The Governor, mad -with rage, called upon those with him, and drawing his sword, rushed at -Gerard to cut him down, unarmed as he was. But Dubois had anticipated -this, and his sword met that of the Duke, who sought with all his skill -and trick of fence to break through the other’s guard. - -The two were soon left fighting almost alone, for the Bourbon soldiers, -maddened by the treacherous attempt upon Gerard’s life, attacked the -courtiers with a right good will, and drove them back speedily to -the wall with the fury of their onslaught. There they were speedily -disarmed, but not until several of them had been wounded. - -As the din of the conflict within the hall died down at the ignominious -defeat of the Governor’s supporters, there came from outside the sound -of heavy firing and the loud shouts of many men engaged in desperate -fighting. - -“It is d’Alembert; I hear the Bourbon cry,” shouted Pascal, hurrying to -one of the entrances. - -Gerard called to the Governor to yield; and Dubois, hearing this, -changed his defensive tactics for those of vigorous attack, and as he -was driving the Governor before him, he stepped back suddenly, and so -brought the duel to an end. - -“Now, my lord, you must see the uselessness of further resistance,” -said Gerard. “You will give me your sword.” - -“To a treacherous dog like you? Never!” was the fierce answer. - -“Do you speak of treachery? I saved your life to-day in the market -place, thinking that some spark of honour might remain to you to be -roused by the act--and your reward was an order that I should be shot. -And but now you sought to drive your sword into my heart, unarmed -though I was. I will have no mercy for you: nothing but justice. Come, -your sword. You are powerless.” - -The Governor had a curse on his lips, but checked it, as a great shout -came from Pascal and the Bourbons with him. - -“The Castle is ours, my lord. D’Alembert is here,” cried Pascal; and -the Bourbon soldiers came streaming into the hall, with d’Alembert at -their head. - -The Governor glanced round him with the look of a hunted beast, and -then said sullenly-- - -“I have no option, it seems.” He held out his sword as if about to give -it up; but, with a sudden change, he uttered a cry of rage, and lunged -forward swiftly at Gerard’s heart. - -Only just did the thrust miss as Gerard, fortunately suspicious, had -noted the change of look and leapt aside. - -With a curse at himself for his failure, the Governor sprang from the -men who rushed up, and plunged the sword into his own heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -THE TROOPS MARCH - - -The week that followed was a wild one indeed for Morvaix, and the -citizens, freed suddenly from the blighting curse of the Tiger’s rule, -gave themselves up, all classes alike, to a carnival of revelry and -rejoicing. - -The news of the strange occurrences which had culminated in the -Governor’s death was carried far and wide through the city the same -night by the liberated prisoners, who streamed out of the Castle in a -gay throng, laughing and jesting, straining their throats with shouts -and cheers for Gerard and Gabrielle, Bourbon and Malincourt, and -jostling and shouldering one another in the mad race to be first to -tell the glad tidings. - -A garbled and distorted tale it was they told in describing the scene, -the true meaning of which, although they had witnessed it, they could -but imperfectly understand. But the main fact spoke for itself. The -Tyrant was dead--had died by his own hand, rather than face the anger -of the Great Bourbon who had brought an army to punish him and save the -city. - -They had seen this with their own eyes, and with their own ears had -heard the words with which Gerard had afterwards dismissed them, -promising solemnly good government for the future, relief from the -grinding taxation and redress for their long suffered wrongs. And the -whole livelong night was spent in rejoicing. - -The morrow found the great news confirmed. A proclamation was issued -from the Castle announcing that the Duc de Rochelle was dead, and that -Gerard de Bourbon would act for the time as Governor, and this was -followed by Gerard’s first decree as Governor, repealing some of the -Tyrant’s ordinances, and detailing a number of measures to be taken -immediately for the relief of the poorer citizens. - -Nor was this all. The leading burghers were summoned to the Castle and -informed of the forthcoming alliance between the Houses of Bourbon -and Malincourt through the marriage of Gerard and Gabrielle; and told -that Gerard hoped to remain permanently in Morvaix as the Governor of -the Province. The burghers were also requested to take urgent counsel -together as to the best means to be adopted to restore the impaired -trade and fortunes of the city; and were thus sent on their way -rejoicing with lighter hearts than they had known for many a long year. - -A few days wrought wonders in changing the look of the little city -and the demeanour of the people, who had many a substantial proof of -the spirit of the new rule; and before the week was out it was known -that couriers had passed between Morvaix and the Duke de Bourbon and -that they had brought back from the Suzerain confirmation of Gerard’s -appointment as the new Governor. - -A crowd of smiling men and women were gathered in the market place -cheering and rejoicing over this fresh good news, when two horsemen -came riding from the Castle toward the south gate. They were de -Proballe and Jacques Dauban; and of all the great throng their faces -alone were dark and gloomy. Gerard had held de Proballe a close -prisoner, intending to punish him severely; but at Gabrielle’s -intercession had released him, on condition that he and Dauban left the -city never to return to it. - -“We are so happy, let us forgive,” she had pleaded; and herself had -provided her uncle with a sum of money. But Pascal had not forgiven -Dauban, and learning when he and his master were to be released, had -whispered a word to Babillon which had results. - -As the two men reached the farther end of the market place, where it -narrowed into the street leading to the city gate, they found the press -of people so great that no more than a walking pace was possible; and -just at that moment they were recognized. Cries and hooting, coarse -jests and gibes, took the place of smiles and cheers; clenched fists -were raised in menace, as the people closed round the horses, rough -hands being laid on the bridles. - -De Proballe scowled in anger, and when one man seized the bridle of his -horse and jeered at him to his face, he was foolhardy enough in his -rage to raise his whip and strike the man across the mouth. - -It was the spark to the tinder, and the flame burst out directly. In -a moment he and Dauban were torn from their horses and jostled and -shouldered and thrust from hand to hand, in the midst of a rough but -not over ill-tempered crowd. - -Babillon was close at hand, and himself raised the cry of “No violence -on such a day as this. No violence.” And the cry was caught up by -the people, and followed by bursts of thunderous jeering laughter at -the sour looks and angry faces of the two men. It was rough jesting, -however; and just when the people were tiring of it and the pair were -getting back to their horses, a cry was raised by some one of “The -pond, the pond;” and this, too, swelled into a roar. - -Dauban was seized first by half a dozen stalwart fellows, and, -writhing, struggling and kicking in futile resistance, was borne along -and tossed into the middle of the pond which was near. He emerged a -minute later, a shivering, soaked, half-drowned and all-bedraggled -figure to be greeted, as he shook himself and stood squeezing the dirty -water from his clothes, with such a roar of raucous laughter as might -have been heard through half the city. - -De Proballe’s turn came next; and despite his angry, vehement protests, -he was seized in the same manner, and carried, fighting and screaming -out impotent threats and curses, in the direction of the pond. - -But before his ruthless captors reached the pond, an interruption came. -Gerard and Gabrielle, with some others in attendance, had been riding, -and were returning, when their attention was attracted by the sounds -of the disturbance, and they came in full view of the proceedings just -when Dauban stood shivering after his ducking and the crowd had seized -upon de Proballe. - -Gerard was for letting the thing be settled by the people, but -Gabrielle would not, and with a touch of the spur, put her horse in the -way. - -Her appearance was the signal for a rousing cheer, and as soon as she -could be heard, she said to those about her-- - -“You do not best show yourselves my friends in this. If you will please -me, you will let M. de Proballe free. If I have forgiven him, cannot -you?” - -A shout of assent was the answer; and in a moment he was set at -liberty; the two horses were brought up, and he and Dauban mounted, a -wild burst of laughter at the figure which Dauban made being mingled in -the cheers for Gabrielle and Malincourt. - -De Proballe said not a word of thanks, and would not even look at -Gabrielle; and as he passed close to Gerard it was with a scowl and an -oath. Then he dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and rode out of the -city and into the open country, closely followed by Dauban, who kept -glancing timorously over his shoulder in fear of yet further trouble. - -“I would not have had either of them hurt,” said Gabrielle, when Gerard -joined her and they resumed the ride to the maison. - -“A kindliness worthy of your gentle heart, Gabrielle. But I am -differently cast, I fear. It would not have hurt him. He has stirred -much dirty water in Morvaix, and if he had had to carry away a little -of a different kind in his mouth and on his clothes it would have -served him right. But he has had a good fright, and that’s something; -and if you are glad no worse has chanced to him, why I am glad also. I -would rather he had a dry skin than you be displeased.” - -“It is best as it is, Gerard, although--it would have served him -right;” and she laughed and added: “I could almost have wished we had -not ridden up in time.” - -“Nay, it gave the people a chance of seeing more evidence of your sweet -nature, Gabrielle. How they cheered you! ’Twas a good-humoured crowd, -too.” - -“You have changed the temper of the people almost as if by the wave of -a wizard’s wand.” - -“Not I. ’Twas you they cheered. They know whom to thank. Your -popularity is so great that you set me a difficult task to rival it.” - -“How different from that angry sullen mob that faced the soldiers when -we first met--and but little more than a week ago.” And in this easy -happy fashion they chatted until Malincourt was reached. - -On the terrace they found Lucette and Denys, now fast on the road to -recovery, in converse with Dubois. - -“I was chiding Captain Dubois for leaving us, Gabrielle,” cried Lucette -smiling. “But he has an iron will--shot-proof against any arguments.” - -“I wish you could persuade him to remain, Lucette,” said Gerard. “I -have tried to bribe him with the offer of the command of the troops -here, but he is, as you say, iron, and insists on leaving to-morrow -with d’Alembert.” - -“I am a soldier, mademoiselle,” answered Dubois, “and there is news of -some fighting yet to be done. My place is with Bourbon’s army.” - -“Ours will be a Bourbon army, too, friend.” - -“I beg you, my lord, urge me no more. I have arranged the matters on -which we spoke. The mercenaries who were in the late Governor’s troops -have for the most part been enrolled in the companies that march -to-morrow, and so many of the Bourbon men as you desired have taken -their places. But your force will be chiefly Morvaix men--a sort of -citizens’ army; and to command such a force is no more to my liking -than it is fitted to my powers. I should but cause you infinite trouble -by being constantly at loggerheads with your burghers.” - -“You take them too seriously, captain. They are worthy men,” said -Gabrielle. - -“As men most worthy, doubtless, mademoiselle; as talkers, unsurpassed -in France, I think; but I am a plain soldier.” - -“I should like details of your arrangements now they are completed, -Dubois. Come into the house and give them to me. Denys may well assist -at the conference, for he will now be high in my esteem and confidence. -Come, Denys--if Lucette will spare you to me.” - -Denys flushed with pleasure, and Lucette smiled. - -“What a wonderful change in everything, Gabrielle,” she exclaimed when -the three men had left them. “How happy you look. And what a little -cheat you were.” - -“I? When?” - -“Innocent! Why the day after M. Gerard met you in the market place. -When you said that if for a moment you had swerved from thoughts of -duty, a night’s reflection had sobered you. Sobered you! Intoxicated -you, you should have said.” - -“I did not know that Gerard was----” Lucette broke in with a merry -laugh, and Gabrielle blushed. - -“Was Gerard de Cobalt? Nor was he. But do you remember my words, when -you were such a philosopher about the plagues of love? I told you you -would learn to know it all some day. Oh, Gabrielle, what a lecture -I might read you now! You cannot find him near you without a dozen -tremors and a fleeting tide of colour in your face and light in your -eyes; and when he is not by your side, how restless is Gabrielle, with -glances here and glances there, listening for his footstep or his -voice, and impatience, oh, such impatience, at all that keeps him from -you.” - -“If I plead guilty, has the court no mercy for me?” - -“My dearest, I love you for it. But I told you how it would be; and -God knows neither you nor I would have it otherwise. Ah, here is M. -Pascal,” she said as he came round the house. - -“Mademoiselle, I have hastened from the city to crave your pardon,” he -said to Gabrielle. - -“You are already assured of it, monsieur, for I know the offence will -be but a trifle.” - -“You must not trust all men, Gabrielle,” put in Lucette briskly. - -“Yet unwittingly I may have offended. It was I who instigated the -baiting of M. de Proballe and the scurvy knave he calls his secretary. -I knew when he would leave, and set on Babillon to frighten him. I -have heard it was against your wish, and would not have you blame your -citizens for the act of a rough Bourbon soldier.” - -“What happened to them?” asked Lucette. And when Pascal told her of -Dauban’s treatment, she laughed and clapped her hands. - -“May I tack a condition to my pardon, monsieur?” asked Gabrielle, -smiling. - -“Were I one of your cautious burghers, I would urge that the condition -be first specified.” - -“It is that you do not leave with the Bourbon forces to-morrow, but -remain to be a friend and help to us all.” - -“Then I pray you undo the tacking. Remember how sad a place Morvaix -must ever be in my memory.” - -“Sad?” exclaimed Lucette. “Monsieur!” - -“I mean because of my many bereavements here.” - -“Bereavements, monsieur?” said Gabrielle, with a frown of perplexity. - -“Bereavements truly; what else? ’Twas here in Morvaix I lost my wife, -after a union of but a few minutes; and after that my newly betrothed -was snatched from me by inexorable fate.” - -They both laughed, and Lucette said-- - -“Then you are desolate?” - -“In truth could I be otherwise? I am always, and in earnest what -Gerard was in masquerade for a few hours--a courier of fortune; and -without the hope that the fortune I chased may prove as charming and -delightful.” - -“I would you could have stayed, monsieur; and I thank you for your -pretty compliments,” said Gabrielle, smiling and blushing. - -“You go to Paris, monsieur, I understand,” said Lucette. “Doubtless -there you will find consolation.” - -“In Paris there may be distractions, even if not consolation,” he -answered gaily. - -“Try to persuade him to remain, Lucette,” said Gabrielle, going into -the house. - -“Why will you not remain, M. Pascal?” asked Lucette half nervously and -more seriously than usual with her. - -“Is not the answer there, with her, Lucette, and here perhaps with -you?” He spoke lightly, but his eyes were serious. - -“I am not sure that I understand you.” - -“And I am sure there is no need that you should. They will be a happy -pair, I hope with all my heart; as I hope indeed that you will be -happy with M. St. Jean--a prince of worthy fellows--even if a trifle -disposed to jealousy. I have had much talk with him in the last few -days.” - -She was silent a moment turning over a ring on her finger. - -“I hope you will be happy also.” Her voice was soft and low and -trembled slightly. - -“I am a soldier and love my colours. I have health and strength, a -sound body and a modicum of wits, trust in myself and strong hope, and -kindly memories to carry with me from Morvaix. Why should I not be -happy?” - -“Despite your bereavements?” And she smiled. - -“Or perhaps because of them, Lucette.” - -“A double-edged sentence that, surely.” - -“And therefore best suited to the thought behind it.” - -She lifted her eyes and looked at him searchingly, and he met the look -with an easy smile. - -“I wonder what you mean?” she said, so earnestly that her tone was -almost sad. - -“Your wonder is not greater than my own,” he laughed. - -“In our worst troubles recently you laughed. You have a laugh for -everything.” - -“The finest mask with which Nature ever fitted man or woman is a laugh, -Lucette. Yes, I can laugh at my own follies and wishes and troubles -and--aye, even at my own bereavements.” - -The gaiety of his tone was just as bright and free; and he continued to -smile when Lucette again looked at him earnestly. - -“Is that smile a mask, too? I would gladly know what is behind it,” she -said. - -“I think I myself shall know better when, say, there are twenty leagues -between Morvaix and me.” - -They stood looking one at the other a moment, and then Denys came out -and joined them. - -“Come to my rescue, Denys,” cried Pascal gaily. “Here is Madame Burgher -trying to cross-examine me.” - -“Aye, come and take a lesson in word fencing, Denys,” said Lucette. - -“You may need many lessons when you fence with Lucette, my good friend.” - -“I know it,” replied Denys with a smile, as he slipped his arm into -hers and glanced at her. - -“They would keep me in Morvaix,” laughed Pascal. - -“And not they alone, Pascal. Do you know, Lucette, I have tried by the -hour to persuade him to stay. But he tells me there are--shall I say -it?” and he looked at Pascal, who shrugged his shoulders. “There are a -woman’s eyes calling him away.” - -“Warning me away, was what I said, friend.” - -“’Tis the same thing,” declared Denys. - -“Maybe; but ’twas the term I used. I think I have learnt to read more -warnings than beckonings in women’s eyes. But ’tis the same in the end.” - -Lucette watched him steadily as he spoke, and then surprised Denys by -saying very seriously, and with something very much like a sigh-- - -“If that be the reason, it is well that you go, Pascal.” - -“What, have you changed sides, Lucette?” cried Denys, rallying her. - -“’Tis a woman’s way, Denys, and ever will be,” laughed Pascal. - -“Wherever you go, Pascal, I wish you Godspeed with all my heart,” said -Lucette in the same earnest, almost strenuous tone; and gave him her -hand, which he carried to his lips. - -“Denys will not mind that, at any rate,” he said. - -Lucette shivered. - -“Take me in, Denys, I am chilled,” she said; and without saying more or -looking again at Pascal, she hurried in. - -“’Tis a woman’s way, Denys, only and always a woman’s way,” he said, as -Denys lingered a moment and then hurried after her. - -Pascal watched them with a smile until they had gone, and then turned -grave, nodded once or twice, smiled again, and again was grave, until, -with a shrug of the shoulders, he turned and swung away. - -The next morning all was bustle and commotion at the Castle, for the -Bourbon troops were marching out. Gerard and Gabrielle and all from -Malincourt were there to bid them farewell. They stood together, the -centre of a large group, watching them start, and Lucette and Denys -were a little apart from the rest. - -Dubois, taciturn and quiet as usual, was busy seeing that everything -was in due order; and Pascal, activity itself, moved gaily here, there -and everywhere in the ranks, with eyes for everything and everybody, -laughing and jesting in uncontrollable spirits. - -His company was the last to start, and all his soldiers, although many -of them were leaving behind friends in Morvaix and breaking pleasant -associations, seemed to take the infection of their leader’s gaiety, -and faced the parting with laughs and jokes and pleasantry. - -The merriest and most cheerful of all the companies was Pascal’s, and -he himself the merriest and most cheerful of them, as they saluted -Gerard and cheered Gabrielle and then marched away with sturdy, -stalwart stride. - -Pascal waited to mount his horse until almost the last ranks were on -the move. - -“What spirits he has,” exclaimed Denys to Lucette as they stood -watching the men. “I am sorry he is going.” - -But Lucette was silent. - -The last rank passed, and then Pascal, turning in the saddle, waved his -hand and smiled. His eyes rested for a moment on Lucette’s, at least -so it seemed to her; and she raised her kerchief and waved back to him -just as he touched his horse and moved after his men. - -She continued to wave and to stare after him, but he did not look back -until, quite in the distance, he turned and again, as she thought, -looked at her; and again she answered, waving to him. - -He did not look back any more, and when, the last sign of the troops -having disappeared and she was still staring after them, Denys touched -her arm, she started almost as one awakened from a dream. - -“I am glad he has gone,” she said, sighing; and then Denys saw that her -eyes were dimmed with tears. - -“Tears? Lucette?” he cried. - -“It strains one’s eyes to stare so long. Give me your arm, Denys dear, -and be patient with me to-day. I--I--oh, Denys dearest, I am so glad -you are well again,” and she walked away clinging closely to his side. - -And Denys, not understanding this mood of hers, was almost as much -perplexed by her humour as he was delighted by her tenderness. - - -THE END. - - - - -Popular Copyright Books - -At Moderate Prices - -Any of the following titles can be bought of your Bookseller at the -price you paid for this volume - - =NANCY STAIR= Elinor Macartney Lane - =MY LADY OF THE NORTH= Randall Parrish - =THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH= Charles D. Stewart - =VASHTI= Augusta Evans Wilson - =FOR LOVE OR CROWN= Arthur W. Marchmont - =UP FROM SLAVERY= Booker T. Washington - =THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY= Gilbert Parker - =CAP’N ERI= Joseph C. Lincoln - =WHEN WILDERNESS WAS KING= Randall Parrish - =THE LEAVENWORTH CASE= Anna Katharine Green - =MYSTERY TALES= Edgar Allan Poe - =A COURIER OF FORTUNE= Arthur W. Marchmont - =THE QUICKENING= Francis Lynde - =DOUBLE TROUBLE= Herbert Quick - =SIR RICHARD CALMADY= Lucas Malet - =CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE= Frank R. Stockton - =A SPECKLED BIRD= Augusta Evans Wilson - =ORDER NO. II= Caroline Abbot Stanley - =THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN= Amelia E. Barr - =SARITA THE CARLIST= Arthur W. Marchmont - - -A. L. BURT CO., Publishers, 52-58 Duane St., New York - - - - -_Good Fiction Worth Reading._ - -A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the -field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and -diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. - - -=GUY FAWKES.= A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. Harrison -Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. -Price, $1.00. - - The “Gunpowder Plot” was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, the - King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, - was weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of - extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. - In their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold - spirits concluded to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters - were arrested, and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other - prisoners with royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through - the entire romance. - -=THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER.= A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio -Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth. 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00. - - A book rather out of the ordinary is this “Spirit of the Border.” - The main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian - missionaries in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given - details of the frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke the - wilderness for the planting of this great nation. Chief among these, - as a matter of course, is Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and - at the same time the most admirable of all the brave men who spent - their lives battling with the savage foe, that others might dwell in - comparative security. - - Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian “Village - of Peace” are given at some length, and with minute description. - The efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never - have been before, and the author has depicted the characters of the - leaders of the several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself - will be of interest to the student. - - By no means least among the charms of the story are the vivid - word-pictures of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings - of the beauties of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests. - - It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by - it, perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly - braved every privation and danger that the westward progress of the - star of empire might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, - simple and tender, runs through the book. - -=RICHELIEU.= A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By G. -P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. -Price, $1.00. - - In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, “Richelieu,” and was - recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft. - - In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great - cardinal’s life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while - it was yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic - outbursts which overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost - wave of prosperity. One of the most striking portions of the story - is that of Cinq Mar’s conspiracy: the method of conducting criminal - cases, and the political trickery resorted to by royal favorites, - affording a better insight into the state-craft of that day than - can be had even by an exhaustive study of history. It is a powerful - romance of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling and - absorbing interest has never been excelled. - -=DARNLEY.= A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. -By G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00. - - In point of publication, “Darnley” Is that work by Mr. James which - follows “Richelieu,” and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing - to the advice and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we - are indebted primarily for the story, the young author questioning - whether he could properly paint the difference in the characters of - the two great cardinals. And it is not surprising that James should - have hesitated; he had been eminently successful in giving to the - world the portrait of Richelieu as a man, and by attempting a similar - task with Wolsey as the theme, was much like tempting fortune. Irving - insisted that “Darnley” came naturally in sequence, and this opinion - being supported by Sir Walter Scott, the author set about the work. - - As a historical romance “Darnley” is a book that can be taken up - pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm - which those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have - claimed was only to be imparted by Dumas. - - If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial - attention, the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic - “field of the cloth of gold” would entitle the story to the most - favorable consideration of every reader. - - There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author - has taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom - history has credited with having entertained the tender passion one - for another, and he succeeds in making such lovers as all the world - must love. - -=CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE.= By Lieut. Henry A. Wise, -U.S.N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea - yarns who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can - come through the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of - the sea and those “who go down in ships” been written by one more - familiar with the scenes depicted. - - The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and - which will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is “Captain - Brand,” who, as the author states on his title page, was a “pirate - of eminence in the West Indies.” As a sea story pure and simple, - “Captain Brand” has never been excelled, and as a story of piratical - life, told without the usual embellishments of blood and thunder, it - has no equal. - -=NICK OF THE WOODS.= A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By -Robert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life in - Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long - out of print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic - presentation of Indian and frontier life in the early days of - settlement in the South, narrated in the tale with all the art of - a practiced writer. A very charming love romance runs through the - story. This new and tasteful edition of “Nick of the Woods” will be - certain to make many new admirers for this enchanting story from Dr. - Bird’s clever and versatile pen. - -=A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE.= A story of American Colonial Times. By -Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary - scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the - true American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after - chapter, until the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. - The love story is a singularly charming idyl. - -=THE TOWER OF LONDON.= A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady Jane -Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four -illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. - - This romance of the “Tower of London” depicts the Tower as palace, - prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is - the middle of the sixteenth century. - - The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, - and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable - characters of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest - of the reader in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending - considerably over a half a century. - -=IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING.= A Romance of the American Revolution. By -Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, - and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit - of the Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves - taking a part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is so - absorbing that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a - love romance it is charming. - -=GARTHOWEN.= A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo. -with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - “This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare - before us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some - strong points of Welsh character--the pride, the hasty temper, the - quick dying out of wrath.... We call this a well-written story, - interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into another - life than ours. A delightful and clever picture of Welsh village - life. The result is excellent.”--Detroit Free Press. - -=MIFANWY.= The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, 12mo. -with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - “This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to - read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, - it is apparent at once, are as true to life as though the author had - known them all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story - is worked up in that touching and quaint strain which never grows - wearisome, no matter how often the lights and shadows of love are - introduced. It rings true, and does not tax the imagination.”--Boston - Herald. - -=WINDSOR CASTLE.= A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., -Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. - - “Windsor Castle” is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne - Boleyn. “Bluff King Hal,” although a well-loved monarch, was none too - good a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable - acts, none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, - and his marriage to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King’s love was as - brief as it was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, - attracted him, and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make room - for her successor. This romance is one of extreme interest to all - readers. - -=HORSESHOE ROBINSON.= A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina -in 1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historical - fiction there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans - than Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story - which depicts with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the - colonists in South Carolina to defend their homes against the brutal - oppression of the British under such leaders as Cornwallis and - Tarleton. - - The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread - of the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning - those times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, - is never overdrawn, but painted faithfully and honestly by one who - spared neither time nor labor in his efforts to present in this - charming love story all that price in blood and tears which the - Carolinians paid as their share in the winning of the republic. - - Take it all in all, “Horseshoe Robinson” is a work which should be - found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining - story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning - the colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once - more, well illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to - thousands who have long desired an opportunity to read the story - again, and to the many who have tried vainly in these latter days to - procure a copy that they might read it for the first time. - -=THE PEARL OF ORR’S ISLAND.= A story of the Coast of Maine. By Harriet -Beecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. - - Written prior to 1862, the “Pearl of Orr’s Island” is ever new; a - book filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves - anew each time one reads them. One sees the “sea like an unbroken - mirror all around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr’s Island,” and - straightway comes “the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, - like the wild angry howl of some savage animal.” - - Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which - came into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel’s - wings, without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud - blossomed? Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the - character of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid - the angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother’s breast. - - There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that - which Mrs. Stowe gives in “The Pearl of Orr’s Island.” - - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by -the publishers, A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York. - - - - -_POPULAR LITERATURE FOR THE MASSES, COMPRISING CHOICE SELECTIONS -FROM THE TREASURES OF THE WORLD’S KNOWLEDGE, ISSUED IN A SUBSTANTIAL -AND ATTRACTIVE CLOTH BINDING, AT A POPULAR PRICE_ - - -=BURT’S HOME LIBRARY= is a series which includes the standard works of -the world’s best literature, bound in uniform cloth binding, gilt tops, -embracing chiefly selections from writers of the most notable English, -American and Foreign Fiction, together with many important works in -the domains of History, Biography, Philosophy, Travel, Poetry and the -Essays. - -[Illustration] - -A glance at the following annexed list of titles and authors will -endorse the claim that the publishers make for it--that it is the most -comprehensive, choice, interesting, and by far the most carefully -selected series of standard authors for world-wide reading that has -been produced by any publishing house in any country, and that at -prices so cheap, and in a style so substantial and pleasing, as to win -for it millions of readers and the approval and commendation, not only -of the book trade throughout the American continent, but of hundreds -of thousands of librarians, clergymen, educators and men of letters -interested in the dissemination of instructive, entertaining and -thoroughly wholesome reading matter for the masses. - - -_BURT’S HOME LIBRARY. Cloth. Gilt Tops. Price, $1.00_ - - - =Abbe Constantin.= BY LUDOVIC HALEVY. - - =Abbott.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Adam Bede.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Addison’s Essays.= EDITED BY JOHN RICHARD GREEN. - - =Aeneid of Virgil.= TRANSLATED BY JOHN CONNINGTON. - - =Aesop’s Fables.= - - =Alexander, the Great, Life of.= BY JOHN WILLIAMS. - - =Alfred, the Great, Life of.= BY THOMAS HUGHES. - - =Alhambra.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass.= BY LEWIS - CARROLL. - - =Alice Lorraine.= BY R. D. BLACKMORE. - - =All Sorts and Conditions of Men.= BY WALTER BESANT. - - =Alton Locke.= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =Amiel’s Journal.= TRANSLATED BY MRS. HUMPHREY WARD. - - =Andersen’s Fairy Tales.= - - =Anne of Geirstein.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Antiquary.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.= - - =Ardath.= BY MARIE CORELLI. - - =Arnold, Benedict, Life of.= BY GEORGE CANNING HILL. - - =Arnold’s Poems.= BY MATTHEW ARNOLD. - - =Around the World in the Yacht Sunbeam.= BY MRS. BRASSEY. - - =Arundel Motto.= BY MARY CECIL HAY. - - =At the Back of the North Wind.= BY GEORGE MACDONALD. - - =Attic Philosopher.= BY EMILE SOUVESTRE. - - =Auld Licht Idylls.= BY JAMES M. BARRIE. - - =Aunt Diana.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.= - - =Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.= BY O. W. HOLMES. - - =Averil.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Bacon’s Essays.= BY FRANCIS BACON. - - =Barbara Heathcote’s Trial.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Barnaby Rudge.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Barrack Room Ballads.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Betrothed.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Beulah.= BY AUGUSTA J. EVANS. - - =Black Beauty.= BY ANNA SEWELL. - - =Black Dwarf.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Black Rock.= BY RALPH CONNOR. - - =Black Tulip.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Bleak House.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Blithedale Romance.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Bondman.= BY HALL CAINE. - - =Book of Golden Deeds.= BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. - - =Boone, Daniel, Life of.= BY CECIL B. HARTLEY. - - =Bride of Lammermoor.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Bride of the Nile.= BY GEORGE EBERS. - - =Browning’s Poems.= BY ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. - - =Browning’s Poems.= (SELECTIONS.) BY ROBERT BROWNING. - - =Bryant’s Poems.= (EARLY.) BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. - - =Burgomaster’s Wife.= BY GEORGE EBERS. - - =Burn’s Poems.= BY ROBERT BURNS. - - =By Order of the King.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =Byron’s Poems.= BY LORD BYRON. - - =Caesar, Julius, Life of.= BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE. - - =Carson, Kit, Life of.= BY CHARLES BURDETT. - - =Cary’s Poems.= BY ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. - - =Cast Up by the Sea.= BY SIR SAMUEL BAKER. - - =Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Life of.= BY THOMAS HODGKIN, D. C. L. - - =Charles Auchester.= BY E. BERGER. - - =Character.= BY SAMUEL SMILES. - - =Charles O’Malley.= BY CHARLES LEVER. - - =Chesterfield’s Letters.= BY LORD CHESTERFIELD. - - =Chevalier de Maison Rouge.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Chicot the Jester.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Children of the Abbey.= BY REGINA MARIA ROCHE. - - =Child’s History of England.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Christmas Stories.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Cloister and the Hearth.= BY CHARLES READE. - - =Coleridge’s Poems.= BY SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. - - =Columbus, Christopher, Life of.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Companions of Jehu.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Complete Angler.= BY WALTON AND COTTON. - - =Conduct of Life.= BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. - - =Confessions of an Opium Eater.= BY THOMAS DE QUINCEY. - - =Conquest of Granada.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Conscript.= BY ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN. - - =Conspiracy of Pontiac.= BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR. - - =Conspirators.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Consuelo.= BY GEORGE SAND. - - =Cook’s Voyages.= BY CAPTAIN JAMES COOK. - - =Corinne.= BY MADAME DE STAEL. - - =Countess de Charney.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Countess Gisela.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Countess of Rudolstadt.= BY GEORGE SAND. - - =Count Robert of Paris.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Country Doctor.= BY HONORE DE BALZAC. - - =Courtship of Miles Standish.= BY H. W. LONGFELLOW. - - =Cousin Maude.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Cranford.= BY MRS. GASKELL. - - =Crockett, David, Life of.= AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. - - =Cromwell, Oliver, Life of.= BY EDWIN PAXTON HOOD. - - =Crown of Wild Olive.= BY JOHN RUSKIN. - - =Crusades.= BY GEO. W. COX, M. A. - - =Daniel Deronda.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Darkness and Daylight.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Data of Ethics.= BY HERBERT SPENCER. - - =Daughter of an Empress, The.= BY LOUISA MUHLBACH. - - =David Copperfield.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Days of Bruce.= BY GRACE AGUILAR. - - =Deemster, The.= BY HALL CAINE. - - =Deerslayer, The.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Descent of Man.= BY CHARLES DARWIN. - - =Discourses of Epictetus.= TRANSLATED BY GEORGE LONG. - - =Divine Comedy.= (DANTE.) TRANSLATED BY REV. H. F. CAREY. - - =Dombey & Son.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Donal Grant.= BY GEORGE MACDONALD. - - =Donovan.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =Dora Deane.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Dove in the Eagle’s Nest.= BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. - - =Dream Life.= BY IK MARVEL. - - =Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.= BY R. L. STEVENSON. - - =Duty.= BY SAMUEL SMILES. - - =Early Days of Christianity.= BY F. W. FARRAR. - - =East Lynne.= BY MRS. HENRY WOOD. - - =Edith Lyle’s Secret.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Education.= BY HERBERT SPENCER. - - =Egoist.= BY GEORGE MEREDITH. - - =Egyptian Princess.= BY GEORG EBERS.. - - =Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Eliot’s Poems.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Elizabeth and her German Garden.= - - =Elizabeth (Queen of England), Life of.= BY EDWARD SPENCER BEESLY, - M.A. - - =Elsie Venner.= BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. - - =Emerson’s Essays.= (COMPLETE.) BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. - - =Emerson’s Poems.= BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. - - =English Orphans.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =English Traits.= BY R. W. EMERSON. - - =Essays in Criticism.= (FIRST AND SECOND SERIES.) BY MATTHEW ARNOLD. - - =Essays of Elia.= BY CHARLES LAMB. - - =Esther.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Ethelyn’s Mistake.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Evangeline.= (WITH NOTES.) BY H. W. LONGFELLOW. - - =Evelina.= BY FRANCES BURNEY. - - =Fair Maid of Perth.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Fairy Land of Science.= BY ARABELLA B. BUCKLEY. - - =Faust.= (GOETHE.) TRANSLATED BY ANNA SWANWICK. - - =Felix Holt.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.= BY E. S. CREASY. - - =File No. 113.= BY EMILE GABORIAU. - - =Firm of Girdlestone.= BY A. CONAN DOYLE. - - =First Principles.= BY HERBERT SPENCER. - - =First Violin.= BY JESSIE FOTHERGILL. - - =For Lilias.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Fortunes of Nigel.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Forty-Five Guardsmen.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Foul Play.= BY CHARLES READE. - - =Fragments of Science.= BY JOHN TYNDALL. - - =Frederick, the Great, Life of.= BY FRANCIS KUGLER. - - =Frederick the Great and His Court.= BY LOUISA MUHLBACH. - - =French Revolution.= BY THOMAS CARLYLE. - - =From the Earth to the Moon.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Garibaldi, General, Life of.= BY THEODORE DWIGHT. - - =Gil Blas, Adventures of.= BY A. R. LE SAGE. - - =Gold Bug and Other Tales.= BY EDGAR A. POE. - - =Gold Elsie.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Golden Treasury.= BY FRANCIS T. PALGRAVE. - - =Goldsmith’s Poems.= BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH. - - =Grandfather’s Chair.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Grant, Ulysses S., Life of.= BY J. T. HEADLEY. - - =Gray’s Poems.= BY THOMAS GRAY. - - =Great Expectations.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Greek Heroes, Fairy Tales for My Children.= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =Green Mountain Boys, The.= BY D. P. THOMPSON. - - =Grimm’s Household Tales.= BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM. - - =Grimm’s Popular Tales.= BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM. - - =Gulliver’s Travels.= BY DEAN SWIFT. - - =Guy Mannering.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Hale, Nathan, the Martyr Spy.= BY CHARLOTTE MOLYNEUX HOLLOWAY. - - =Handy Andy.= BY SAMUEL LOVER. - - =Hans of Iceland.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =Hannibal, the Carthaginian, Life of.= BY THOMAS ARNOLD, M. A. - - =Hardy Norseman, A.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =Harold.= BY BULWER-LYTTON. - - =Harry Lorrequer.= BY CHARLES LEVER. - - =Heart of Midlothian.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Heir of Redclyffe.= BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. - - =Hemans’ Poems.= BY MRS. FELICIA HEMANS. - - =Henry Esmond.= BY WM. M. THACKERAY. - - =Henry, Patrick, Life of.= BY WILLIAM WIRT. - - =Her Dearest Foe.= BY MRS. ALEXANDER. - - =Hereward.= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =Heriot’s Choice.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Heroes and Hero-Worship.= BY THOMAS CARLYLE. - - =Hiawatha.= (WITH NOTES.) BY H. W. LONGFELLOW. - - =Hidden Hand, The.= (COMPLETE.) BY MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH. - - =History of a Crime.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =History of Civilization in Europe.= BY M. GUIZOT. - - =Holmes’ Poems.= (EARLY) BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. - - =Holy Roman Empire.= BY JAMES BRYCE. - - =Homestead on the Hillside.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Hood’s Poems.= BY THOMAS HOOD. - - =House of the Seven Gables.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Hunchback of Notre Dame.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =Hypatia.= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =Hyperion.= BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. - - =Iceland Fisherman.= BY PIERRE LOTI. - - =Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.= BY JEROME K. JEROME. - - =Iliad=, POPE’S TRANSLATION. - - =Inez.= BY AUGUSTA J. EVANS. - - =Ingelow’s Poems.= BY JEAN INGELOW. - - =Initials.= BY THE BARONESS TAUTPHOEUS. - - =Intellectual Life.= BY PHILIP G. HAMERTON. - - =In the Counsellor’s House.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =In the Golden Days.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =In the Heart of the Storm.= BY MAXWELL GRAY. - - =In the Schillingscourt.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Ishmael.= (COMPLETE.) BY MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH. - - =It Is Never Too Late to Mend.= BY CHARLES READE. - - =Ivanhoe.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Jane Eyre.= BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE. - - =Jefferson, Thomas, Life of.= BY SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKER, LL.D. - - =Joan of Arc, Life of.= BY JULES MICHELET. - - =John Halifax, Gentleman.= BY MISS MULOCK. - - =Jones, John Paul, Life of.= BY JAMES OTIS. - - =Joseph Balsamo.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Josephine, Empress of France, Life of.= BY FREDERICK A. OBER. - - =Keats’ Poems.= BY JOHN KEATS. - - =Kenilworth.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Kidnapped.= BY R. L. STEVENSON. - - =King Arthur and His Noble Knights.= BY MARY MACLROD. - - =Knickerbocker’s History of New York.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Knight Errant.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =Koran.= TRANSLATED BY GEORGE SALE. - - =Lady of the Lake.= (WITH NOTES.) BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Lady with the Rubies.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Lafayette, Marquis de, Life of.= BY P. C. HEADLEY. - - =Lalla Rookh.= (WITH NOTES.) BY THOMAS MOORE. - - =Lamplighter.= BY MARIA S. CUMMINS. - - =Last Days of Pompeii.= BY BULWER-LYTTON. - - =Last of the Barons.= BY BULWER-LYTTON. - - =Last of the Mohicans.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Lay of the Last Minstrel.= (WITH NOTES.) BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Lee, General Robert E., Life of.= BY G. MERCER ADAM. - - =Lena Rivers.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Life of Christ.= BY FREDERICK W. FARRAR. - - =Life of Jesus.= BY ERNEST RENAN. - - =Light of Asia.= BY SIR EDWIN ARNOLD. - - =Light That Failed.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Lincoln, Abraham, Life of.= BY HENRY KETCHAM. - - =Lincoln’s Speeches.= SELECTED AND EDITED BY G. MERCER ADAM. - - =Literature and Dogma.= BY MATTHEW ARNOLD. - - =Little Dorrit.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Little Minister.= BY JAMES M. BARRIE. - - =Livingstone, David, Life of.= BY THOMAS HUGHES. - - =Longfellow’s Poems.= (EARLY.) BY HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. - - =Lorna Doone.= BY R. D. BLACKMORE. - - =Louise de la Valliere.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Love Me Little, Love Me Long.= BY CHARLES READE. - - =Lowell’s Poems.= (EARLY.) BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. - - =Lucile.= BY OWEN MEREDITH. - - =Macaria.= BY AUGUSTA J. EVANS. - - =Macaulay’s Literary Essays.= BY T. B. MACAULAY. - - =Macaulay’s Poems.= BY THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. - - =Madame Therese.= BY ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN. - - =Maggie Miller.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Magic Skin.= BY HONORE DE BALZAC. - - =Mahomet, Life of.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Makers of Florence.= BY MRS. OLIPHANT. - - =Makers of Venice.= BY MRS. OLIPHANT. - - =Man and Wife.= BY WILKIE COLLINS. - - =Man in the Iron Mask.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Marble Faun.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Marguerite de la Valois.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Marian Grey.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Marius, The Epicurian.= BY WALTER PATER. - - =Marmion.= (WITH NOTES.) BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Marquis of Lossie.= BY GEORGE MACDONALD. - - =Martin Chuzzlewit.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Mary, Queen of Scots, Life of.= BY P. C. HEADLEY. - - =Mary St. John.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Master of Ballantrae, The.= BY R. L. STEVENSON. - - =Masterman Ready.= BY CAPTAIN MARRYATT. - - =Meadow Brook.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.= TRANSLATED BY GEORGE LONG. - - =Memoirs of a Physician.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Merle’s Crusade.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Micah Clarke.= BY A. CONAN DOYLE. - - =Michael Strogoff.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Middlemarch.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Midshipman Easy.= BY CAPTAIN MARRYATT. - - =Mildred.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Millbank.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Mill on the Floss.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Milton’s Poems.= BY JOHN MILTON. - - =Mine Own People.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Minister’s Wooing, The.= BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. - - =Monastery.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Moonstone.= BY WILKIE COLLINS. - - =Moore’s Poems.= BY THOMAS MOORE. - - =Mosses from an Old Manse.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Murders in the Rue Morgue.= BY EDGAR ALLEN POE. - - =Mysterious Island.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Napoleon Bonaparte, Life of.= BY P. C. HEADLEY. - - =Napoleon and His Marshals.= BY J. T. HEADLEY. - - =Natural Law in the Spiritual World.= BY HENRY DRUMMOND. - - =Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.= BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. - - =Nature, Addresses and Lectures.= BY R. W. EMERSON. - - =Nellie’s Memories.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Nelson, Admiral Horatio, Life of.= BY ROBERT SOUTHEY. - - =Newcomes.= BY WILLIAM M. THACKERAY. - - =Nicholas Nickleby.= BY CHAS. DICKENS. - - =Ninety-Three.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =Not Like Other Girls.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Odyssey.= POPE’S TRANSLATION. - - =Old Curiosity Shop.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Old Mam’selle’s Secret.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Old Mortality.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Old Myddleton’s Money.= BY MARY CECIL HAY. - - =Oliver Twist.= BY CHAS. DICKENS. - - =Only the Governess.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =On the Heights.= BY BERTHOLD AUERBACH. - - =Oregon Trail.= BY FRANCIS PARKMAN. - - =Origin of Species.= BY CHARLES DARWIN. - - =Other Worlds than Ours.= BY RICHARD PROCTOR. - - =Our Bessie.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Our Mutual Friend.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Outre-Mer.= BY H. W. LONGFELLOW. - - =Owl’s Nest.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Page of the Duke of Savoy.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Pair of Blue Eyes.= BY THOMAS HARDY. - - =Pan Michael.= BY HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ. - - =Past and Present.= BY THOS. CARLYLE. - - =Pathfinder.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Paul and Virginia.= BY B. DE ST. PIERRE. - - =Pendennis, History of.= BY WM. M. THACKERAY. - - =Penn, William, Life of.= BY W. HEPWORTH DIXON. - - =Pere Goriot.= BY HONORE DE BALZAC. - - =Peter, the Great, Life of.= BY JOHN BARROW. - - =Peveril of the Peak.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Phantom Rickshaw, The.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Philip II. of Spain, Life of.= BY MARTIN A. S. HUME. - - =Picciola.= BY X. B. SAINTINE. - - =Pickwick Papers.= BY CHARLES DICKENS. - - =Pilgrim’s Progress.= BY JOHN BUNYAN. - - =Pillar of Fire.= BY REV. J. H. INGRAHAM. - - =Pilot.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Pioneers.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Pirate.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Plain Tales from the Hills.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Plato’s Dialogues.= TRANSLATED BY J. WRIGHT. M. A. - - =Pleasures of Life.= BY SIR JOHN LUBBOCK. - - =Poe’s Poems.= BY EDGAR A. POE. - - =Pope’s Poems.= BY ALEXANDER POPE. - - =Prairie.= BY JAMES F. COOPER. - - =Pride and Prejudice.= BY JANE AUSTEN. - - =Prince of the House of David.= BY REV. J. H. INGRAHAM. - - =Princess of the Moor.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Princess of Thule.= BY WILLIAM BLACK. - - =Procter’s Poems.= BY ADELAIDE PROCTOR. - - =Professor at the Breakfast Table.= BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. - - =Professor.= BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE. - - =Prue and I.= BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. - - =Put Yourself in His Place.= BY CHAS. READE. - - =Putnam, General Israel, Life of.= BY GEORGE CANNING HILL. - - =Queen Hortense.= BY LOUISA MUHLBACH. - - =Queenie’s Whim.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Queen’s Necklace.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Quentin Durward.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Rasselas, History of.= BY SAMUEL JOHNSON. - - =Redgauntlet.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Red Rover.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Regent’s Daughter.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Reign of Law.= BY DUKE OF ARGYLE. - - =Representative Men.= BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. - - =Republic of Plato.= TRANSLATED BY DAVIES AND VAUGHAN. - - =Return of the Native.= BY THOMAS HARDY. - - =Reveries of a Bachelor.= BY IK MARVEL. - - =Reynard the Fox.= EDITED BY JOSEPH JACOBS. - - =Rienzi.= BY BULWER-LYTTON. - - =Richelieu, Cardinal, Life of.= BY RICHARD LODGE. - - =Robinson Crusoe.= BY DANIEL DEFOE. - - =Rob Roy.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Romance of Natural History.= BY P. H. GOSSE. - - =Romance of Two Worlds.= BY MARIE CORELLI. - - =Romola.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Rory O’More.= BY SAMUEL LOVER. - - =Rose Mather.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Rossetti’s Poems.= BY GABRIEL DAXTE ROSSETTI. - - =Royal Edinburgh.= BY MRS. OLIPHANT. - - =Rutledge.= BY MIRIAN COLES HARRIS. - - =Saint Michael.= BY E. WERNER. - - =Samantha at Saratoga.= BY JOSIAH ALLER’S WIFE. (MARIETTA HOLLEY.) - - =Sartor Resartus.= BY THOMAS CARLYLE. - - =Scarlet Letter.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Schonberg-Cotta Family.= BY MRS. ANDREW CHARLES. - - =Schopenhauer’s Essays.= TRANSLATED BY T. B. SAUNDERS. - - =Scottish Chiefs.= BY JANE PORTER. - - =Scott’s Poems.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Search for Basil Lyndhurst.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Second Wife.= BY E. MARLITT. - - =Seekers After God.= BY F. W. FARRAR. - - =Self-Help.= BY SAMUEL SMILES. - - =Self-Raised.= (COMPLETE.) BY MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH. - - =Seneca’s Morals.= - - =Sense and Sensibility.= BY JANE AUSTEN. - - =Sentimental Journey.= BY LAWRENCE STERNE. - - =Sesame and Lilies.= BY JOHN RUSKIN. - - =Shakespeare’s Heroines.= BY ANNA JAMESON. - - =Shelley’s Poems.= BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. - - =Shirley.= BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE. - - =Sign of the Four.= BY A. CONAN DOYLE. - - =Silas Marner.= BY GEORGE ELIOT. - - =Silence of Dean Maitland.= BY MAXWELL GRAY. - - =Sir Gibbie.= BY GEORGE MACDONALD. - - =Sketch Book.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Smith, Captain John, Life of.= BY W. GILMORE SIMMS. - - =Socrates, Trial and Death of.= TRANSLATED BY F. J. CHURCH, M. A. - - =Soldiers Three.= BY RUDYARD KIPLING. - - =Springhaven.= BY R. D. BLACKMORE. - - =Spy.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Stanley, Henry M., African Explorer, Life of.= BY A. MONTEFIORE. - - =Story of an African Farm.= BY OLIVE SCHREINER. - - =Story of John G. Paton.= TOLD FOR YOUNG FOLKS. BY REV. JAS. PATON. - - =St. Ronan’s Well.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Study in Scarlet.= BY A. CONAN DOYLE. - - =Surgeon’s Daughter.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Swinburne’s Poems.= BY A. C. SWINBURNE. - - =Swiss Family Robinson.= BY JEAN RUDOLPH WYSS. - - =Taking the Bastile.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Tale of Two Cities.= BY CHAS. DICKENS. - - =Tales from Shakespeare.= BY CHAS. AND MARY LAMB. - - =Tales of a Traveller.= BY WASHINGTON IRVING. - - =Talisman.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Tanglewood Tales.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Tempest and Sunshine.= BY MARY J. HOLMES. - - =Ten Nights in a Bar Room.= BY T. S. ARTHUR. - - =Tennyson’s Poems.= BY ALFRED TENNYSON. - - =Ten Years Later.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Terrible Temptation.= BY CHARLES READE. - - =Thaddeus of Warsaw.= BY JANE PORTER. - - =Thelma.= BY MARIE CORELLI. - - =Thirty Years’ War.= BY FREDERICK SCHILLER. - - =Thousand Miles Up the Nile.= BY AMELIA B. EDWARDS. - - =Three Guardsmen.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Three Men in a Boat.= BY JEROME K. JEROME. - - =Thrift.= BY SAMUEL SMILES. - - =Throne of David.= BY REV. J. H. INGRAHAM. - - =Toilers of the Sea.= BY VICTOR HUGO. - - =Tom Brown at Oxford.= BY THOMAS HUGHES. - - =Tom Brown’s School Days.= BY THOS. HUGHES. - - =Tom Burke of “Ours.”= BY CHARLES LEVER. - - =Tour of the World in Eighty Days.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Treasure Island.= BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. - - =Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.= BY JULES VERNE. - - =Twenty Years After.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Twice Told Tales.= BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Two Admirals.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Two Dianas.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Two Years Before the Mast.= BY R. H. DANA, Jr. - - =Uarda.= BY GEORGE EBERS. - - =Uncle Max.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Uncle Tom’s Cabin.= BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. - - =Under Two Flags.= BY “OUIDA.” - - =Utopia.= BY SIR THOMAS MORE. - - =Vanity Fair.= BY WM. M. THACKERAY. - - =Vendetta.= BY MARIE CORELLI. - - =Vespucius, Americus, Life and Voyages.= BY C. EDWARDS LESTER. - - =Vicar of Wakefield.= BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH. - - =Vicomte de Bragelonne.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Views A-Foot.= BY BAYARD TAYLOR. - - =Villette.= BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE. - - =Virginians.= BY WM. M. THACKERAY. - - =Walden.= BY HENRY D. THOREAU. - - =Washington, George, Life of.= BY JARED SPARKS. - - =Washington and His Generals.= BY J. T. HEADLEY. - - =Water Babies.= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =Water Witch.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Waverly.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Webster, Daniel, Life of.= BY SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKER, LL.D. - - =Webster’s Speeches.= (SELECTED.) BY DANIEL WEBSTER. - - =Wee Wifie.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Westward Ho!= BY CHARLES KINGSLEY. - - =We Two.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =What’s Mine’s Mine.= BY GEORGE MACDONALD. - - =When a Man’s Single.= BY J. M. BARRIE. - - =White Company.= BY A. CONAN DOYLE. - - =Whites and the Blues.= BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. - - =Whittier’s Poems.= (EARLY.) BY JOHN G. WHITTIER. - - =Wide, Wide World.= BY SUSAN WARNER. - - =William, the Conqueror, Life of.= BY EDWARD A. FREEMAN, LL.D. - - =William, the Silent, Life of.= BY FREDERICK HARRISON. - - =Willy Reilly.= BY WILLIAM CARLETON. - - =Window in Thrums.= BY J. M. BARRIE. - - =Wing and Wing.= BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. - - =Wolsey, Cardinal, Life of.= BY MANDELL CREIGHTON. - - =Woman in White.= BY WILKIE COLLINS. - - =Won by Waiting.= BY EDNA LYALL. - - =Wonder Book.= FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. - - =Woodstock.= BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. - - =Wooed and Married.= BY ROSA N. CAREY. - - =Wooing O’t.= BY MRS. ALEXANDER. - - =Wordsworth’s Poems.= BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. - - =Wormwood.= BY MARIE CORELLI. - - =Wreck of the Grosvenor.= BY W. CLARK RUSSELL. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized or underlined text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COURIER OF FORTUNE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Marchmont</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A Courier of Fortune</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Arthur W. Marchmont</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 28, 2022 [eBook #67731]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COURIER OF FORTUNE ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h1>A COURIER OF FORTUNE</h1> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption">“GERARD, GERARD,” CRIED GABRIELLE -IN DIRE ALARM</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_titlepage.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<p><span class="xlarge"><i>A Courier<br /> -of Fortune</i></span></p> - -<p><span class="large"><i>By ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT</i></span></p> - -<p><i>Author of “By Wit of Woman,” “The Queen’s Advocate,”<br /> -“By Snare of Love,” “In The Name of a<br /> -Woman,” “When I Was Czar,” etc., etc.</i></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_titlelogo.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p><span class="large"><i>A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers</i><br /> -<i>NEW YORK</i></span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1904, by</i><br /> -ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT<br /> -<br /> -<i>Copyright, 1904, by</i><br /> -FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="ph1">TO<br /> - - -RALPH STUART, <span class="smcap">Esq.</span></p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Mr. Stuart</span>: I dedicate this book to you as a memento -of our delightful hours of travel and work together in writing the play—“A -Courier of Fortune”—founded upon this story. The circumstances -of our joint literary work were as unusual to me as they were -fascinating; for, although the play was commenced in London, the last -“curtain” was not written until my wife and I had crossed the Atlantic -and journeyed with you on a tour of over ten thousand miles of railway -travelling, through so many of the marvels of this wonderful Continent. -St. Louis; Denver; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; the Pacific Seaboard -north to Puget Sound; the fertile Palouse Country; Washington, -Idaho, and Montana—those wealthy States of boundless promise and -marvellous scenic contrasts; the cities of the Lakes, Duluth and Superior; -then the young giant twins, St. Paul and Minneapolis; and by -way of Milwaukee and Chicago to New York. A tour of momentous -interest and a collaboration of close-knit sympathy, cementing a friendship -which, I assure you, is one of the pleasantest things of my life.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="indentright">Yours ever,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Arthur W. Marchmont</span>.</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td class="tdr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td class="tdr" colspan="2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The “Tiger of Morvaix”</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Maison de Malincourt</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10"> 10</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Sinister Hints</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21"> 21</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Duke’s Proposal</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33"> 33</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Tiger’s Claws</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43"> 43</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td><td> “<span class="smcap">I Am Known as Gerard de Cobalt</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56"> 56</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">At Malincourt</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68"> 68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Plot Thickens</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81"> 81</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">What Denys Knew</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94"> 94</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Accusation</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107"> 107</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Duke’s Sentence</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_118"> 118</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Gabrielle’s Friend</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130"> 130</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Discovery</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_145"> 145</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td><td> “<span class="smcap">I am not Gerard de Cobalt</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_156"> 156</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Prisoner</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_168"> 168</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Pascal and the Spy</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_180"> 180</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Gabrielle Pleads</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190"> 190</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">In the “Tiger’s Den”</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_201"> 201</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Life and Death Struggle</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_214"> 214</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Dash for the Walls</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_226"> 226</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">At Malincourt Again</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_237"> 237</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Pascal Plays Spy</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_248"> 248</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Lucette as Decoy</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_259"> 259</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Suspense</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_272"> 272</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Ruse</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_284"> 284</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">At the City Gates</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_295"> 295</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Hunted</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_308"> 308</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Rising and its Sequel</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_322"> 322</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">In the Hall of Audience</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_333"> 333</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Troops March</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_349"> 349</a></td></tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span> - -<p class="ph2">A COURIER OF FORTUNE</p> - -<hr class="tiny" /> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I<br /> - - -<small>THE “TIGER OF MORVAIX”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE hot noontide sun was pouring down into the -market place of Morvaix and in the shadow cast -by the great Cross of St. Jean in the centre, a -handsome but very soberly dressed cavalier was sheltering -from the fierce July heat and closely observing the -townspeople as they clustered here and there to engage -in eager animated discussion. Every now and then he -cast sweeping impatient glances in all directions in evident -search of some one whose delay irritated him.</p> - -<p>It was plain even to a stranger’s eyes that the townsfolk -were greatly excited, and that the reason which had -drawn the people from their houses was both urgent and -disturbing. All classes were present—burghers, merchants, -shopkeepers, workmen, ’prentices, down to the -poorest of the labourers and peasants. Men, women -and children alike were gathered there; the men set-faced -and bitter, the women sad and anxious. Discontent, -anger, fear and sorrow were the emotions evinced among -all save the many soldiers who moved among the excited -knots, with leers for the women and oaths for the men, -and jibes and ribald laughter one to another.</p> - -<p>The young cavalier’s face darkened as he listened, and -more than once he started as if he would interfere, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -checked himself. His keen, quick blue eyes were everywhere; -and presently catching sight of two closely-cowled -monks clad in the black habit of their order, who showed -at a secluded corner of the square, he left his shelter and -went toward them quickly but cautiously.</p> - -<p>As he reached them one gave him a monkish greeting -and the other a military salute.</p> - -<p>“I half feared you had forgotten the appointment,” he -said, in a tone of authority; “and you are certainly forgetting -your part, Pascal. Monks don’t salute like -soldiers.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t I know it?” was the reply, laughingly spoken. -“I haven’t trained all our tough fellows in the monkish -drill for nothing. I’ll tell my beads against Dubois here -for a stoup of wine”; and taking in hand the rosary -which hung conspicuously at his side, he commenced to -mumble a string of nonsense words, and laughed again.</p> - -<p>“Peace, man, peace!” said the other monk, much older -in years. “You’ll be overheard and ruin all.”</p> - -<p>“Tush! they’ll only think it’s my priestly Latin.”</p> - -<p>“I fear I ought to have left you in Paris, Pascal,” said -the cavalier. “I was warned your unruly tongue would -play the mischief with a scheme that calls for tact and -silence.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, my lord——”</p> - -<p>“Not, my lord, here. I am not Gerard de Bourbon for -a few days. I have borrowed the name of that dicing -scoundrel, Raoul de Cobalt, and am Gerard de Cobalt. -Remember that, and watch your words until you have -learnt that lesson.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not forget. This holy man here, Dubois, will -keep me in order,” answered Pascal with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Tell me the news, Dubois.”</p> - -<p>“All has gone as you wished. The men have all -arrived; and yesterday I sought an interview with the -Governor and did all as you had directed.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>“He swallowed the bait?”</p> - -<p>“Readily. I told him that the Cardinal Archbishop -had sent him a hundred fighting men for his troops, and -craved permission for the hundred begging friars to remain -in the city until the pilgrimage southward could be -resumed.”</p> - -<p>“Good.”</p> - -<p>“I brought the monks in,” interposed Pascal. “A -hundred tough stalwarts, every man as sober as a begging -friar should be; all telling their beads with unctuous -unanimity, uttering ‘Pax Vobiscum’ with fervid zeal, -and praying as only Bourbons can pray—for a fight.”</p> - -<p>“Have a care, brother,” cried Dubois quickly, as a knot -of the townsfolk passed.</p> - -<p>“Have I not always care, holy brother?” cried Pascal, -taking his rosary in hand again and mumbling his Paternoster -in tones loud enough to reach the passers’ ears. -“A fine achievement, M. de Cobalt, but it will not last.”</p> - -<p>“What mean you?” asked Gerard quickly.</p> - -<p>“Soldiers are soldiers, and it takes more than a monk’s -gabardine to change them. When pretty girls come buzzing -round, craving ‘A blessing, holy father,’ and looking -so sweet and piteous, it’s not in nature, at least in -soldiers’ nature, not to kiss ’em. Cherry lips lifted in -supplication are strong enemies of this new discipline. -I know it myself.”</p> - -<p>“For shame, Pascal!” cried Dubois sternly. “Are we -to betray everything for a pair of laughing eyes?”</p> - -<p>“Anything can happen when there’s a shapely nose, a -kissable mouth, and two soft cheeks to complete the face. -Let there be haste, I say, or, Bourbons or no Bourbons, -those lips will get kissed; and then there may be the devil -to pay.”</p> - -<p>“There is reason in his madcap words, Dubois,” said -Gerard after a pause.</p> - -<p>“Aye, even a fool can tell the truth,” laughed Pascal.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>“But we must wait till I have proofs. When the news -of this governor’s evil doings came to my father’s ears he -sent me to learn the truth; and while bidding me act as I -would, enjoined me to do nothing until I had clear proofs. -A Bourbon does not act on mere rumours.”</p> - -<p>“Proofs!” broke in Pascal with a swift change to -earnestness. “In the devil’s name, what better proof of -the man’s deeds could you find than that which is writ -large on the wretched, starving faces of the people? -Look at them—faces that the devil grins to see when he -would tempt men and women to sin.”</p> - -<p>“I came in during the night only, and have seen little -or nothing yet,” said Gerard. “What is the meaning -of this gathering?”</p> - -<p>“This devil spawn of a governor has a new ordinance -to proclaim, a new tyranny to enact,” said Pascal. “He -will tax afresh to half its value every ounce of foodstuff -that comes into the city. As if the poor wretches were -not already half-starving. And this tax will finish them. -Look at them and say if the Governor is not justly -dubbed the Tiger of Morvaix? They are waiting his coming -now with the heralds. Of a truth I would as lief -dwell in hell as in Morvaix under Bourbon sway though -it be in name, and Bourbon as I am to the core.”</p> - -<p>“We have had other and weightier matters to occupy -us than the troubles of a small province so remote,” said -Gerard, with a frown at Pascal’s words. “But if the -tale of wrongs be warranted, the Governor, Duke de -Rochelle though he be, will answer to me for them.”</p> - -<p>“By all reports he will answer to no man but himself.”</p> - -<p>“Enough, Pascal,” said Gerard, with a wave of the -hand. “There appear to be over many soldiers, Dubois.”</p> - -<p>“And report says theirs are the only mouths that -take enough food,” broke in Pascal. “Your fighting -man must be fed, of course; but when it comes to feeding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> -him with the food for which all others starve, it is -first cousin to cannibalism.”</p> - -<p>“The number of the soldiery has surprised me,” said -Dubois seriously. “They are far too many for our -small band to do much. It is well your cousin’s army -lies so close to Cambrai. This governor will fight hard.”</p> - -<p>“If his soldiers are loyal to him, it argues in his -favour,” replied Gerard thoughtfully. “We know to -what lengths the burghers of a town may be driven by -their jealousy of us soldiers. We must wait.”</p> - -<p>“And if we wait but a little while there will be no -grievances left. Those who have them will be dead,” -cried Pascal with a shrug of the shoulders.</p> - -<p>“I need no taunts of yours, Pascal, to stir me to do -great Bourbon’s will,” answered Gerard with some -sternness.</p> - -<p>“I meant no taunt, and spoke only my mind as -friend to friend,” said Pascal.</p> - -<p>“The Governor is coming now,” put in Dubois.</p> - -<p>“We had better not be seen longer together. Where -shall I find you at need?”</p> - -<p>“The Duke has lodged Pascal and myself in his -castle,” answered Dubois, and the two were turning -away when Gerard exclaimed, in a tone of excitement—</p> - -<p>“See, Dubois, see, that man riding by the side of -the Governor. Do you recognize him?”</p> - -<p>“It is that villain, de Proballe.”</p> - -<p>“The old rat, so it is,” declared Pascal. “If there is -devil’s work to be done in Morvaix he’ll be in it. Paris -was too hot for him. I thought he was in hell by now. -By the saints, he is long overdue.”</p> - -<p>Gerard did not wait to hear the conclusion of the -speech, but mingling with the crowd watched the proceedings -with close interest.</p> - -<p>It was a very strong force of soldiery, both horse -and foot, that gathered in the market place round the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -statue, large enough to brush away like so many flies -the crowd of citizens, who fell back hushed and awe-stricken -before the muskets and halberds which were -used with much wilful violence.</p> - -<p>The Governor of the city, the Duke Charles de -Rochelle, seated on his charger, a magnificent coal black -Flemish animal, drew up in the centre of the cleared -space, and gazed with amused contemptuousness upon -the shrinking burghers.</p> - -<p>He made a striking centre-piece. Short and slight -of figure, yet suggesting suppleness and strength, his -fifty years sat lightly on him. His fair hair had scarce -a touch of grey, and his pointed auburn beard and -flowing moustache might have belonged to a man -twenty years his junior. His features, strong and -regular, would have been handsome but for the small -close-set grey eyes, whose cold, hawk-like glitter was rendered -additionally repulsive by a strong cast.</p> - -<p>“The eyes of a wild beast,” thought Gerard, who -had been watching him intently. “Well named the -Tiger.”</p> - -<p>At a signal from the Governor, the herald stepped -forward amid a blare of trumpets and read the proclamation. -The people listened in dead silence; but at -the close, loud murmurs broke out which even the -presence of the soldiery could not wholly check.</p> - -<p>“It means starvation to us,” cried one lusty voice, -and a powerful fellow, a smith, wielding the heavy -hammer of his trade, broke through the ring of the -soldiers and made as if to approach the Governor.</p> - -<p>“What dog is this that dares to bay?” It was the -Duke who spoke.</p> - -<p>“I am no dog, my lord, but a burgher of Morvaix, -and I do but speak what all here know,” answered the -smith sturdily.</p> - -<p>The Duke fixed his keen eyes on the man’s face, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> -without a word signed to some of those about him. -Three soldiers sprang toward the smith, who faced -them fearlessly, and lifted his hammer.</p> - -<p>“I have done no wrong. No man shall touch me,” -he said threateningly.</p> - -<p>“Down with the rebel dog,” cried the Duke; and at -the words the soldiers, who had hesitated, rushed upon -the smith. Two went down with broken heads from -blows of the terrible hammer; but the third got his -halberd in, and as the man lay on the ground some -others dashed forward and one of them thrust home -to his heart.</p> - -<p>“So perish all rebels,” cried the Governor, in a -ringing tone to the crowd; and at the threat and the -sight of the smith’s blood the people shrank together -and cowered.</p> - -<p>The Duke smiled coldly on the crowd, and without -another word signed for the procession to reform and -march on, the people shrinking and cowering in silence -from the troops as they passed.</p> - -<p>Gerard’s hot blood had fired at the scene, and he -stood looking after the Governor with a heart hot with -indignant anger at the foul injustice he had witnessed.</p> - -<p>His two followers in monkish garb crossed to him -and as the three whispered together, they were startled -by the sound of a woman’s wailing. It was the dead -man’s wife. She had heard the news and came rushing -upon the scene in wild disordered distress, carrying -her babe in her arms.</p> - -<p>As she was nearing the body, a girl attended by a -page, whose attire evidenced his mistress’ high station, -met her and with tender solicitude offered such consolation -as was possible.</p> - -<p>Gerard’s gaze, attracted by the girl’s beauty, followed -the couple as together they approached the body, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -had now been lifted by some of the sympathizing townsfolk; -and then with a cry of anger he dashed hotly -toward them, followed by his companions.</p> - -<p>There was indeed cause for his anger. Several of -the brutal soldiers had rushed upon the men carrying -the corpse, and with oaths and blows and threats of -the Duke’s anger, seized the body from them and flung -it on the ground.</p> - -<p>The girl, courageously placing herself between the -soldiers and the frightened townsfolk, had turned upon -the former and ordered them away; but the bullies, -strong in the protection of their tyrant master and -presuming on their license to deal as they would with -the people, first jeered at her coarsely and then thrust -her roughly aside while one of them ran and kicked the -corpse with wanton brutality.</p> - -<p>It was the attack on the girl which drove Gerard to -interfere. He was by her side in an instant, flung the -man who had touched her to the ground, and with -eyes flashing and hand on his sword, dared the men to -interfere further.</p> - -<p>The soldiers were still present in the square in great -force, however, and attracted by the tumult many came -rallying to the side of their comrades. At the same -time, inspirited by Gerard’s daring, a great crowd of -the townsfolk closed up behind him; and it seemed impossible -that a conflict could be avoided.</p> - -<p>There was a moment of hesitation, however, while -the two opposing bodies glared angrily at one another, -and Pascal with ready wit seized it to step between -them, and with uplifted crucifix threatened the soldiers -with the ban of Holy Church if they attempted further -violence to either dead or living.</p> - -<p>While he was haranguing them in loud and vehement -tones, a number of men in monkish dress appeared -almost as if by magic, and pushing through the citizens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -ranged themselves at his side, thus giving an impressive -background to his exhortation.</p> - -<p>The soldiers, abashed by this strange opposition, hung -back in doubt, and the citizens having in the meanwhile -borne the dead body away, the trouble ended -in nothing more serious than muttered threats and -oaths from the soldiers and stern remonstrances from -the monks.</p> - -<p>When the soldiers had drawn off, Gerard turned to -seek the girl the attack on whom had provoked him -to interfere, but she had vanished.</p> - -<p>With an eagerness which brought a smile to Pascal’s -face, Gerard plied those about him with questions -regarding her, and learnt that she was Mademoiselle de -Malincourt, and had gone away to comfort the trouble-stricken -woman whose husband had been the victim of -the morning’s tragedy.</p> - -<p>“You did shrewdly, Pascal,” said Dubois, when the -two were alone.</p> - -<p>“Our good fellows won’t thank me, for, like myself, -their fingers were tingling to be at some of the rascals’ -throats. Where’s the young lord, Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“Gone in search of——” Pascal’s laugh interposed -to finish the sentence.</p> - -<p>“Aye, aye. We can understand. There’s a woman -in the thing now, of course. And we shall hear more -of her, or I am a monk indeed, and no soldier, which -God forfend.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br /> - - -<small>THE MAISON DE MALINCOURT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SOME two or three hours after the scene in the -market place a girl sat at her spinning wheel on -the terrace of the Maison de Malincourt, opposite -the head of the stately flight of steps leading down to -the wide gardens. She had placed her wheel in an -angle of the southern turret so that she could ply her task -in comfort, protected from the rays of the July sun.</p> - -<p>She was Lucette de Boisdegarde, the foster sister and -close friend of Mademoiselle de Malincourt, for whose -coming she was now waiting with as much patience -as her quick vivacious temperament permitted.</p> - -<p>Her industry was only fitful. At times her shapely -little foot pressed with insistent vigour upon the -treadle and the wheel flew round rapidly, as if keeping -pace with the thoughts that drew her dark pretty face -into a frown of petulance and made her large eyes -flash with gathering purpose. But the wheel was often -still and she would sit back, idly fingering the threads -of gleaming flax and thinking, while her gaze would -roam over the blaze of lovely flowers in the garden, or -stray away to the red roofs of the city which showed -through the skirting trees beyond, or rest curiously on -the vacant seat at her side on the cushions of which -lay some needlework.</p> - -<p>She was in one of these preoccupied moods when her -sharp ear caught the sound of a footstep. In a moment -she set the treadle of her wheel whirling swiftly, while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -she crooned to herself the air of a ballad of the time, -and appeared too deeply engrossed in her work and -song to have eyes or ears for anything else.</p> - -<p>Yet young Denys St. Jean was worth looking at. -Well-built he was, soldierly in bearing and self-reliant -in mien, with a fair frank honest face, though now grave -with thought and purpose, as he turned the corner of -the Maison at a slow deliberate pace.</p> - -<p>Seeing Lucette he started and his face brightened; -and he smiled as he perceived her absorption in her -task was overacted. He hesitated just an instant as -if about to speak to her, but with a slight frown checked -the inclination, walked on a few paces, lingered again, -and then stopped.</p> - -<p>Lucette meanwhile was treading her wheel vigorously -and singing sweetly to herself—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">There was once a maiden in Arcady,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose lover so feal and true</div> -<div class="verse">Came riding forth from the sullen north</div> -<div class="verse">Her sweet white hand to woo.</div> -</div></div> - -<p>During the verse Denys stood with his back to the -singer, his arms folded in an attitude suggestive of -antagonism; but once or twice, when he half-turned -toward her, the smile on his lips and the light in his -eyes told of very different feelings.</p> - -<p>When the song ceased he maintained his attitude of -indifference, keeping his back to her and his arms still -folded, waiting for her to speak; but when she gave -no sign that she knew of his presence, he turned and -stole up behind her softly, with a smile of expectation, -and bent over her.</p> - -<p>Her industry and absorption appeared to increase, -however, and her foot pressed the treadle, the wheel -flew round, and her white fingers flashed hither and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -thither, tending the flax, gathering the thread, adjusting -this and smoothing that, while all the while she crooned -the old ballad.</p> - -<p>Her patience beat him at length.</p> - -<p>“You know I’m here,” he whispered.</p> - -<p>“Ah, Antoine, I knew your tread.”</p> - -<p>“Antoine!” exclaimed Denys with an angry start, -“what do you mean by that, Lucette?”</p> - -<p>The wheel stopped and she looked round, her face a -pretty mask of coquettish surprise and her eyes beaming -with mischief.</p> - -<p>“So, it is not Antoine!” with just a suggestion of -disappointment in the tone, a little shrug of the shapely -shoulders, and a pout. “Only you. I thought you -were gone for ever.”</p> - -<p>“You will drive me away, if you treat me like this. -What did you mean about knowing Antoine’s tread?”</p> - -<p>For a second she let her roguish eyes rest on his, and -then she smiled.</p> - -<p>“His feet are so big and so clumsy,” she said, and -turned again to her wheel.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean you meet him so often you can -recognize them?”</p> - -<p>“Recognize them! Mon Dieu, they are not feet to -forget when once seen,” she cried lightly.</p> - -<p>“You can’t pass it off like that, Lucette. Were you -expecting him here this afternoon? Is that what you -mean?” He was still angry and his tone very earnest.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t expect <i>you</i>, Monsieur Catechist.”</p> - -<p>“And you meant to amuse yourself with him in my -absence?”</p> - -<p>She turned and made a pretty grimace of dismay -and spread out her hands.</p> - -<p>“Is it an hour since you said you would never speak -to me again? What then does it matter to you? Would -you play the dog in the manger?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>“Will you answer my question?”</p> - -<p>“Why do you come back at all when all is at an end -between us? You said so.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know why I come back?” The tone -was full of feeling; but Lucette merely shrugged her -shoulders.</p> - -<p>“To see if you had made me miserable, I suppose? -You have not;” and she burst again into her song, -when Denys caught her by the wrist, and looked intently -into her face.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean you don’t care, Lucette?”</p> - -<p>“I care not to have my arm bruised with your great -clumsy hands. Antoine would never——”</p> - -<p>“To hell with your Antoine!” he burst in vehemently. -“You play with me as a cat with a bird;” -and throwing her hand from him he turned and strode -away. He got no farther than the corner of the house, -and looking back saw her leaning against the wall -nursing her arm as if in pain. “Forgive me, Lucette,” -he cried remorsefully, hastening back. “I am a brute; -you fire my blood when you make me jealous. If you -love Antoine de Cavannes better than me, say so now, -and let me go. But don’t torture me.”</p> - -<p>She stood nursing her arm and looking up at him.</p> - -<p>“Torture <i>you</i>, is it? Torture <i>you</i>?” and she held -her arm up in reproach.</p> - -<p>“You have only to say the word, and I’ll never -trouble you again. It can’t be both Antoine and me. -Choose!”</p> - -<p>“Choose!” she repeated, mocking his serious tone. -Then with a laugh and a change to coquettish hesitation: -“Hot-tempered, handsome Denys or splay-footed, -ugly Antoine, eh? It can’t be both of you, eh? And -if——” She paused teasingly.</p> - -<p>“In God’s name, can’t you be serious?”</p> - -<p>“When I am, I’ll choose neither of you, but just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -bury myself in a nunnery. So good-bye, my lord -surly-face;” and she burst into a laugh.</p> - -<p>“You mean that good-bye?”</p> - -<p>“When did I wish you anything but good?”</p> - -<p>“You’ll drive me away from you and from Morvaix,” -he said angrily.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’ll soon be back again.”</p> - -<p>“You think you can play with me as you will.”</p> - -<p>“Stupid! As if I cared where you go! But you -can’t leave Gabrielle. You can be many nasty things, -but at least you can’t be untrue to your trust.”</p> - -<p>His angry features relaxed somewhat at this.</p> - -<p>“I wish I could read your heart.”</p> - -<p>“So does Antoine.”</p> - -<p>Angered again at this, a hot retort was stayed on -his lips as Gabrielle de Malincourt stepped out of one -of the tall windows of the terrace close to them.</p> - -<p>“Ah, my good Denys, and, of course, Lucette,” she -said with a smile.</p> - -<p>“It should be the other order, mademoiselle, I fear,” -he answered. “Lucette, and of course, Denys. It is -Denys who is ‘of course.’”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle glanced at them both and understood.</p> - -<p>“Quarrelling again! Lucette, Lucette. You treat -him villainously. But never mind, Denys. I know -what’s in her heart whatever her lips may say.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, I——” began Lucette in protest, when -Gabrielle interposed.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I know what you would say. But I am -not Denys. When the sea is very calm some people -like to rock a boat to make pretence; but when the -storm comes in reality it’s all very different. Wait till -there comes a bit of a storm, Denys, and you’ll see the -truth. If Lucette had been I just now in the market -place and you had been at hand, you would have seen -to whom she would have turned.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>“Has anything chanced, mademoiselle?” asked Denys -quickly.</p> - -<p>“That which made me wish for you, good Denys. I -had visited poor old Jacques Boulanger and was returning -through the market place just when the heralds -had proclaimed this new and shameful ordinance of -the Governor’s—a tax so cruel that it makes my blood -boil. A terrible thing occurred. Babillon, the smith, -sprang forward to protest, and the Governor, holding -him for a rebel, had him done to death there on the -spot by his brutal soldiers.”</p> - -<p>“How horrible!” exclaimed Lucette.</p> - -<p>“But you, mademoiselle?” asked Denys.</p> - -<p>“I had just heard the news when his wife came -rushing through the place like one distraught, and I -was seeking to comfort her in her anguish when the -soldiers—oh, they are fiends, those men!—attacked the -citizens who had lifted the smith’s body to bear it home, -flung the dead on the ground, and when, burning with -indignation, I ordered them to desist, they turned on -me, one of them thrust me violently aside, and would -have done I know not what next, had not a cavalier, -a stranger, rushed up to help me.”</p> - -<p>“Would I had been there, mademoiselle!” exclaimed -Denys angrily. “Would you know the fellow again?”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean the stranger cavalier?” asked Lucette, -with a light of mischief in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Nay, Lucette, do not jest,” said Gabrielle earnestly. -“The man was punished for his act, Denys. The -cavalier struck him to the ground and faced the whole -of them fearlessly; and I dreaded for a moment that a -conflict would follow, for there are not many in Morvaix -who would see me harmed. But a monk intervened -then and the danger was averted. Babillon’s -body was carried away, and I went with the wretched -woman whom I have but now left, all desolate, broken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -and whelmed by her sorrow. These are ill days indeed -for Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“But the men who maltreated you, mademoiselle, can -be found, nay, must be found and punished,” cried -Denys warmly.</p> - -<p>“It is of no matter now, Denys. It is over; beside -the cruel wrongs done to the people, my little hurt is -nothing. These soldiers, moreover, are but hirelings, -and do no more than hirelings’ work. But there is one -quest—you must find the cavalier who served me.”</p> - -<p>Lucette looked up.</p> - -<p>“You learnt his name, Gabrielle?” she asked -quickly.</p> - -<p>“Nay, for I left the place with Babillon’s wife—wife -alas! no more, but widow, poor soul.”</p> - -<p>“The cavalier, Gabrielle, was he handsome as well -as brave?” asked Lucette after a pause.</p> - -<p>A faint tinge of colour tinted Gabrielle’s cheeks as -she answered.</p> - -<p>“In truth, I scarce had time to see, Lucette; but he -seemed in all respects a manly man, a figure of distinction -truly. Tall and knightly in mien; his face -unbearded and full of strength, yet kindly and courteous; -fair in colouring; and his blue eyes, keen and flashing -fire as he faced the soldiery, were gentle and solicitous -when viewing my plight; his voice resolute with the -tone of one accustomed to command; yet tuned to gentle -accents, as it seemed to me. I much mistake me if he -be not a knight of loftier station than his sober brown -attire would seem to bespeak him. A most gallant -gentleman and a brave heart.”</p> - -<p>“You saw much, cousin, it seems, although you had -no time, as you say;” and Lucette, with a smile to -herself, turned to her spinning wheel.</p> - -<p>“I will seek him out, mademoiselle,” said Denys, -“and no doubt shall find him. Shall I give him any -message?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>“I could not even stay to thank him, and would -wish to do so. Let him know as much.”</p> - -<p>“Before I go, there is a grave matter on which I -would speak with you.”</p> - -<p>“Not now, Denys, but afterward. He must not -think Gabrielle de Malincourt ungrateful. I beg you -hasten at once in quest of him.”</p> - -<p>“I will go,” he answered, and turning toward Lucette, -said nervously: “Lucette, I——”</p> - -<p>“We can finish our quarrel when you return,” she -interposed. “I may forgive you if you do Gabrielle’s -service quickly.” Her tone was one of indifference, -but he read the smile in her eyes and went with a light -quick step upon his errand.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle had dropped into the vacant seat by Lucette -and now leant back thinking, her lips slightly parted -and her eyes dreamy.</p> - -<p>“He was a handsome man, coz, this cavalier of -yours?” Gabrielle started at the question and then met -her friend’s half-quizzing look calmly.</p> - -<p>“I have never seen a nobler, Lucette. I hope our -good Denys will find him. Why do you plague that -good fellow so sorely?”</p> - -<p>“Nay, it is he plagues me. He is always quarrelling.”</p> - -<p>“<i>You</i> are always finding cause to make him, you -mean?”</p> - -<p>“He is a man, and must be kept in his place;” and -Lucette shrugged her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“By bickering and teasing and wrangling? Does it -please you?”</p> - -<p>“There is always the making up again;” and Lucette -laughed roguishly.</p> - -<p>“Beware how you try him too much. He is sterling -mettle.” She paused and suppressed a sigh as she -added: “How happy you should be!”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>Lucette glanced across at her and her manner -changed.</p> - -<p>“You are thinking again, Gabrielle. You are not -sad?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I was thinking. I ought not to be sad, to-day -of all days; and yet——” The rest of the sentence -was an unmistakable sigh, deep and sincere.</p> - -<p>“He may prove a gallant cavalier, Gabrielle, your -Gerard; as gallant maybe as your hero of the market -place. Don’t look like that, dear.”</p> - -<p>“I am afraid, Lucette, horribly afraid. You cannot -tell how it is with me. I am perhaps overwrought by -this terrible scene in the market place, and—oh, I know -not what I feel;” and with a shudder she covered her -face with her hands.</p> - -<p>“It will all come right, dear,” whispered Lucette -gently, after a pause; but the words seemed to jar upon -Gabrielle, who lowered her hands, and with a look of -irritation replied almost petulantly.</p> - -<p>“You judge from your own little outlook. You tease -Denys and force a sham quarrel, knowing he will make -it up and all will come right, as you say. But how -would it be with you if you were in my place, given -to a man you had not seen since you were a child; betrothed -to one you know nothing about, and who may -turn out to be—oh, what am I saying?”</p> - -<p>“I should hate him before he came to claim me, -Gabrielle,” said Lucette vigorously, tearing at the flax -she held in her fingers. “Claim me!” she added, incensed -by her own word. “I would make him feel that -the claiming was no easy task. Oh, I should hate him! -But you need not wed him. You are the mistress of -Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“You do not understand, Lucette.” The girl looked -up in genuine surprise at the change in Gabrielle’s tone, -suddenly calm, proud and cold. “It is my duty to my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -family. My parents ordered it so, and it is not for me -to disobey. I owe it to my house.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t understand you, Gabrielle. At one moment -you are a girl with all a girl’s heart and feelings, and -the next, you are the grand dame, cold, passionless, -proud—just the embodied spirit of the traditions of -your house.”</p> - -<p>“Were you a Malincourt you would understand. I -have to live my life and must perforce be content.”</p> - -<p>“But pride makes an ill substitute for love in a marriage, -Gabrielle. And your motive is pride. If this -M. Gerard de Cobalt, this distant kinsman and unseen -betrothed, should turn out to be a hideous depraved -wretch——”</p> - -<p>“Peace, Lucette; you do but plague me. M. de Cobalt -will be here to-day or to-morrow; and you will remember -he is my affianced husband.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry my reckless tongue wounds you, Gabrielle. -I love you so dearly;” and Lucette bent across -and kissed her tenderly. “Pray God it may all be well -with you. Forgive me.”</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to forgive, dear,” answered -Gabrielle sweetly. “You are right. I have two natures; -and if the girl in me rebels sometimes, it is -kinder to check than to encourage rebellion. To-day, -somehow, it is harder than usual to check it. I shall -be glad when M. de Cobalt comes. My uncle gives -me good account of him, and speaks of him as brave -and gallant.”</p> - -<p>“Does M. de Proballe know him?”</p> - -<p>“No, he has never seen him—at least not for many -years; but he has heard much of him, and from what -he says all should be well.”</p> - -<p>“From what he says,” commented Lucette, with a -little frown of disdain.</p> - -<p>“You trouble me, Lucette, with these reflections on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -my uncle. You do not like him, and so would have -me share your feeling. We’ll say no more;” and with -a sigh she leant back to think.</p> - -<p>Lucette, seeing her mood, resumed her work and set -her wheel speeding busily on; but chancing to glance -round a moment later she stopped abruptly with an -exclamation of surprise which attracted Gabrielle’s -attention.</p> - -<p>A man was standing close behind Gabrielle’s chair -in an attitude of excessive humility. He bowed low -and spread out his hands as she turned to him, while -an expressive curl of contempt drew down the corners -of Lucette’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“What is it? Why did you not say you were -here?” asked Gabrielle sharply.</p> - -<p>“I feared to interrupt miladi, and was awaiting your -permission to speak my errand.” His voice was soft -and his manner deferential.</p> - -<p>“What is it? Speak.”</p> - -<p>“My master, the Baron de Proballe, desires to know -if it is convenient for him to wait upon you, miladi?”</p> - -<p>“My uncle? Certainly. Where is he?”</p> - -<p>“At present in his apartments, miladi.”</p> - -<p>“Tell him I will see him at once.”</p> - -<p>“I am miladi’s most humble servant,” was the reply -with another deep bow, as he went.</p> - -<p>“What a loathsome snake is that Master Dauban,” -exclaimed Lucette, looking after him.</p> - -<p>“My uncle says he is a very honest fellow and as -faithful as a man can be.”</p> - -<p>“I should need a higher character than that,” said -Lucette with another very expressive shrug.</p> - -<p>“The Baron de Proballe is my uncle, Lucette,” replied -Gabrielle in a tone of reproach, as she rose to go -into the house. And Lucette, by way of reply, turned -her head away with a toss and made a grimace to -herself as she bent over her wheel.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III<br /> - - -<small>SINISTER HINTS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SCARCELY had Gabrielle left the terrace before -Lucette’s wheel stopped and she began to think -instead of work. Little frowns and smiles chased -each other alternately across her dark expressive face, -and here even pearly teeth showed ever and again between -the full, mobile lips.</p> - -<p>“Has the day’s adventure changed everything?” she -mused. “He seems to have been very handsome, this -gallant cavalier. I wonder. It would be a hard fight. -I know how her pride can stand like a fortress; and I -know how love can pull and pull and pull. Don’t I -know it?” and she smiled and sighed in turn. “Poor -Gabrielle! What a struggle! Heart whispers, ‘I love -him’; pride answers, ‘My pledge is given.’ Ah me! -he will have to be a manly man, as she says, if he will -win her. But she will have a traitor in the fortress -after all, if she really love him. Ah me! I know how -it would end with me. But Gabrielle—well, she is -Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>At that moment a frown chased away the smiles, for -Master Dauban, the man she had dubbed a snake, came -out from the Maison and approached her.</p> - -<p>He was one of those creatures on whom nature sets -the outward marks of his inward character. His whole -appearance and manner suggested slyness and secretiveness. -His light brown shifty eyes were deep set -in his sallow face, his cheeks smooth and round, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -his lips thin and straight; while his voice, unctuous and -oily, and his glances, always quick and restlessly furtive, -no less than the fawning gestures of his hands and his -soft tread proclaimed him a born spy. At least so -Lucette thought, and she hated him accordingly, as she -hated all things mean and base.</p> - -<p>But his feeling for her was very far removed from -hatred, and as he came up now his glance was full of -admiration.</p> - -<p>“I am the happiest of men to find you alone, Mistress -Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“I am not the happiest of women to find you anywhere—near -me, Master Dauban,” she retorted.</p> - -<p>“You are as cruel to me as you are beautiful.”</p> - -<p>“And you are as handsome as you are honest,” she -cried with a shrug. He winced.</p> - -<p>“Why do you always wrong me so?”</p> - -<p>“In calling you honest, you mean?”</p> - -<p>“You are in truth a sweet rose, Mistress Lucette, -but the thorns of your wit are sharp and draw blood.”</p> - -<p>“They are meant to prevent snails and slugs from -crawling too near me, Master Dauban.”</p> - -<p>“I take all you say in good part.”</p> - -<p>“In ‘good part.’ And what good part is there in -you, I pray? I have never seen it.”</p> - -<p>“I can be a firm friend.”</p> - -<p>“To yourself, maybe.”</p> - -<p>“And an ugly enemy, too, at times.”</p> - -<p>Lucette looked him up and down, and her lip curled -as she answered with almost savage contempt—</p> - -<p>“Who has fallen so low as to fear you, Master -Dauban? Have you been trounced by some scullion -of the kitchen? You should beware how you offend -any one with hands to strike with.”</p> - -<p>“It is easy to scoff, mistress,” he returned sullenly, -stung by her words.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>“Aye, truly, where you are the object. If you do -not like the truth, go away; you came of your own -will and do not stay by mine. In truth, Malincourt would -be none the worse for your going altogether.”</p> - -<p>“I have a strong reason for wishing to stay. You -are the reason,” he said, shooting a glance at her. -“Why won’t you let me be your friend?”</p> - -<p>“There is but one act of friendship you could show -to me.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?” he asked eagerly. “Try me; try -me.”</p> - -<p>“Put a hundred leagues between us and never lessen -the distance. It would indeed be an act of true friendship -if you would never let my eyes rest on your face -again.”</p> - -<p>“That is a hard saying. I could not live apart from -you,” he declared with much earnestness.</p> - -<p>“I see no reason in that why you should not go -away,” she laughed. “The world could manage to -exist without you; although your master might miss -you.”</p> - -<p>He looked at her cunningly.</p> - -<p>“You do not like my master, I fear, Mistress -Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, has he set you to find out what I think of -him?”</p> - -<p>“I could tell you things,” he said slyly, lowering his -tone and glancing about him.</p> - -<p>She paused a moment and her eyes questioned him. -She checked the mocking reply which was on her lips, -and asked, as if with an assumed indifference, covering -real curiosity—</p> - -<p>“What could you tell me?”</p> - -<p>“I have eyes to see, ears to hear, and I know what -I know of his plans—and you would like to know, too.”</p> - -<p>Lucette started and bent her head over her wheel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -that her face might not be seen by his ferrety eyes. -She resolved to get it from him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“Bah! Am I a fool, Master Dauban, that you would -fill my ears with lies about a good man? You say -truly, the Baron de Proballe is in no favour of mine, -but at least I know him to be an honest, fair-speaking, -straight-dealing gentleman.”</p> - -<p>The man laughed unctuously, as from the enjoyable -vantage point of superior knowledge.</p> - -<p>“I know what I know,” he said cunningly.</p> - -<p>“You know no ill of him, and I will hear none. He is -Mademoiselle Gabrielle’s uncle and protecting friend, -and a good man.” Lucette’s tone was full of reproachful -indignation.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he is miladi’s uncle, and a good man.” He -laughed again with the same unctuous suggestion of -intense enjoyment. “And all you people here in Malincourt -are so sharp and clever—so sharp and clever—as -clever as he is good.”</p> - -<p>“We are sharp enough to know an honest man when -we see him, and clever enough not to listen to the -tales of a maligner, Master Dauban,” retorted Lucette -with an appearance of great warmth. Her anger so delighted -the man that he threw himself into the seat -near her and laughed till his sides shook.</p> - -<p>“What fools women are!”</p> - -<p>“They are a match for a man’s brilliant wits any -time,” cried Lucette very sharply. “Go away and -leave me in peace.”</p> - -<p>“A match for us! ho, ho! a match,” he laughed. -Presently he grew serious, leaned forward and said in -a lone tone: “You love miladi; you think my master -a good man, eh? What would you give to know what -I know?”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t know all the wickedness you know for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -a duke’s ransom,” declared Lucette sharply. “I should -have to hang myself if I did, in sheer self-shame.”</p> - -<p>“Pouf! women are worse than men; and you’re no -better than the rest, I’d be sworn. But you’re such a -pretty spitfire and say such waspish things; that’s what -I like in you. But for all your sharp tongue you are -as blind as a three-day kitten, and can’t tell milk from -vinegar when it’s under your very nose. You can’t -even smell it;” and he laughed again.</p> - -<p>“Better a blind kitten than a wideawake rat with a -keen scent for garbage, Master Dauban,” she retorted -with a shrug of her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Rats can find other things than garbage, Mistress -Lucette. Shall I ask you a question?” He paused, and -then with an accent of great cunning, asked—“Why -do you think my good master is so interested in this -marriage of miladi with M. de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>Lucette laughed airily.</p> - -<p>“That’s easy to answer, of a surety. Because he is -the brother of Mistress Gabrielle’s late mother, and it -is a family affair.”</p> - -<p>“There mewed the blind kitten,” he cried with another -of his triumphant laughs.</p> - -<p>“And there squeaked a rat!”</p> - -<p>“Does a good man like to see his niece, a pure -woman, mated with a scoundrel? Does he work and -scheme and strive and plot to force it on? Answer me -that, kitten.”</p> - -<p>“Does even a rat seek to bite the hand that feeds -it? Answer me that, rat.”</p> - -<p>“Feeds it? Out on such feeding,” he cried with sudden -malevolence. “Uses it, fools it, kicks it, and throws -a few husks to it, keeping all the grain for himself. -I know what I know, I tell you. And you should -know it too if you—but never mind. Go on with your -mewing, and when your gay gallant comes, set him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> -on another pedestal as high as my noble master’s and -fawn on him.”</p> - -<p>“What grudge have you against M. de Cobalt that -you would set us against him?”</p> - -<p>“Grudge? I have no grudge. I have never even -set eyes on him. But I know what I know. And when -your eyes get opened, remember to-day.”</p> - -<p>“And why should a rat squeak against a man he -has never seen?”</p> - -<p>But he was quick to discern the earnestness which -Lucette allowed to appear in her tone; and he got up -and smiled cunningly.</p> - -<p>“I am not a well to be emptied by a woman’s bucket, -Mistress Lucette. You will see, some day.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe a word you’ve said,” she replied -with a shrug of indifference.</p> - -<p>“I could say much more if——” he paused.</p> - -<p>“If what?”</p> - -<p>He leered at her cunningly, and bending down close -to her shoulder, whispered—</p> - -<p>“If you’d give me such a kiss as I saw you give -Antoine de Cavannes in the wood yonder when Denys -St. Jean was at Courtal. ‘Splay-footed Antoine,’ as -you called him to-day.”</p> - -<p>Lucette flushed with anger and vexation, genuine -enough now, and a passionate retort rose to her lips, -but did not pass them. She had to fight down her -anger in a pause which he mistook for confusion.</p> - -<p>“You have indeed both eyes and ears, Master -Dauban,” she answered with a quick glance of coquetry. -“But you will not tell on me?” she added, as if in dismay -and fear of him.</p> - -<p>“I may,” he replied, enjoying her fear.</p> - -<p>“You must not. You must not.” Her accents were -those of quick alarm.</p> - -<p>“Do you love either of them?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>“A poor girl must have friends.”</p> - -<p>“Yet you would drive <i>me</i> away.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, Master Dauban, do you believe all a poor girl -says?” and she sighed and cast a languishing look on -him.</p> - -<p>“You hate me and wish never to see me again. You -said so.”</p> - -<p>“Must every maiden wear her heart on her sleeve, -Master Dauban, for you handsome gallants to trifle -with?”</p> - -<p>“My name is Jacques, by your leave.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis the sweetest of names;” and Lucette sighed -and looked down; then started and dashed a look at -him and cried as if in distress—“Go away, Master -Dauban. You make me so—oh, I don’t know how to -say it. I feel—oh, do go away. You make me feel so -serious and so—so sad. Ah me!”</p> - -<p>“You say those things to Denys and Antoine—and -others.”</p> - -<p>For answer Lucette fixed her eyes upon him reproachfully -and then sighed again; and her eyes could -speak in a language few men could read unmoved.</p> - -<p>“I knew you were cruel, but—oh, do leave me.”</p> - -<p>His hand sought hers. She let him take it and returned -the pressure of his fingers, which trembled.</p> - -<p>“You have never met <i>me</i> in the wood, Lucette,” he -whispered.</p> - -<p>“You have never asked me, Jacques. I never -thought——” and she faltered and broke down.</p> - -<p>“Be there at set of sun this evening.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, I could not; I dare not. I could never do -that—but I often walk there—Jacques.”</p> - -<p>“And this evening?” He was trembling again in -his eagerness.</p> - -<p>Her eyes said yes, the pressure of her tell-tale fingers -confirmed it, and the sigh she gave sent him into an -ecstasy.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>“I believe you do but play with poor me,” she -whispered.</p> - -<p>“I swear on my soul I am in earnest. I love you, -Lucette, I——”</p> - -<p>“Hush, not now, not now;” and she snatched her -hand quickly from him as if in great confusion and -picked up her spinning wheel. “I shall count the -minutes till the sun sets—<i>now</i>, Jacques,” she cried with -a bright laughing smile, and passed into the house.</p> - -<p>“Blind kittens are we, Master Rat?” she said to -herself as she went to her apartment. “If I do not -know all you have to tell me of this villainy against -Gabrielle before the dusk is dark, may I never know a -rogue when I see one.” And then her fears on Gabrielle’s -account having been excited, her quick wits -busied themselves with all manner of fanciful conjectures -as to what the vaguely shadowed danger could be; -and her impatience could scarce be held in check until -the time arrived for her meeting with Dauban.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the interview between Gabrielle and her -uncle had taken place and he had brought her news -which for the moment had both deeply interested and -greatly excited her.</p> - -<p>The Baron de Proballe was a man whose aim in life -had been to fill to the brim the cup of self-indulgent -pleasures. Handsome, rich, unscrupulous and talented, -he was endowed with most of the vices except -cowardice, and while yet a young man he had soon made -himself a reputation as a profligate among profligates -until his excesses had ruined him. His fortune declined -as his reputation grew, and for some years he -had been driven to live upon his wits, which meant -trading upon his skill as a gambler until a particularly -disgraceful scandal had driven him from Paris, bankrupt -in pocket and much broken in health, to seek refuge -with his young kinswoman at Morvaix.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>There his evil fame was unknown, and Gabrielle had -welcomed him for her dead mother’s sake; and in the -small provincial city he had passed two hateful years, -brooding upon the pleasures which were now denied -to him and devising means to rehabilitate his shattered -fortunes and recover some of his lost health.</p> - -<p>Outwardly he had hitherto shown himself a model -of a courteous gentleman and had lived almost an exemplary -life in Morvaix, having put away from him -with iron firmness the dissolute habits and evil practices -of the old life in Paris. The desire for them burnt as -strongly as ever in his blood, and his sole object in resisting -it so strenuously was the hope of regaining such -health, fortune and position as would enable him once -more to indulge them freely.</p> - -<p>But there was a flaw in his plans which threatened -to ruin everything. He had ingratiated himself with -the Governor, and the Duke, as keen a gambler as -de Proballe himself, had won very heavy sums of money -which could not be paid; and he had in this way obtained -a hold over him which threatened to have critical -consequences to all concerned.</p> - -<p>The Duke had acted with deliberate intention. A man -of reckless life and licentious nature, he had been -fascinated by Gabrielle de Malincourt’s beauty, and he -had formed a scheme in regard to her which made her -uncle’s assistance of the utmost value and consequence.</p> - -<p>De Proballe himself, despite his evil past and seared -conscience, had at first refused indignantly to have any -hand in the vile matter; but the Governor, never nice -in his methods, had found means to over-ride this -opposition; and then de Proballe sought to justify his -act to himself by forming a counter-scheme against the -Governor.</p> - -<p>To further the plan, Gabrielle’s uncle had concocted -the story and fabricated the proofs supporting it, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> -her parents’ wish that she should marry a distant kinsman, -Gerard de Cobalt, a young reprobate whose life -had been if anything more disgraceful than that of de -Proballe himself. His culminating act of villainy had -been the treacherous murder of a friend at Cambrai, a -town within the Governor’s province, and for this he -was a fugitive from justice. De Cobalt’s reward for -his part in the infamous scheme was to be a pardon for -the affair at Cambrai; and he was to come to Morvaix -and marry Gabrielle to provide a complacent cloak for -the Governor’s scheme.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle, suspecting nothing of the intrigue which -was in progress about her, and deceived by her uncle’s -consistently considerate and courteous demeanour to -herself, had grown both to trust and like him, and met -him now with a smile.</p> - -<p>He noticed her disquiet and remarked on her troubled -looks.</p> - -<p>“It was the scene in the market place,” she said, and -told him what had occurred.</p> - -<p>“I was there and saw it all, Gabrielle. I fear Babillon -brought it upon himself. We live in troubled times, -child, and authority must be maintained. The Duke is -hasty in temper, and he thought, I am sure, as did I and -others, that the smith meant to attack him. It is only -in the first moments of an outbreak that it can be quelled; -had this gone further much more blood than the smith’s -would have been shed. Remember that.”</p> - -<p>“He was but protesting,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“He nearly killed two of the soldiery with his protest, -child.”</p> - -<p>“Not until they were ordered to attack him.”</p> - -<p>“Who raises his hand in violence must look for -violence in return. I am not defending the act. Had -I been Governor I would have listened first and punished -afterwards, but that is not de Rochelle’s method.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>“It was a foul murder, and I care not who hears -me say it,” exclaimed Gabrielle vehemently. “And this -infamous tax caused it.”</p> - -<p>“It is about that I have news for you. The Duke -is considering your request to him and will wait upon -you here at Malincourt, to-morrow. He is a staunch -friend to you, Gabrielle, and your lightest word has -weight with him.”</p> - -<p>“He should need no one’s word to induce him to do -justly,” she said. “He grinds the face of the people -with his hideous tyranny.”</p> - -<p>“You have this influence with him and can best -use it in the people’s cause. That is a great thought for -you to ponder. You will not do best for them by incensing -it, but rather by leading him to see these things -as you see them.” He watched her very closely as he -said this in his gentlest and most persuasive tone.</p> - -<p>“But I despise him,” she said with a shudder. “I -loathe him, indeed.”</p> - -<p>“In this world we cannot choose the means we would, -but must use those which lie to our hands. Yours is -a heavy load of responsibility for such young shoulders -to bear, my child. The head of a great house, alone -with none to advise save an unworthy old man who has -wearied of the affairs of the world, and with the cares -of an army of suffering people to plague and oppress -you. Let us hope that your marriage will prove the -relief it should. Gerard de Cobalt should be here to-day -or to-morrow. Pray Heaven he carries a steady head -on worthy shoulders—as indeed I hear he does.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle sighed and lifted and let fall her hand; a -half-despairing gesture suggestive of her distracted -thoughts.</p> - -<p>“You should be all smiles, Gabrielle. My dear sister, -your mother, and your father, too, built so much -upon this marriage. The Governor also is profoundly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> -interested in it, and will welcome your husband and -give him an honoured place in his favour and esteem. -You two are destined to do great things for Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Please God it may be so,” returned Gabrielle earnestly. -“But to take a husband I have never seen is——” -The sentence ended in another gesture as hopeless as the -first.</p> - -<p>“I have made many searching inquiries concerning -him, Gabrielle. A handsome gallant and as brave and -fearless as comely.”</p> - -<p>“It may be for the best,” she said lifelessly.</p> - -<p>“It must and will be for the best,” he returned. “To-morrow -you will hear from the Duke how he proposes -to honour the man of your choice.”</p> - -<p>“Choice?” echoed Gabrielle, catching at the word.</p> - -<p>“Yes, choice; what else? Whom else in Morvaix -would you choose? You would not choose to disobey -your dear mother’s last earthly wish. And the obligations -of a girl placed as you are at the head of a house -such as ours might well have compelled a marriage -with a far less welcome groom. I could tell you of -scores of such ill-fated unions. Keep a light heart, -child; for you may face the future fearlessly—a brilliant -future too.”</p> - -<p>“I am foolish and rebellious at times, I know. But -I am not unmindful of my duty to my house,” she said -proudly.</p> - -<p>“Spoken like a Malincourt; like my sainted sister’s -own child. Keep that face for the Governor to-morrow, -Gabrielle. Smile to him and upon him, and the rule -of Morvaix and all in it will be inspired by your gentle -heart.”</p> - -<p>And with that thought he deemed it judicious to end -the interview.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV<br /> - - -<small>THE DUKE’S PROPOSAL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THERE was one very bitter heart in the maison -on the following morning. Jacques Dauban had -spent a bad night, groaning over aching bones -and head, brooding over his wrongs and setting his -cunning wits to work to devise a scheme of revenge.</p> - -<p>Very ill results had followed that meeting with Lucette -in the pine-walk. She had kept the tryst and had -wheedled out of him a part of what he knew. He had -not told her much; only warned her to do her utmost -to prevent the marriage between Gabrielle and Gerard -de Cobalt, hinting at dark deeds of which he dared not -speak, and denouncing Gerard as both an unscrupulous -scoundrel and a tool in the hands of others greater and -more villainous even than he.</p> - -<p>She might have got more from him, but it chanced -that Denys St. Jean had also conceived a fancy for a -stroll in the wood, and had come suddenly upon the -pair in close and intimate talk. His quick temper had -fired instantly, and the consequences to Jacques Dauban -had been serious. Denys was strong in the arm, and his -cudgel, snatched hastily from a tree, thick and heavy; -and there was scarcely a bone in the writhing, wriggling -spy’s body which did not ache and stab and pain.</p> - -<p>And Lucette had laughed.</p> - -<p>The laugh was the worst of all. It was in his ears -all through the paining hours of the night; maddening -him, taunting him, and goading him almost to a frenzy -of wrath and spite. He read it as the proof that she -had fooled him; that she had laid the trap to bring the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -hot-headed devil upon him; and had planned his -humiliation and beating.</p> - -<p>He would be revenged; and as he twisted and turned -and groaned in an anguish of mind even more than of -body, a scheme came to him; and in the congenial task -of working it out and maturing it, his own sufferings -were more than half forgotten.</p> - -<p>His first thought had been to lay in wait for Denys -and, catching him unawares, to thrust a dagger between -his ribs swiftly from behind; but there was too much -risk. He might fail to strike true, and then—the horrible -fear of what would happen to himself in such a -case killed the plan at once.</p> - -<p>The next thought was to hire some one in Morvaix -to do what he with his own hand was afraid to attempt, -but his cunning made him hesitate to place himself in -any other’s power. And so that idea had in its turn to -be abandoned.</p> - -<p>But out of it had come the scheme which he saw was -at once safe and sure. He would remain in the background -all unsuspected even by Lucette, and might -mask his work in any way he wished; and yet Denys -would die as surely as if his was the hand which plunged -the dagger home to his heart. Aye, much more surely.</p> - -<p>He would tell the Baron de Proballe that Denys had -in some way got scent of the scheme which had been -laid against Gabrielle and that he meant to divulge it -to her.</p> - -<p>He had some ground to believe this, moreover. Earlier -in the day Denys had put some searching questions to -him, had hinted at ugly rumours, and asked significantly -about strange letters which had passed between -de Cobalt and his master. And Dauban knew the latter -well enough to be sure what would happen. The Baron -would tell the Duke, and the tiger of a Governor would -find means to silence Denys for ever.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>And when Denys was dead, he would tell Lucette -that it was his hand that secretly had killed him; and -that mocking laugh of hers would change to a gasp of -fear of him. That would be something like a revenge, -and he gloated in fancy over the picture of Lucette’s fear-stricken -face when she knew.</p> - -<p>“Let her laugh then, if she can,” he said to himself; -and when the hour came for him to go to his master, he -had his tale ready and told it artfully with a hundred -touches which all calculated to appeal to de Proballe’s -imagination and spur his alarm.</p> - -<p>“How know you this, Jacques?” asked de Proballe, -when he had heard the news.</p> - -<p>“I overheard him last night speaking to Mademoiselle -Lucette and saying he had grave news which he must -tell miladi at once about M. de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“That may not mean what you say.”</p> - -<p>“I fear that it did, m’sieu. The two are lovers, it -seems, and like a woman she was trying to wheedle the -facts out of him. He was loath to tell her and sought -to put her off; but she got something from him. He said -M. de Cobalt was a scoundrel—he has a scurrilous tongue -this Denys—and, saving your presence, m’sieu, he said -that de Cobalt was but a tool in the hands of greater -scoundrels. Shamed I am that my lips should have to -speak the words, but your lordship must know the truth—he -named you and His Grace the Duke de Rochelle.”</p> - -<p>“In the devil’s name, this is serious then,” exclaimed -de Proballe angrily. “How much does he know?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, m’sieu, I cannot say. He hinted at an intercepted -letter, but he was called away soon. I can -only infer he has made an important discovery. But the -girl was terribly alarmed.”</p> - -<p>“It may ruin everything. Have you breathed a whisper -to a soul?”</p> - -<p>“Have I served you all these years to betray you?”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -and he spread his hands out and spoke as if in sorrow -that such a suspicion should even be named. “That she -suspects something I know to be true indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me. Quick, Jacques, I am uneasy.”</p> - -<p>“Purposefully I put myself in her way, m’sieu. She is -a pretty girl enough and thinks, forsooth, that all men -can be wheedled by her glances. She led round artfully -to the subject and plied me with questions, all inspired, -as I could see, by what this Denys had told her. She -did not find me easy to draw, m’sieu,” and he smiled with -deprecating reference to his secrecy. “But ’twas easy -to see what was in her thoughts.”</p> - -<p>“She may also be a source of danger. She may tell -Gabrielle,” exclaimed de Proballe quickly. “By Heaven; -the thing must be stopped.”</p> - -<p>But it was not Dauban’s wish to have Lucette harmed, -so he made haste to check this thought.</p> - -<p>“Of herself she knows nothing, m’sieu; all hangs on -the man’s story, and if both of them were removed from -Malincourt, might not miladi herself take fright?”</p> - -<p>“A shrewd thought, Jacques. We must deal with the -man alone. Do you think he can have seen my niece -yet?”</p> - -<p>“No, m’sieu, I am sure. I watched him closely. But -this morning he may seek her—nay, he will do so. He -said as much.”</p> - -<p>“He must not,” exclaimed de Proballe earnestly. “At -any cost that must be prevented.”</p> - -<p>“It will be difficult, m’sieu, but should not be impossible.”</p> - -<p>“You have a thought, I see. Speak it.”</p> - -<p>“It is not for me to offer counsel to you, m’sieu. But -yesterday there was a cavalier who afforded some assistance -to miladi in the market place. She is anxious to -find him, and sent this Denys yesterday in search of him. -If you could have knowledge that the stranger was to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -be found, say at some place a few leagues away, it -might be possible to despatch Denys thither in quest of -him, and thus enable time and perchance provide means -and opportunity to deal with him. Miladi would appreciate -any effort to find the cavalier, and some of the -roads around Morvaix are not over-safe.”</p> - -<p>“You have a cunning brain, Jacques,” exclaimed de -Proballe suddenly, with a sharp glance at his secretary. -“Have you aught against this Denys?”</p> - -<p>Dauban did not shrink from the scrutiny, but answered -deferentially—</p> - -<p>“If my lord thinks I should place my feelings before -my duty to him, I have served him uselessly all these -years.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it, Jacques. You too well know on -which side your interest lies, and you know also that I -should not be a pleasant man to betray.”</p> - -<p>“I am naught if not your faithful servant, my lord,” -replied Dauban. He knew he had said enough for his -purpose and that his master would adopt the suggestion -he had let fall. The seed he had sown would bear fruit; -and he was astute enough not to appear too anxious and -thus reveal his personal feelings.</p> - -<p>His plan was carried out. De Proballe sent for Denys, -and after inquiring about the guest of the previous day -he said he had news that the cavalier could be found at -Beaucamp, an estate some four leagues west of Morvaix. -He expressed his desire to please and surprise -Gabrielle by finding the stranger, and also spoke feelingly -about the honour of the family being concerned to -thank the stranger for the service rendered to its young -head, and thus despatched Denys on the mission before -he could get a word with Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>As soon as he had seen him start, he hurried with his -news to the castle, had an earnest interview with the -Duke, and returned to Malincourt without Gabrielle even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> -knowing of his absence. Thus the train was all laid -when at noon the Governor, in accordance with the arrangement -of the previous day, came to wait upon Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“You have made all arrangements?” was de Proballe’s -greeting when they met for a moment and were going -to Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“I am not likely to fail, m’sieu,” was the drily-spoken -reply. “Antoine de Cavannes and Henri d’Estelle have -ridden out, and know me better than to return with any -mission unfulfilled. My men serve me well or do not -serve me long.”</p> - -<p>The next minute he was bowing over Gabrielle’s hand, -which he would have carried to his lips had she not -adroitly and with unseeming intention prevented him.</p> - -<p>“The sun never shines for me, mademoiselle, when I -have no chance to look into your eyes,” he murmured, -with glances of bold, almost aggressive admiration.</p> - -<p>Words and glance were alike detestable to Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Your lordship is pleased to flatter, but flattery does -not please me,” she returned with a smile.</p> - -<p>“It is no flattery, but the truth,” he protested, his -hand on his heart. “Your beauty is the fairest thing -the earth holds for me.”</p> - -<p>“The good opinion of the husband of my dear friend, -the Duchess de Rochelle, must of course be ever welcome, -but I beg you to burden it with less wealth of -language.”</p> - -<p>At the reference to his wife the Duke frowned, as -he took a seat near her.</p> - -<p>“We see too little of you, mademoiselle,” he said next, -“and rumour says you are often to be found in many -of the humble houses in Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Alas! my lord, there is much distress and poverty -among the people, and Holy Church requires that those -who can should minister to them.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>“Holy Church should do the work more thoroughly. -I hold not with this constant tending and pampering of -those whose chief employment seems to be to breed discontent.”</p> - -<p>“They have unhappily but too much cause for discontent,” -said Gabrielle firmly. “You have considered the -petition which I ventured to send to you?”</p> - -<p>He smiled indulgently.</p> - -<p>“What do you know of these things?”</p> - -<p>“My own eyes have seen their distress, their want, -their sufferings. Men workless and despairing, women -hopeless and languishing, children starving and crying -for the food which the parents cannot give them. We -who are rich and have plenty can but scantily measure -the pain of those in want. Even when we see it for ourselves -we cannot realize all its misery; and those of us -who never see it cannot even believe in its existence.”</p> - -<p>“Would you have me don a monk’s garb, then, and -turn bread carrier to a set of worthless wastrels?” asked -the Governor half in anger, half in sardonic humour.</p> - -<p>“Nay, my lord, it is in no such spirit I would approach -you. But you have the power to administer relief -which all others lack. I would but have you recognize -the evil and apply the remedy.”</p> - -<p>“You make a beautiful advocate, Mistress Gabrielle, -and you, if anyone, can work your will with me. I -would gladly see these things with your eyes—to please -you,” he said with a meaning glance.</p> - -<p>“I am but of small account, and to please me is a very -little thing, and at best a poor motive for doing right.”</p> - -<p>“It would be <i>my</i> only motive, poor or rich. But I fear -you understand the art of government but ill. We must -have money to administer the town. We must have -troops, and troops must be paid and fed, fair advocate.”</p> - -<p>“Why? Is force in the hand of the ruler a surer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> -foundation of rule than content and prosperity among -the ruled?”</p> - -<p>“The world cannot wag without soldiers, mademoiselle, -and Morvaix can only be ruled by force.”</p> - -<p>“Must a populace be starved that the soldiers may -be fat? If I seem to speak boldly, it is because I feel -deeply. And if I offend, I crave your pardon, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing you could say or do could ever offend me, -Mademoiselle Gabrielle. With you I am as clay in the -hands of the potter.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, if you put it merely on grounds personal to -myself, I can urge nothing,” said Gabrielle, sadly and -reluctantly.</p> - -<p>“Yet they are the only grounds that will prevail with -me,” he answered. “The lot of these people is much to -you, you say; then you would of a surety make sacrifices -to help them? Is it not so?”</p> - -<p>“I would do anything in my power,” she said warmly.</p> - -<p>“That remains to be proved,” he retorted, smiling as -he looked searchingly at her. “Perhaps I may take -that as a challenge and put you to a test. Your petition -here”—he drew it out and opened it. “You urge me -to recall this last ordinance of mine and take off the new -imposts on food.”</p> - -<p>“The people will starve if you do not, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Well, let them starve, then. I must have money, and -money can only be raised by such means. But if I were -to grant you this favour, make this sacrifice for you, -what sacrifice would you make in your turn, what favour -would you grant me?”</p> - -<p>His eyes were glowing as he turned them upon her -while waiting for her reply.</p> - -<p>“I do not understand your lordship,” said Gabrielle, -meeting his glance with her calm innocent gaze.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>“Or is it that you will not?” he asked insolently. -“Supposing I agree that your influence shall prevail -with me and that in the government of Morvaix you and -I shall act together: you inspiring with your lofty motives, -I executing with the powers at my command. If -we try it for a year, two years, three years—any time -you like to fix—what would be my reward?”</p> - -<p>“The rich gratitude of a contented people, the respect -of every man in Morvaix; hope in place of despair, -prosperity instead of want, love where fear now lurks.”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw! I do not seek the love of such canaille, a -mouthing mob as ready to shout ‘Crucify’ as ‘Hosanna!’ -What reward would you yourself grant?”</p> - -<p>“I should for ever bless and admire you.”</p> - -<p>“For ever is a long, indefinite time, and blessings and -admiration may be but cold emotions. What would you -<i>do</i>?” and he once more fixed his bold eyes upon her -face.</p> - -<p>“Again I say I do not understand what your lordship -would have me say.”</p> - -<p>He paused in thought and then laughed abruptly, almost -grimly.</p> - -<p>“It is enough,” he exclaimed, with a wave of the -hand. “The thought pleases me, for I would gladly -please you; believe that I will grant your petition——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I thank you—” she burst in, when he checked -her.</p> - -<p>“Wait. I will grant it if you will fall in with my -plan, will lend me your aid in the perilous task of government; -will work with me and inspire me with your -sweet counsel; and if you will consider what favour you -will grant me in return. I will have my answer in a -week from now, and until then we speak no more of -this. Now I have to offer you my congratulations upon -your approaching marriage, in which I take deep interest.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>He rose shortly afterwards, and when Gabrielle held -her hand to him he carried it to his lips.</p> - -<p>“Remember,” he said, retaining her hand and looking -up, his face quite close to hers. “Remember, we -have made a compact, and you must make the offer -worthy of my acceptance—or it may mean fresh and -heavier imposts for your favourites in place of lighter -ones,” and with that smiling, half-jesting menace he -went away, calling the Baron de Proballe to attend him.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle stood gazing after him sorely bewildered by -what had passed, distracted by doubts and striving earnestly -to fathom the meaning of the question he had -pressed with such insistence.</p> - -<p>When he had gone she went to an inner room, accompanied -by Lucette who had been present at the interview -but out of earshot, and had followed the strange proceedings, -watching the Duke intently and reading there something -of the purpose which was hidden from Gabrielle’s -unsuspecting nature.</p> - -<p>Lucette was skilled in reading love in the eyes of men, -and with quaking heart and fearsome curiosity she -waited now to hear what words the Duke had spoken to -Gabrielle to inspire the looks which she had seen him -cast upon her. And when she heard them, Lucette felt -her cheeks alternately flame with rage and chill with -deadly fear for Gabrielle’s sake.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V<br /> - - -<small>THE TIGER’S CLAWS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap2">LUCETTE had had her own troubles as well. -Never before had such a mischance occurred as -that of the previous evening in the pine-walk; -and the fact that she was merely tricking Dauban in -order to wheedle the truth out of him had not helped -her with her lover in the least.</p> - -<p>The thrashing administered to Dauban had relieved -some of Denys’ wrath; but the hard blows for him had -been followed by some equally hard words for Lucette, -with many hot and bitter reproaches: none the less -stinging because for once undeserved. And she had not -been able to make peace with him.</p> - -<p>Worst of all, he had ridden away that morning without -so much as a word to her; and she was angry at his -obduracy and wounded by his neglect, and still more -angry with herself for caring so much.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle, quick to notice the troubles of those about -her, had seen Lucette’s woe-begone, doleful looks and -questioned her before the Duke’s visit; but now for the -moment she was wholly engrossed by the perplexity in -which that visit had left her.</p> - -<p>“What can he want of me, Lucette?” she asked again -and again, until Lucette had a suggestion to make, born -of her own belief of the Duke’s purpose and intended as -a warning for Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Why not take counsel of the Duchess? She is a true -friend of yours, Gabrielle, and a good woman.”</p> - -<p>“It is a good thought. I will go to her to-day. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -would give half my wealth to do what he proposes—to -have a voice even for no more than a few short years -in governing the people. I could do so much good.”</p> - -<p>“Would he keep his word, think you? I do not trust -him. Truth and honour are not counted among his -parts.”</p> - -<p>“You are suspicious. Why?”</p> - -<p>“To begin with, he is a man,” and Lucette nodded her -head and stamped her foot petulantly.</p> - -<p>“Not always a quick path to your disfavour, coz,” -said Gabrielle with a smile. “Denys is a man.”</p> - -<p>“Denys has a head of wood,” said Lucette, lapsing -into her own wrongs for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Seeing the infinite uses to which we turn wood, I -know not why we always liken it to stupidity. Whatever -our good Denys’ head may be, his heart is staunch and -true.”</p> - -<p>“We are not speaking of Denys but of the Duke, who -has neither wooden head nor staunch heart—unless it -be staunch to some cruel and treacherous purpose for his -own game.”</p> - -<p>“I fear there is truth in your words; yet he spoke me -fairly.”</p> - -<p>“Any man can do that,” exclaimed Lucette, with almost -vicious emphasis. “But see the Duchess herself, -tell her all that passed, and ask her. A wife should certainly -know best how to interpret her husband’s words.”</p> - -<p>The advice was given with so much eagerness that -Gabrielle turned and looked searchingly into her friend’s -eyes.</p> - -<p>“Have you made a guess at his purpose and withhold -it from me?” She asked so directly that Lucette winced, -fearing that her own fears might be divined. She took -shelter quickly in subterfuge, and lowering her eyes she -dropped her head on Gabrielle’s shoulder and said with -a deep sigh—</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_044.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption">“WHAT A THING OF APRIL WEATHER, IS THIS LOVE<br /> -OF YOURS, LUCETTE”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>“Oh, Gabrielle, I am not myself; I am the most -miserable girl on earth.”</p> - -<p>“What a thing of April weather is this love of yours! -Smiles and tears, sunshine and drifting clouds; ever -changing and plaguing, as it seems to me, coz.”</p> - -<p>“You will know some day, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“I could hope not, indeed. It seems to me the world -has sterner work for some of us women than to be -plaguing our wits to please a man or pleasing ourselves -by plaguing him. I would gladly give up all if I could -help my people in Morvaix here. Little did the Duke -think how nearly his offer touched me.”</p> - -<p>“Did you think so sternly yesterday, Gabrielle, after -that chance encounter in the market place?”</p> - -<p>“If my thoughts wandered from my duty for an hour, -a night’s reflection has corrected them,” answered Gabrielle -slowly.</p> - -<p>“The night had nothing but bitterness for me,” cried -Lucette dismally. “And to-day Denys has ridden away -without a word.”</p> - -<p>“You should not provoke his anger against you so -lightly.”</p> - -<p>“There was no cause for it. He would be jealous of -another man’s shadow,” said Lucette with a pout; and -then with a quick change of mood, she cried: “Oh, how -selfish I am; but how am I to tell you?”</p> - -<p>“To tell me what?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what name to give it, or how to speak -of it. I was talking with Master Dauban, your uncle’s -secretary——”</p> - -<p>“So that was the cause of Denys’ anger! Lucette, -Lucette!”</p> - -<p>“I hate him; he is a loathsome creature.”</p> - -<p>“Then why talk to him?”</p> - -<p>“He made me talk to him by what he said.”</p> - -<p>“Now of a truth you puzzle me.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>“It is true. He spoke of some danger threatening -Malincourt and you, and I did but try to get it from him. -That was all.”</p> - -<p>“You should not listen to tittle-tattle, coz.”</p> - -<p>“He spoke of your betrothal to this M. de Cobalt—that -there was some sinister meaning in it; that M. de -Cobalt was no true man but a villain; and that others -greater than he were concerned to do you harm through -him. What could I do but listen and seek the truth?”</p> - -<p>“You could have bid him hold his tongue for a mischief-making -meddler in concerns that are none of his. -Tell me no more of it, Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“But he swore it was true, and that——”</p> - -<p>“Peace, child; I will hear no more.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, you must,” cried Lucette, looking up. “It -is true, and you must find out what it means.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I give my hand to a man not trusting him?”</p> - -<p>“Can you marry him knowing he is not true?”</p> - -<p>“Lucette, you will make me lose patience. Would you -have me deign to fret myself over the worrying of an -idle gossip-monger?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it is terrible.”</p> - -<p>“You are not yourself, child, and are frightened because -you have angered Denys more deeply than usual. -Come, let us go out into the bright sunshine and shake -off these fretting fancies. You are always the slave of -passing moods, Lucette,” she said, as they crossed the -terrace and passed down the broad steps into the garden. -“But out here in the sunshine you can most easily -recover your spirits.”</p> - -<p>“I am plagued with a fear of—I know not what,” answered -Lucette, sighing dismally. “I wonder where -Denys has gone.”</p> - -<p>“He will come back, and as you are always telling -me, all will come right, again.” She smiled but the smile -ended in something like a sigh.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>She was indeed sorely perplexed by the course matters -were taking, and although she would not acknowledge -it, Lucette’s recital of Dauban’s warning had -moved her considerably.</p> - -<p>It fitted closely with her own feelings in regard to giving -herself to a man she had never seen. Her pride of -place and family had alone induced her to think of accepting -the husband whom her mother had chosen for -her; but it was not in human nature to acquiesce without -murmurs and qualms and doubts and hesitation.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the scene in the market place on the previous -day had disturbed her profoundly, despite her stout assertion -that the night’s reflection had restored her. Her -couch had been the ground of a fierce battle between certain -wild new-springing emotions and the set and sober -thoughts of duty; and the fight had raged through the -whole of a sleepless night.</p> - -<p>In vain she had told herself over and over again that -the stranger cavalier was nothing to her and could be -nothing; that it was treachery to her dead mother even -to let a thought of him force itself upon her; that it was -unworthy, unmaidenly, and cowardly to be moved by -the remembrance that a man had looked kindly into her -eyes and that she had faltered before his glance; and -this at the very moment when he to whom she was betrothed -was coming to her.</p> - -<p>She upbraided herself bitterly for her weakness, and -rising from her couch had passed an hour or more on -her knees in fervent prayer for strength to overcome the -temptation which she found so alluring, and for power -to subdue these new feelings as subtly sweet as they were -strange and exciting.</p> - -<p>Her heart would not be denied, however, and despite -her most resolute efforts the recollection of the strong -handsome face, with the clear steadfast blue eyes would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -force itself back upon her again and again and yet again, -despite her most earnest efforts.</p> - -<p>In the morning when her uncle told her that he had -heard of the stranger’s presence at Beaucamp and had -despatched Denys in search of him, she was conscious -that her heart fluttered almost wildly for the moment, -and she had been compelled to turn her face away lest -some of the emotion might make itself evident there.</p> - -<p>“He must not think us thankless, uncle,” she had replied, -calmly enough in tone; but in her heart she was -driven to hope he would not be found and that never -would she have to undergo the ordeal of meeting him -face to face. What might then happen she did not dare -to think.</p> - -<p>But all this emotion she had hidden from even the -sharp eyes of her companion, so that, although for her -own secret reasons she was as eagerly impatient as -Lucette herself for Denys’ return, her secret was locked -away under an outward demeanour as calm and self-possessed -as usual.</p> - -<p>Twice she sent to inquire if he had come; pretending, -even while despising herself for the pretence, that it was -for Lucette’s sake; and when noon came and passed and -he had not returned, she masked her own disappointment -under a concern for Lucette.</p> - -<p>But he did return at length, despite the Duke’s plans -against him. Unconscious of the danger in which he -rode he had by a mere chance change of direction evaded -the two men sent to waylay him, and they had only ascertained -the fact in time to admit of their following him -to Malincourt in hot haste and mortal fear of the Governor’s -anger.</p> - -<p>They had wandered into a distant part of the grounds -when Gabrielle caught sight of him pricking fast toward -the maison, and she was at great pains to conceal the -start she gave on seeing he was alone. She told herself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -that she was glad he brought no one with him; but a -little stinging stab of disappointment deep down in her -heart and an eager, hungry desire to learn the news he -brought, told a very different story.</p> - -<p>Then Lucette caught sight of him.</p> - -<p>“Look, Gabrielle, look. There rides Denys,” she cried -excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Where?” asked Gabrielle in a calm tone, feeling like -a wicked hypocrite for her small pretence.</p> - -<p>“There, there. I hope he will not see us,” exclaimed -Lucette, pointing in his direction and making herself as -conspicuous as possible.</p> - -<p>“You are showing yourself plainly, Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“Then he will know where not to come, if he is not -in a better temper than this morning.”</p> - -<p>Denys had seen Lucette. Gabrielle saw him turn and -look toward them and then ride on toward the house -without making a sign.</p> - -<p>“He might have waved a hand,” said Lucette, pouting -and shrugging her shoulders. “But I will punish him. -Let us go away from here.”</p> - -<p>“But just now you implied that he would not come -here.”</p> - -<p>“I will not forgive him easily if he does,” said Lucette, -with a shake of the head and a little stamp of the foot.</p> - -<p>“I will leave you to meet him, coz; and take my advice, -cease to play this foolish game with him.”</p> - -<p>“There are two other cavaliers riding this way,” said -Lucette suddenly, “and spurring hard in urgent haste, -it would seem.”</p> - -<p>Had they not been so intent in watching these and -speaking of Denys, they would have seen yet another -cavalier who stepped for a moment from a belt of trees, -looked eagerly in their direction, and then hurriedly hid -himself.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle, quite unconscious of this, continued to urge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -Lucette to wait alone for Denys and seek to make her -peace with him. But Lucette was obstinate; and when -at length she caught sight of Denys in the distance, -dust-stained with his long ride, walking in their direction, -she drew Gabrielle hurriedly behind a clump of trees -into hiding.</p> - -<p>“We will see what he does,” she whispered excitedly. -“I shall know by his face what mood he is in.”</p> - -<p>When Denys reached the spot where they had been -he paused and looked about him.</p> - -<p>“It was here I saw her, I’ll swear,” he said aloud to -himself. “I marked that old chestnut tree,” and he -glanced at it. “Which way can she have gone? Lucette,” -he called in a loud voice. “Lucette.” As he -looked about him he backed close to the low trees behind -which the two girls stood. “She can’t have wandered -far. Lucette—Lucette,” he called again, and waited -for his voice to come echoing back.</p> - -<p>Then Lucette, whose face had brightened at hearing -him call for her, plucked a rose from her bosom and -tossed it so that it fell upon him in its course to the -ground. He picked it up and smiled.</p> - -<p>“A rose from an almond tree,” he said aloud. “Surely -something of a strange portent. Where are you, Lucette; -little witch, that changes the natural blooms of a tree?”</p> - -<p>Lucette had stepped on a low bough of a tree and -now looked through the bushes.</p> - -<p>“I have dropped my rose, m’sieu. May I trouble you? -Ah, M. Denys, is it you?” with a start of pretended surprise.</p> - -<p>“Lucette,” he said passionately.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur!” This distantly.</p> - -<p>“Come, Lucette. Let the rose make our peace. I have -been thinking of you through all my long ride.”</p> - -<p>She came slowly toward him, parting the bushes and -playing at indifference.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>“It is my rose, if you please, m’sieu.”</p> - -<p>“But you meant it for me,” and he kissed it and then -tried to take her hands. But she drew back.</p> - -<p>“Do we know each other, m’sieu?”</p> - -<p>His answer was a smile and an attempt to take her -in his arms. But she would not let him. Seeing his -mood, she could not resist a chance to tease him further.</p> - -<p>“Have you forgotten what you said last night? Did -you not ride off this morning without a word—a single -word? Do you think I forgive so easily, and forget?”</p> - -<p>“I can answer that, Denys,” said Gabrielle, stepping -out now from her place of concealment. She was -anxious to end the quarrel and learn the news he -brought. “She has forgiven you and is sorry for what -she did. She has been heart-broken all the morning at -your absence.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, I——” began Lucette in protest.</p> - -<p>“It is true, Denys, every word. So make your peace -with her. Come, Lucette, be true to yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Peacemaker as usual, mademoiselle,” cried Denys, -with a happy, grateful smile.</p> - -<p>“Indeed, indeed, it is nothing of the sort. Denys said -last night that——”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what I said in my anger, Lucette; I am -sorry.”</p> - -<p>“But it was so causeless, so unjust, so—so horrible,” -and she put her hands to her ears as if in horror at the -mere recollection.</p> - -<p>Denys captured them then in his strong hands and -held her a prisoner, while Gabrielle turned away.</p> - -<p>“Let me go, Denys, let me go; how dare you!” cried -Lucette, as if in anger, and commenced to struggle, tapping -her foot and averting her head as he strove to kiss -her. “Let me go I say.”</p> - -<p>“Not till you say all that foolish quarrel is over, and -you have kissed me.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>“I will not. I will not. Let me go,” she cried, keeping -up the pretence of anger.</p> - -<p>“Kiss me then.”</p> - -<p>“I will not. How dare you force me like this?”</p> - -<p>And they were struggling in this way when a wholly -unexpected and unwelcome interruption came.</p> - -<p>“How dare you treat a girl like that?” demanded a -man’s voice; and Antoine de Cavannes, followed by Henri -d’Estelle, who had dogged Denys’ footsteps, rushed up -and laid violent hands on his shoulder. “Oh, it’s you, -Lucette,” continued Antoine, in anger and surprise. -“Why didn’t you call me?”</p> - -<p>Denys frowned darkly. He released Lucette, who fell -back a step or two in disconcerted amazement.</p> - -<p>“This is no concern of yours, gentlemen,” said Denys.</p> - -<p>“Indeed, but it is. No cowardly cur shall maltreat a -girl in our presence, eh, d’Estelle?” The two men exchanged -meaning glances.</p> - -<p>“Be careful of your words, m’sieu, if you please,” -said Denys, his hand going involuntarily to his sword-belt.</p> - -<p>“Careful with a blackguardly girl-beater like you. Be -off about your business and leave mademoiselle with me.”</p> - -<p>“By God!” cried Denys under his breath. “You shall -eat those words, or I am no man.”</p> - -<p>“Out on you for a braggart,” said Antoine, while his -companion gave Denys a violent thrust.</p> - -<p>“Be off with you, I say,” he exclaimed roughly.</p> - -<p>In a moment Denys’ sword was out of its scabbard.</p> - -<p>“No, no, Denys, you must not,” cried Lucette, now in -dire consternation at the turn matters had taken.</p> - -<p>“You’ve often told me of this fellow’s blackguard -ways,” said Antoine. “It’s time he had a lesson how to -behave.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, Gabrielle,” cried Lucette, catching sight -of her. “Come here. Come here.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>“Another petticoat for the coward to skulk behind,” -said d’Estelle, with a coarse laugh.</p> - -<p>“Gentlemen, you have made a great mistake,” cried -Gabrielle, hastening forward. “This is not what you -think. M. St. Jean is betrothed to Mademoiselle de Boisdegarde.”</p> - -<p>“It had small appearance of it just now,” said d’Estelle.</p> - -<p>“And I know it to be false,” declared Antoine.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur!” exclaimed Gabrielle, drawing herself up.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle!” answered d’Estelle, with insolent -imitation of her tone.</p> - -<p>The words were scarcely out of d’Estelle’s mouth before -Denys strode forward and struck him a swinging -left-handed blow across the mouth.</p> - -<p>“You dog!” he said fiercely.</p> - -<p>The two men drew then and were for attacking him -together, but Lucette threw herself before him. Her -wits, at first dazed by the dread of trouble to herself from -the meeting of Antoine and Denys, were now sharpened -by her fear for Denys’ sake from the unequal combat, -and by a rapid intuition she jumped to the conclusion -that the meeting was designed for her lover’s hurt.</p> - -<p>“It shall not be. It is not fair—two to one. You -cowards!” she cried, facing the couple angrily.</p> - -<p>“Stand aside, Lucette,” said Denys, putting her away. -“The thing has gone too far,” and choosing a spot -which he deemed most to his advantage he put himself -in an attitude of defence. “Now, messieurs, if you will.”</p> - -<p>Lucette wrung her hands distractedly.</p> - -<p>“They will kill him. They have come to do it. I know—I -know,” she cried, until Gabrielle bade her run to the -house and get help, when she set off with the speed of -fear.</p> - -<p>Denys was a good swordsman, and, having chosen his -ground well, fought warily against the pair, who, over-eager -to finish the thing before any help could come,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -hampered each other, so that d’Estelle, getting in Antoine’s -way, tripped and fell. His sword flew out of -his hand and rolled close to Gabrielle, who instantly set -her foot upon it.</p> - -<p>The man scrambled quickly to his feet and ran to his -sword.</p> - -<p>“It is not fair, monsieur, two to one,” said Gabrielle -angrily.</p> - -<p>“Take your foot from my sword, mademoiselle,” he -answered, a menace in both tone and look.</p> - -<p>“I will not,” she answered as firmly as before.</p> - -<p>“Then take the consequences,” he cried fiercely, and -with a thrust he pushed her away, and snatching up his -weapon, ran to the assistance of Antoine, whom Denys -was now pressing fiercely in single combat.</p> - -<p>“Help, help!” called Gabrielle in a loud voice. “Will -no help come?”</p> - -<p>But help was unexpectedly at hand, for another’s eyes -had seen the dastardly attack of d’Estelle.</p> - -<p>The stranger who had been in the wood had witnessed -the last part of the quarrel, and when the two men commenced -the attack upon Denys, he had started at a rapid -run toward the scene.</p> - -<p>A loud angry shout now proclaimed his arrival.</p> - -<p>“You villain, to strike a woman. Two swords to one, -gentlemen! This is murder, not fighting. Have a care, -monsieur; that rascal is getting behind your back. Ah, -a foul, treacherous stroke,” he exclaimed next, as -d’Estelle, having crept up behind Denys, ran his blade -into his back.</p> - -<p>As Denys fell, the stranger gave another loud cry and -leapt forward. Antoine was about to deliver another -thrust while Denys lay on the ground, when his sword -was parried by that of the newcomer.</p> - -<p>“To me, messieurs, to me,” and the two men found -themselves the objects of a rapid and vehement attack by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -a swordsman vastly more skilful than themselves. In a -minute d’Estelle was wounded with a slash on the sword-arm, -and facing Antoine, the cavalier cried in a voice -of thunder: “Now, you assassin, it is your turn.”</p> - -<p>But Antoine, deserted by his comrade, who ran off -as soon as he was wounded, had no heart to face the -blade which played round him, threatening death at -every flashing turn, gave ground and with a cry of terror, -broke away and fled as fast as his legs would carry him.</p> - -<p>His antagonist was following him, when there came a -cry from Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur—monsieur!”</p> - -<p>He stopped at the words, turned, bared his head and -bowed.</p> - -<p>“Your pardon, mademoiselle. In my haste to punish -a treacherous coward I was forgetting you were alone.”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur,” said Gabrielle, now lowering her eyes in -blushing confusion.</p> - -<p>It was the cavalier who had rescued her the previous -day in the market place; and the rush of thoughts held -her tongue-tied in embarrassment.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI<br /> - - -<small>“I AM KNOWN AS GERARD DE COBALT.”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">GABRIELLE’S heart beat very fast in the few -moments she stood trying vainly to find words -to speak, and she was conscious of little save a -whirl of strange emotions in which predominated a sort -of guilty pleasure at meeting again the stranger who had -so filled her thoughts in the last hours.</p> - -<p>He broke the silence.</p> - -<p>“I trust that scoundrel did not hurt you, mademoiselle?” -he said, voice and eyes alike full of solicitude, -as she noticed in her swift flitting upward glance when -he spoke.</p> - -<p>“No, monsieur,” she replied, and could say no more.</p> - -<p>“I have set a mark on him to know him by, and he -will have a reckoning to settle. By your leave, I will -see to this poor fellow’s hurt. I am something of a -surgeon. A soldier must be many things,” and with a -bow he went over to Denys and bent over him.</p> - -<p>This act relieved Gabrielle’s embarrassment, and fear -for Denys made her less conscious of her own confusing -thoughts. After a moment’s hesitation she knelt down -on the other side of the wounded man.</p> - -<p>“My poor Denys,” she murmured.</p> - -<p>Her companion with quick deft touch found the wound, -and after examining it, staunched the blood which was -flowing freely.</p> - -<p>“An ill sight for your eyes, mademoiselle,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I am a soldier’s daughter, monsieur, and accustomed -to the treatment of the sick. Is the hurt serious, think -you?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>“To the best of my judgment, no, unless there be some -internal injury, which is not likely, judging by the direction -of the wound. It was a coward’s thrust in truth, -but like most coward’s work, ill done, thank Heaven. It -is mainly a flesh wound. But a surgeon should see it -with as little delay as possible.”</p> - -<p>“There will be help from the maison directly. I have -sent for it.”</p> - -<p>At that moment Denys opened his eyes and seeing -Gabrielle he smiled faintly, and then frowned in surprise -at her companion.</p> - -<p>“You are not much hurt, my brave Denys,” said Gabrielle, -“and all is well with me.”</p> - -<p>Denys rolled his eyes round as if in search of some one, -and Gabrielle was quick to understand.</p> - -<p>“Lucette has gone for help, Denys; she will be back -directly. All is well with her as with me.” He smiled -again, and making an ineffectual effort to speak, closed -his eyes with a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>Then footsteps and voices were heard, and Lucette, with -the Baron de Proballe and Jacques Dauban, came hurrying -to the spot. Lucette threw herself beside Denys while -de Proballe eyed the stranger with searching glances, and -started slightly at the sound of his voice as he bade -Lucette be cautious not to disturb Denys.</p> - -<p>“There has been fighting, I hear, Gabrielle,” he said.</p> - -<p>“There has been murder attempted, uncle, and it would -have been done but for the intervention of this gentleman, -who drove the assassins off.”</p> - -<p>“We are deeply beholden to you, monsieur,” said de -Proballe courteously, “and on behalf of my niece, I thank -you.” While he spake he was searching his memory to -recall where he had seen the stranger, whose face and -voice he seemed to know.</p> - -<p>“There is no need for thanks, monsieur,” was the reply. -“I did no more than any one would have done. But the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -wounded man should be removed and a surgeon should -see to his hurts. He has lost much blood.”</p> - -<p>“We will send for a litter. Run to the maison, Jacques, -and——”</p> - -<p>“With your leave, and a little help in lifting him, -I could carry him if it be not too far,” interrupted the -stranger. And with Dauban’s and Lucette’s assistance, -he picked Denys up and bade them show him the way.</p> - -<p>“You are strong, monsieur,” said de Proballe, with a -smile at the ease with which he bore the heavy burden.</p> - -<p>“I am a soldier, monsieur, and he who fights must -needs have strong arms. It were best if your servant -there were to run on and prepare for our coming.”</p> - -<p>Dauban’s face scowled at the word servant.</p> - -<p>“Run on, Jacques, and see to this,” said de Proballe, -adding: “He is my secretary, monsieur, not my servant.”</p> - -<p>Dauban hastened on then, and Gabrielle and her uncle -walked in front, Lucette keeping by Denys.</p> - -<p>“It is the cavalier who came to my assistance in the -market place yesterday, uncle,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Who is he? I am much mistaken if I have not seen -him somewhere before,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“I have not inquired his name.”</p> - -<p>“He belongs not to Morvaix, I think, and seems, as -you said, a man of some distinction. I will ask his name -and station.”</p> - -<p>“Had we not better wait until we reach the maison? -Our poor Denys is a heavy burden even for his stalwart -arms, and to cause him to talk just now might prove burdensome -to him.”</p> - -<p>“You are always solicitous, Gabrielle,” replied her -uncle, with a smile and a shrewd glance. “I will leave -it as you say.”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Dauban had hurried on a prey to mingled -feelings, in which desire to appear anxious on Denys’ behalf -and so hide his share in the matter was paramount.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> -He sent one servant speeding on horseback for a surgeon -and brought out others with a litter, and met the little -procession as they were nearing the terrace.</p> - -<p>Denys was laid carefully and gently on the litter and -borne up the broad steps into the house, Lucette walking -by his side and holding his hand.</p> - -<p>The other three remained at the foot of the steps, the -stranger leaning for a space against one of the pediments -of the marble balustrade to recover his breath.</p> - -<p>“We shall be glad to know, monsieur, to whom we are -indebted for this most timely service as well as for that -rendered yesterday to my niece in the market place,” said -de Proballe. “It seems to me we have met before; but -I am getting an old man, and my memory is apt to fail -me at times.”</p> - -<p>The question appeared to be momentarily embarrassing -and, to cover the pause, the stranger breathed heavily -and made a gesture of fatigue.</p> - -<p>“You will come in and rest, monsieur,” said Gabrielle, -noticing this.</p> - -<p>But the hesitation passed, and glancing first at Gabrielle -with a smile of thanks for her thoughtfulness, he turned -to de Proballe and said firmly—</p> - -<p>“I am glad to have been of service to mademoiselle, -monsieur. I am known as Gerard de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“Gerard de Cobalt!” both exclaimed in a breath; de -Proballe adding “Our Gerard. Then of a truth are you -welcome indeed to Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“To Malincourt!” exclaimed Gerard, amazed at the -effect of the name he had given. He knew of course where -he was and who they were who spoke to him; but why -they should welcome him in this way passed his understanding. -And when he turned from de Proballe to -Gabrielle and saw that her cheeks were aglow with blushes -and her eyes bright and dancing with gladness, his bewilderment -was all the greater.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>“’Tis the work of Providence, surely,” she said, holding -her hand to him. He took it and pressed his lips to it.</p> - -<p>“Aye, ’tis Providence,” echoed de Proballe. “Now I -see why you were no stranger to me. ’Tis the boy speaking -through the man, Gerard, and a right gallant man -too.”</p> - -<p>“The boy?” asked Gerard, not understanding.</p> - -<p>“Of course. You were but a slip of a lad when we last -met, with little promise of being such a stalwart fellow. -But I will go and see to poor Denys. You two will not -be sorry to be alone and learn something each of the -other,” and with a sharp inscrutable glance at Gerard, -he passed up the steps and into the house.</p> - -<p>Gerard felt profoundly ill at ease. It was clear that -some egregious mistake had been made concerning him, -and that he had been mistaken for some other Gerard -whose real name was that which he had assumed at random -for the purposes of his sojourn in Morvaix.</p> - -<p>To avow himself Gerard de Bourbon, while his work -was still scarcely begun, was impracticable. It might -ruin everything indeed; for de Proballe would instantly -acquaint the Duke de Rochelle; yet to deceive the lovely -girl whose face had been in his thoughts from the moment -he had first seen her was repugnant to every sense -of right and instinct of honour.</p> - -<p>There was another consideration. The Baron de Proballe -was represented as Gabrielle’s uncle; and knowing, -as Gerard did, the man’s real character and infinite -capacity for ill-doing, fears for Gabrielle herself impelled -him to maintain his assumed character until he had at -least satisfied himself that de Proballe had no evil intent -toward her.</p> - -<p>He could not decide what to do for a moment, and his -confusion and hesitation were apparent to Gabrielle, who -set them down, however, to very different causes.</p> - -<p>There was an alcove with a seat near the corner of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> -the balustrade, and sinking upon it with a sigh, Gabrielle -exclaimed—</p> - -<p>“Thank God you have come, cousin, and thank God -more that you are what you are, a brave and gallant -gentleman.”</p> - -<p>“Cousin?” echoed Gerard, catching the word.</p> - -<p>“Cousin, of course; what else?” and then as if perceiving -some double meaning in her last words, she -blushed vividly.</p> - -<p>“I do not understand,” he murmured, and then: “That -is the Baron de Proballe?”</p> - -<p>“Of course, as surely as I am Gabrielle de Malincourt. -My uncle and my one good friend and adviser—up to -now.” She lifted her eyes and smiled as she emphasised -the last words.</p> - -<p>“Your good friend and adviser!” he repeated.</p> - -<p>“How oddly you speak, cousin. Is it not by his counsel -and urging that you are here?”</p> - -<p>“That I am here?” he asked, this time with a start.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you are not glad to have been brought -here.”</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle, I have seen you,” he answered with -a bow.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle laughed gaily. “How formal, cousin.”</p> - -<p>“I am lost in wonderment. I know not what to say.”</p> - -<p>“It is well that you are quicker with your sword than -with your tongue, or it would have gone harder than -it did with my poor Denys just now. But perhaps I -understand. You are surprised in me. I am different -from what you expected.”</p> - -<p>“You are the fairest woman I have ever seen.”</p> - -<p>She blushed again and smiled.</p> - -<p>“Yet you could not look more scared were I the ugliest -witch. Shall I tell you a secret? I have dreaded your -coming.”</p> - -<p>“Pray God I may never give you cause to repent it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -mademoiselle,” he replied with an intense earnestness -which drew her gaze full upon him.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle?” she repeated, after a pause, with a -touch of coquetry. “Mademoiselle—from cousin to -cousin?”</p> - -<p>He started again uneasily, for the question put a fresh -puzzle to him—how to address her. Then he put it by and -asked—</p> - -<p>“Why did you dread my coming, as you say?”</p> - -<p>She first winced and bit her lip, and then, setting her -head a little on one side, she glanced up at him with a -mischievous smile.</p> - -<p>“I once knew such a horrid Gerard de Cobalt; and if -you had been like him, oh——” the sentence ended in a -shudder.</p> - -<p>“What, another Gerard de Cobalt?” he asked mystified.</p> - -<p>She laughed outright then, merrily and without restraint.</p> - -<p>“As if you did not know. How could there be any -other Gerard de Cobalt but you? You were a horrid -boy, you know; really horrid; cruel, rough, unkind just -for unkindness’ sake. And you used to hate me—at least -you said so; and I was glad of it.”</p> - -<p>“I must have been worse than unkind—a fool, I think, -mademoiselle. Boys generally are,” he replied laughing.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle again?”</p> - -<p>“What should I say?” he asked, growing bolder the -deeper he allowed himself to plunge into the mystery, and -getting less and less willing to have it cleared up.</p> - -<p>“My name is Gabrielle,” she said half shyly, “unless -you think mademoiselle prettier.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle.” He spoke the name in a soft tender tone -with such a sweet reverence that she lowered her gaze -and sighed.</p> - -<p>“So I was a horrid boy, was I?” he asked lightly, -breaking the pause. She looked up then all smiles.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>“Don’t you remember? But of course you didn’t think -so yourself, and I daresay thought me a little spitfire. You -used to pinch me slyly and kick me, and laugh when you -hurt me. I wonder I have not the bruises to this day. -And have you forgotten that time I flew at you and boxed -your ears?”</p> - -<p>“I wonder I can have forgotten,” he laughed.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you had snared a blackbird and were pulling -out its feathers, and mad at the sight I rushed at you and -struck you, and you let it go in your surprise. I hated -you for that, Gerard, I did indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Serve me right, too.”</p> - -<p>“And you called me such names.”</p> - -<p>“Not Gabrielle?” he interposed.</p> - -<p>“No, and not mademoiselle,” she retorted laughing. -“But cat, and beast, and fury, and everything, and you -pulled my hair.”</p> - -<p>“That hair?” he asked, laughing again. “What sacrilege.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, this hair,” she nodded gaily. “Oh, it is no -wonder that when they told me you were coming to—well, -you know why—that I was frightened lest you -should be just an older edition of that cruel little ugly -horror.”</p> - -<p>“Ugly, too?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, ugly. You were not a bit good-looking even for -a boy. I should never have guessed you were the same;” -and then she put her finger to her lip in some dismay -as if to check herself.</p> - -<p>“I think I am glad to have disappointed you.”</p> - -<p>“And do you think I have changed?” she asked, with -a challenge in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“You are older.”</p> - -<p>“What, in fifteen years? How strange!”</p> - -<p>“Is it fifteen years since you saw that pleasant youth -you have described?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>“Is that to put off my question? Have I disappointed -you as you have me?”</p> - -<p>“I had not even an idea of how beautiful you would -be.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, if you flatter me, I shall not like it.”</p> - -<p>“It is no flattery—Gabrielle,” and the low earnest tone -thrilled her with delight. She thought a moment and -then, looking up, said simply as she smiled into his eyes—</p> - -<p>“It is not unmaidenly, seeing why you have come to -Morvaix, for me to say what pleasure such words give -me, Gerard. Oh, I think I must be the happiest girl in -all fair France to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Seeing why I have come?” he repeated questioningly.</p> - -<p>“Gerard!” The tone was one of reproach, and she -looked troubled. “You have come for—for a purpose, -haven’t you?” Her eyes were on the ground as she spoke -hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and with God’s help, I will carry it through.”</p> - -<p>She looked up then, but the smile on her face faded -quickly away as she seemed not to read in his eyes what -she sought.</p> - -<p>“And your purpose is—what?” she asked, in a strange -tone, very subdued, quiet and anxious.</p> - -<p>“Even to you I cannot tell it yet,” he answered.</p> - -<p>“Cannot tell it me, Gerard? But——” she broke off -and repeated wonderingly: “‘Cannot tell it me—yet?’”</p> - -<p>“But you shall know it at the first moment I can open -my lips, and from what I have learnt of you, I know your -sympathy will be with me and it.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle felt the colour leaving her cheeks. What -could he mean? There must be some hindrance to the -plan of their marriage. He had said nothing of this in -his letters to her uncle—nor a word to her.</p> - -<p>“You have turned pale, mademoiselle. Are you ill?” -he asked kindly, seeing the change in her.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>“No, no; but I fear I don’t understand. I have been -unmaidenly and forward. But I did not know. You have -said nothing of this obstacle in your letters to my uncle -or to me. I thought it was settled. But I was wrong, of -course; we all have been. Yet I thought when you came -with no word—oh, cousin, was it manly or honourable -of you not to tell me at once, not to check me? Oh, I know -not what to say.”</p> - -<p>He was as much disturbed by the change in her as he -was troubled by the sight of her distress and puzzled by -her words.</p> - -<p>“Obstacle? What obstacle? What have I said to disturb -you thus?” he asked. “I would do anything in -the world for you.”</p> - -<p>“You shame me, cousin.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, on my honour, I know not what you -mean?” he cried, with whole-hearted earnestness.</p> - -<p>She rose then and looked at him, with a great effort -to be calm.</p> - -<p>“As God is my judge, I would give my life to serve -you,” he protested passionately. “I repeat, I know not -what you mean.”</p> - -<p>“What your purpose may be, I cannot guess; but matters -have gone too far for us to fence with words or feign -ignorance of facts. You can have had but the one purpose -in coming to Morvaix and to Malincourt. You have -already expressed it openly in your letters. It is to further -my dead parents’ wish for our marriage.”</p> - -<p>He fell back a pace in his intense wonderment, and -an exclamation of astonishment rushed to his lips only to -be checked with a supreme effort. But she saw the look -and noted the gesture, and her pride took instant offence.</p> - -<p>“I will leave you, monsieur; perhaps you will explain -this obstacle to my uncle with more candour than you -have deemed necessary to show to me.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>He conquered his surprise, and the wounded pride in -her eyes and voice roused him. To him she was more -than aught else in the world, and instantly he took the -resolve to sweep away the misunderstanding by explaining -all—his purpose in Morvaix, and that he was not the -man she believed. He could not let her go in anger, let -the cost be what it would.</p> - -<p>“One moment. As I live, there is no obstacle on my -side to—to our marriage. That I swear. But I will -explain all.”</p> - -<p>She paused and turned, her foot already on the steps -to leave him; and his heart leapt to see the light that his -words brought back to her eyes.</p> - -<p>“You have tried me sorely, cousin. I——” she faltered -and smiled and then leant for support against the balustrade.</p> - -<p>“God knows I would not cause you even a moment’s -uneasy thought,” he said earnestly. “I have done wrong, -I know, but the temptation was a sweet one. I had no -thought to deceive you when I came——”</p> - -<p>He got no farther, for at that moment de Proballe -stepped from the house and crossed the terrace to them, -saying cheerily as he approached—</p> - -<p>“Well, are you getting to know one another, eh?”</p> - -<p>“What I have to say is for your ears alone. I pray your -patience and will give you ample reasons,” said Gerard in -a quick undertone; adding aloud: “Yes, monsieur, we -are close to a complete understanding. Is it not so, -cousin?”</p> - -<p>“I hope so,” she answered, mystified still, but smiling.</p> - -<p>“Poor Denys is better, but very weak, and is asking -for you.”</p> - -<p>“With your leave I will go to him,” she said to Gerard.</p> - -<p>“I sent her off that we may have a talk and an understanding, -too,” said de Proballe, when Gabrielle had gone<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -into the house. “Let us walk here in the open where no -ears can catch our words.”</p> - -<p>He led the way to where a fountain stood among the -flower beds surrounded by a broad path, and Gerard accompanied -him, in bewildered curiosity as to what this -new development was to be.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII<br /> - - -<small>AT MALINCOURT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DISTRESSED as Gerard had been by the necessity -to deceive Gabrielle, into which he had allowed -himself to be drawn, he had no such qualms in -regard to her uncle. He was convinced that, as Pascal -had said, if there was evil work on foot, de Proballe -would be concerned in it.</p> - -<p>That such a man should be found established at Malincourt, -posing as the true friend of an innocent girl, and -regarded by her as an honourable and confidential adviser, -was in itself enough to rouse suspicion.</p> - -<p>He decided at once, therefore, to fall in with de Proballe’s -mood, whatever it might be, and to lead him to -talk as freely as he would.</p> - -<p>“Why did you not come straight to Malincourt, -Gerard, or at any rate let me know of your presence in -Morvaix, that I might have word with you?”</p> - -<p>“If I was doubtful of my reception by Gabrielle, can -you blame me?” asked Gerard in reply, dropping readily -into his assumed character.</p> - -<p>“But I had told you exactly how matters were with -her.”</p> - -<p>“But I had not seen her with my own eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Psh, a sentimental fool’s reason,” exclaimed de Proballe, -contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“Yet, I am no sentimental fool, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“If you were no worse, you would be lucky. Your -kinsman, Raouf, in Paris, gave me your history.”</p> - -<p>“He may have lied,” answered Gerard, calmly, suppressing -a start at the mention of the name and the coincidence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -it suggested. “But let it pass. What I have done, -I have done. If it comes to that, Raouf gave me no -saintly account of you.”</p> - -<p>“Paris is not Morvaix, and what I do there or here is -no concern of yours or his,” was the curt, half angry reply.</p> - -<p>Gerard laughed. “As I said, Raouf may have lied. It -is of no account; but I cannot see that in choosing my own -method I have done so ill.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe smiled unpleasantly.</p> - -<p>“You played boldly. I did not know you had such -courage—except in your cups. Yes, you have made a -good impression on Gabrielle; but have none the less -done ill.”</p> - -<p>“In what way?”</p> - -<p>“In saving that fool to-day. You were too hasty. You -should have let one of the swords find his heart, and then -have played the rescuer of Gabrielle. The men wouldn’t -have touched you.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Gerard quickly. “They tried.”</p> - -<p>“Because you stood between them and Denys.”</p> - -<p>“Read me the riddle.”</p> - -<p>“Denys has found out something of the real purpose -of this marriage; how much I know not; and his silence -is necessary to our success. The Duke will not thank -you.”</p> - -<p>“The Duke!” exclaimed Gerard hastily, bewildered by -this unexpected reference to the Governor in connection -with the marriage. A sudden sharp glance from his companion -warned him that he had blundered, so he forced -a laugh, and added: “The Duke should label his men if -he does not want them hurt.”</p> - -<p>“Are you a fool?” retorted de Proballe, sharply. -“Had you come straight to me, this would have been -avoided. I tell you the man is dangerous. Is not that -enough?”</p> - -<p>“No; it depends on how much he knows.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>“He knows that you are here to marry Gabrielle and -that in doing so you are merely playing catspaw; and -he suspects the real purpose, that it is to cover the Duke’s -plan in regard to her.”</p> - -<p>“Then he suspects what an infernal villain Gerard de -Cobalt must be!”</p> - -<p>“He is not alone in that suspicion,” was de Proballe’s -sneering comment.</p> - -<p>“True. I think I’m beginning to suspect it myself,” -answered Gerard drily.</p> - -<p>“If you were anything else, you’d be little use to us; -so let us have no cant here.”</p> - -<p>“I am here to play my part,” said Gerard smoothly, -repressing his anger.</p> - -<p>“It is a part many a better man would gladly play. -You will have wealth, a beautiful wife, a high position -here, and a pardon for that Cambrai affair. Surely all -that a man could wish.” He regarded Gerard with a sly -covert smile as he reeled off these advantages.</p> - -<p>Gerard’s face was as impassive as that of a statue, -while his thoughts were busy seeking the real meaning -beneath the words. He paused a moment, and then answered -in a level tone—</p> - -<p>“True, but you omit the price I have to pay.”</p> - -<p>“Price,” cried de Proballe, with another sneer. -“Price! Honour rather, you mean. The Duke de -Rochelle is all but of the Royal blood; and better men -than you will ever be have been glad to pay no more for -their careers than mere marital complaisance.”</p> - -<p>“By God!” exclaimed Gerard, his voice vibrating with -feeling as he realized now the full infamy of the plot and -the degradation of the part cast for him; then catching -de Proballe’s eyes fixed on him, he forced down his rage, -and said coolly: “You are right, monsieur; Gerard de -Cobalt cannot afford to be particular. He has that pardon -to gain.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>“Now perhaps you understand the harm you did in -saving that meddler’s life.”</p> - -<p>“I see now that if I had had all these thoughts in my -mind I would have acted differently.”</p> - -<p>“You will see the Duke to-day, and will find him in -a gracious mood.”</p> - -<p>“It is not the reputation he bears. They call him the -Tiger, I hear.”</p> - -<p>“His enemies do; those who seek to thwart him. He -saw Gabrielle to-day, and what passed between them -pleased him greatly. She urged him to relax the rigour -of his rule here; and he half consented. His plan is that -he and she shall take frequent counsel together for the -government of the people—when she is your wife. He -will thus see much of her in many a private conference, -and the people will have cause to bless her name for her -good influence. Some of the blessings may come your -way, Gerard, for the good change will date from the -time of your marriage. You will be a popular man in -Morvaix.” He ended with another of his dry cynical -laughs, and looked for his companion to join in.</p> - -<p>But Gerard was too deeply moved even to simulate -laughter.</p> - -<p>“There is yet one thing that perplexes me—has perplexed -me from the first. What is your part in this? -Raouf did not paint you exactly as a type of self-denial, -willing to stand aloof when others were reaping rich -gains.”</p> - -<p>“My plans, like my reasons, are my own,” returned de -Proballe, with a frown. “You shall know them all in -time.”</p> - -<p>“As you please. It is enough for me to know that you -have them. And I have enough on my side to keep my -wits busy.”</p> - -<p>“Had you but let the Governor’s men work their way -with that St. Jean all would have been well; but I scent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -danger there. Some other means of silencing him must -be found. For your part you have but to push your suit -with Gabrielle with all speed, and hasten on the marriage. -In that, the success you have gained to-day will help -you. Your act yesterday in the market place almost -turned her head; at any rate, it went to her heart. But -now, tell me of yourself, something of the story of your -life. She will surely question you, and you must have a -gallant tale to tell.”</p> - -<p>“My past, like your reasons, is my own. Should she -question me I shall know how to answer.”</p> - -<p>“From whence came you here, and how?”</p> - -<p>“That I am here may suffice. I have come to do my -task; and believe me I shall not fail to satisfy even the -Duke himself of my thoroughness.”</p> - -<p>“You can be close-lipped, it seems,” said de Proballe, -irritably.</p> - -<p>“No bad quality surely, when such work as mine has -to be done.”</p> - -<p>“If you will not talk then, let us go into the house. -You will of course bide at Malincourt. Have you a -servant and apparel suited to your new position? You are -but indifferently clad now.”</p> - -<p>“I am but a courier of fortune; but I have a servant, -and can provide for all the needs of even my high position -at Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“You are a strange fellow, Gerard, and altogether unlike -what your letters had led me to expect. But take -your own way.”</p> - -<p>“I have done that always, and shall not change even -in Malincourt. I have a matter that calls me to the -town, and will return to the maison within an hour or -so, by your leave,” and without another word he turned -and walked away, leaving de Proballe staring after him -in high dudgeon at his unexpected independence.</p> - -<p>Gerard plunged along at a quick pace, his brows pent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -and frowning as he thought over the extraordinary situation -in which he found himself involved. He made his -decision with characteristic promptitude. He would return -to Malincourt to see the thing through, to watch -over Gabrielle, and to play out the part for which he had -been thus unexpectedly cast.</p> - -<p>There was no thought now of undeceiving her as to -his real character. That was now out of the question, -impossible, for a time at least, for her own sake no less -than for his own.</p> - -<p>The explanation need not be long delayed. Once let -him get the proofs of the Governor’s connivance at the -scheme—and these he hoped to get in the interview which -de Proballe said was to take place at once—and he would -strike the power from the Governor’s hands by virtue of -the authority which his father, the Duke of Bourbon, as -Suzerain of the province, had conferred upon him.</p> - -<p>But the proofs must be very clear. The times were -such that too close a scrutiny was not likely to be made -into the private lives of those holding authority. The -man who ruled his province in such a way as to relieve -those above him of trouble, and who was always to be -relied on to find troops should they be needed, could -make sure of wide tolerance in any matters of his private -life.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the Duke de Rochelle was connected with -the blood royal; he could count therefore upon high -patronage and help; and there were in this connection -many reasons why Gerard must walk warily. There had -been trouble between the House of Bourbon and the -throne; and the King and his advisers would welcome -only too gladly any pretext to step in and wrest this last -lingering remnant of Bourbon suzerainty from the once -all-powerful family.</p> - -<p>Gerard felt all the responsibility that rested on him; -and it was in this respect that de Proballe’s last words<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> -were of such importance. The Governor was betraying -himself by mixing up a personal intrigue with the work -of Government. Not content with having misgoverned -the people and overtaxed them to the verge of revolt—offences -which might have been overlooked in view of the -powerful force of soldiery he had raised and trained—he -was now contemplating a complete reversal of policy in -order to please Gabrielle for his own evil personal ends.</p> - -<p>Here was Gerard’s chance, and he was quick to see -it and to determine to use it. He would continue the acted -lie of his false character until he had secured from the -Governor himself an admission of his real purpose, or had -found other incontestable proof of it—de Proballe’s word -being less than valueless; and the moment he was satisfied -he would strike.</p> - -<p>To this end he sought out the young officer, Pascal, -a close intimate friend, told him much of what he had -learned, and prevailed on him to doff the monk’s cowl -and assume the character of his servant at Malincourt -during the few hours or days he might have to remain -there.</p> - -<p>Pascal, to whom devilment in any form was welcome -enough, entered readily into the spirit of the adventure, -and agreed instantly. Together they obtained such apparel -as was necessary, and returned to Malincourt together.</p> - -<p>“I hope the old rat, de Proballe, won’t recognize me,” -said Pascal. “I once won some three hundred crowns -from him, and they say he never forgets a man who has -beaten him with the dice box.”</p> - -<p>“I am full of anxiety over this, Pascal; for Heaven’s -sake avoid every chance of a mishap,” replied Gerard -earnestly.</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep out of his way. Have no fear for me. Lest -he should know my voice, I’ll play the dumb man.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, not that. No buffoonery, on any account.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>“Well, then, you can say I have taken a vow of -silence on account of the past trippings of my tongue. -The reason would be true enough.”</p> - -<p>“There is need for nothing of the kind. Keep in -the background with your eyes and ears open and your -lips closed; shun the women as you would the plague, and -all will be well. Especially, shun the women.”</p> - -<p>The handsome young fellow laughed.</p> - -<p>“I’ll shun them, if they be not too pretty; but there -are limits, Gerard. I haven’t touched a pair of lips since -I’ve been in the city; although I must say a monk’s cowl -gives rare opportunities. Were I not a soldier, on my -faith I think I’d be a monk.”</p> - -<p>Gerard was received at the maison with such ceremony -as became a person of his consequence. Gabrielle and -her uncle greeted him: Gabrielle with such smiles and -gladness that Pascal ceased to wonder at his enthusiasm -for his new rôle; and de Proballe with many significant -shrugs and looks and equivocal phrases. The rest hailed -him as the chosen husband of their beloved mistress; and -the story of his bravery and prowess in the rescue of -Denys having spread, they welcomed him with acclamation.</p> - -<p>Pascal, as their new lord’s servant, would also have -been made much of; and seeing many ruddy lips and -bright eyes among the women, he would gladly enough -have responded had not Gerard’s injunctions of caution -been still strong upon him. He feigned fatigue, therefore, -and asked to be shown at once to Gerard’s apartments; -and going there, he at once fell into much deeper -waters than any which could have threatened him in any -other part of the house.</p> - -<p>The apartments were close to the room where Denys -lay with Lucette in attendance. Denys was better; but -when he had been told that his preserver was no other -than Gerard de Cobalt, he had taken the news very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -strangely and had broken out into a torrent of abuse of -him. Then he had gone on to tell Lucette things which, -added to what she had heard from Jacques Dauban on -the previous evening, had frightened her profoundly.</p> - -<p>But this sudden violent passion so weakened Denys -that a relapse followed; and thus Lucette had been left -with a half-told tale which he had conjured her to carry -to Gabrielle at once. She was at her wits’ end what to -do, and when she heard that Gerard had arrived and was -to be lodged in rooms adjoining, she found occasion to -loiter about until she encountered Pascal.</p> - -<p>Her pretty face and distracted looks went straight to -his sympathies, and when of her own motion she spoke -to him, he soon forgot all about Gerard’s counsel.</p> - -<p>“You are here with M. de Cobalt, monsieur?” she -said.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, mademoiselle, as certainly as that you are -here with some trouble of another kind than a captious -master. Although trouble may be a master of any of -us for that matter.”</p> - -<p>Lucette was watching him, and found him good to -look upon. Handsome, frank-faced and clear-eyed, with -the stamp of truth.</p> - -<p>“You, too, are a soldier, monsieur?”</p> - -<p>“When I am not anything else, mademoiselle. But in -times like these a man plays many parts.” She has -handsome eyes, and knows how to use them, was his -thought.</p> - -<p>“You have been long with M. de Cobalt, no doubt?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, mademoiselle,” was his unexpected -reply, given with an engaging smile.</p> - -<p>He has a dangerous smile, this servant, and speaks -with an air, said Lucette to herself.</p> - -<p>She is going to try and pump me, was Pascal’s unspoken -warning to himself.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know, monsieur! How can that be?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>“It depends upon what we reckon long; whether by -lapse of time—weeks, months, years—or by the events -which have occurred. A man may know a maiden for -years until he marry her, and then find that he has never -known her at all.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, you are a wit.”</p> - -<p>“What I am I myself know not; but I know what I -am not—and I am not a stream in which people, even -pretty maids, can fish with a chance of catching much.”</p> - -<p>“There is another thing you are not, monsieur,” retorted -Lucette, smiling.</p> - -<p>“There are many. I am not my master’s diary, for -others to read,” he answered with a laugh and a shake -of the head.</p> - -<p>“Neither are you a servant, monsieur, unless you wear -your master’s jewels on your fingers.”</p> - -<p>“By my shroud, but you have keen eyes as well as -pretty ones; but even sharp eyes may lead one astray. -I wear this jewel by my master’s whim,” he replied unabashed.</p> - -<p>“May I see it closer?”</p> - -<p>“Why not—’tis but a paste,” and he held it up.</p> - -<p>“You take great care of your hands, monsieur, for a -serving soldier man,” was her comment, so unexpected -that Pascal started and laughed.</p> - -<p>“Do you think I do hard work?” he asked, shrugging -his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Your clothes, too, are new and ill-fitting—they fit -you so ill, indeed, that I would swear you have never -worn the like before.”</p> - -<p>“Count not the misfit to me for my sin,” replied Pascal -gaily. “’Tis that of the rascal who made them. You -interest me, mademoiselle; may I ask who you are?”</p> - -<p>“Your voice, your manner, your tone, the very bow and -air with which you asked that question, everything about -you belies the servant, monsieur,” continued Lucette. “I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -am Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s foster sister and friend, -Lucette de Boisdegarde; and I am on my way to tell her -of this discovery of mine and other things. You bar my -path, monsieur,” she said with dignity, as Pascal in some -dismay put himself before her. “If you are in truth a -servant, I order you to stand aside; if you are a gentleman, -I ask you.”</p> - -<p>“If I detain you a moment, it is only to assure you that -Mdlle. de Malincourt and yourself can have no more -faithful friend and well-wisher than myself.”</p> - -<p>“Your name, monsieur?”</p> - -<p>“Pascal de—Pascal Tourelle, at your service.”</p> - -<p>She was quick to see the slip, and pressed home a -thrust at once.</p> - -<p>“On your honour?”</p> - -<p>“Pascal, on my honour; Tourelle, during my service -with my master.”</p> - -<p>She smiled, partly at the evasion, but more at his manner -of making it.</p> - -<p>“If you were not in this service of which you speak -so readily, how would you have finished that sentence? -Pascal de—what?”</p> - -<p>“That is my unhappy secret, mademoiselle; I beg your -consideration,” and his tone suggested a melancholy -trouble.</p> - -<p>But Lucette smiled.</p> - -<p>“Had you been a servant truly, your honour would -not have stayed you from deceiving me. If I do not go -now to mademoiselle, will you tell me all you know of -this M. de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“I will tell you this, on my honour, and your honour -will prevent your asking more,” he answered after a -moment’s consideration. “A braver soldier, a more -honourable knight, a more gallant gentleman, never trod -this earth than he in whose service you now find me.”</p> - -<p>She looked at him searchingly, and believed him. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -this very belief only sufficed to perplex her the more after -Denys’ story.</p> - -<p>“One question more I must put. Do you know if he -was ever at Cambrai? Do not answer against your will, -nor if you cannot speak truly on your honour.”</p> - -<p>“I can answer that, frankly. I have known him many -years, and can say that until within the last few days, -never. We passed through the place in coming here.”</p> - -<p>“Then is the puzzle inscrutable!” exclaimed Lucette. -Denys had told her of the murder at Cambrai, the pardon -for which was part of the price to be paid to de Cobalt, -and had spoken of a letter which he had found that put -the thing plainly. He had been in the act of telling her -where the paper was concealed, that she might get it and -carry it to Gabrielle, when the relapse had prevented -further speech.</p> - -<p>“I know not what to do,” she cried, in sore perplexity -and distress. “If I trust you, others are sadly misled. -And yet I believe you have not deceived me.”</p> - -<p>“On my honour I have spoken no more than the -truth,” said Pascal earnestly. He was as much puzzled -as Lucette herself. “If you would deal with me frankly, -and say——”</p> - -<p>“I cannot; I cannot,” she broke in excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Then may I suggest you speak to M. de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“You know not what you say. But the matter must -be probed to the bottom;” and afraid to say more she left -him and hurried back to Denys’ bedside.</p> - -<p>Pascal looked after her, nodded once or twice in answer -to his thoughts, and then, with a quizzical smile, muttered, -as he turned back to his room—</p> - -<p>“Now is the devil about to claim some of his dues -for this mad business. I must find Gerard and tell -him.”</p> - -<p>They had scarcely parted when the face of the spy -Jacques Dauban peeped cautiously round an angle of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -wall. Seeing the way was clear he came on with -stealthy noiseless tread, chuckling slyly to himself as he -rubbed his hands together. He paused just a moment to -listen at the door through which Pascal had gone, and -then passed on toward the room where Denys lay.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII<br /> - - -<small>THE PLOT THICKENS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">MEANWHILE Gerard himself, without any help -from Pascal’s misadventure, was finding enough -embarrassments to tax his wit and resourcefulness.</p> - -<p>De Proballe, anxious that Gerard should have the -fullest opportunities to push his suit with Gabrielle, soon -made an excuse to leave them together. He pleaded that -he must send to the Governor to arrange for the interview -between him and Gerard, and left them—a move -that was not without its embarrassment to Gerard, since -Gabrielle promptly took advantage of it to carry the conversation -back to the point where it had been interrupted -in the gardens.</p> - -<p>“You have something important to tell me, Gerard, I -know. You were about to tell me when my uncle came -to us. But first, I have to make a confession and to ask -your pardon.”</p> - -<p>“I am no priest, I fear,” he said, meeting her smiling -gaze.</p> - -<p>“But this is a wrong done to you. When I was thinking -over all we said to-day—and I have thought of nothing -else since—I remembered to my shame, that I had -never given you even a word of thanks for your help yesterday, -and again to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Please say nothing of it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but you must have thought me a very miser of -my gratitude. And I am not that. Indeed, indeed, I do -thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she cried, -warmly, her eyes on his face.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>“Do you think I need more reward than the -knowledge that it was you whom I could help? When I -saw you yesterday, my heart leapt, and I vowed——”</p> - -<p>“Well?” she asked, as he paused; and when he still -hesitated, checked by the thought that he had no right -to speak thus while the truth of his position was still -unexplained, she added, with a little frown and a very -winsome smile, “you break off at most irritating points, -cousin.”</p> - -<p>“I vowed myself to your service for good or ill,” he -said deliberately.</p> - -<p>“Take care what you say, cousin. Did you know who -I was?”</p> - -<p>“Not then, indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Then was that surely a most dangerous vow.”</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>She laughed merrily. “Supposing it had not been -Gabrielle to whom you thus rashly vowed yourself; what -would you have done?”</p> - -<p>“I had not thought of it. No other woman would have -drawn such a vow from me.”</p> - -<p>“You turn words well—so well that I could almost be -afraid of your skill. Shall we go out on the terrace? The -evening air is lovely. Tell me,” she said, as they walked, -“how came you to be playing trespasser so opportunely -to-day in Malincourt. It has puzzled me.”</p> - -<p>“If I tell the truth, I was lurking in the wood, hoping -to catch a sight of you again.”</p> - -<p>“You had learnt who this lady of your vow was by -that time, then?”</p> - -<p>“Else I had not been in Malincourt,” he answered, -without thinking.</p> - -<p>She glanced at him quickly, her face wrinkled with -this fresh puzzle.</p> - -<p>“Is not that a worse puzzle?” she asked. “Knowing -who I was, why not have come straight to the maison?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>“Of course, I might have done so,” he replied. He -saw the slip then clearly enough, and tried to cover it with -a laugh. “Perhaps I ought to have come.”</p> - -<p>“But you did not. Why? I do not mind that you did -not, but why should you choose so strange a course?”</p> - -<p>“What answer can I give, save it was a whim?”</p> - -<p>“You would have seen me sooner had you come and -would not have been one whit less welcome; and would -in truth have saved me some hours of anxiety. Do you -know that, yesterday, I sent high and low in search of -you; and only this morning my poor Denys went riding -out to Beaucamp on a veritable wild-goose chase to find -you?”</p> - -<p>Gerard smiled. “Did you at the time know who I -was?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Should I have sent away from Morvaix to find you, -had I known?”</p> - -<p>“Then you, too, were not without interest in a -stranger?”</p> - -<p>“It is not a fair hit,” she laughed. “I would not have -had even a stranger think me an ingrate for such -service.”</p> - -<p>“Then it was merely to thank me, you wished.”</p> - -<p>“Gerard!” and she let her eyes drop to the ground.</p> - -<p>“I should like to think that before you heard my name -to-day, you——” He commenced in great earnestness, -but checked himself again.</p> - -<p>“Some day I will tell you,” she replied in a low tone, -after a pause; and then, in a tone as low, he asked—</p> - -<p>“And what if I had been other than Gerard de -Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“Thank God, it was not so,” she cried, with a little -shiver and a sigh.</p> - -<p>“Why, Gabrielle?” He had his own strong reason -for pressing the question.</p> - -<p>For a time she kept her head bowed and remained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -silent; but then raising her eyes to him frankly and trustfully -she said—</p> - -<p>“I think I should like to tell you. You will not think -shame of me. I fear I could never have been Gerard de -Cobalt’s wife. All night I wrestled with the problem, -and prayed fervently for strength to do my duty, and -keep the pledge made for me by my parents. But when -I knew Gerard de Cobalt would come to-day, I dreaded -to meet him. Can you not guess why?” She was all -blushes and sweetness as the faltered confession dropped -from her lips.</p> - -<p>“You cannot think what this means to me,” he answered -with passion. “But some day you will understand.”</p> - -<p>“Why not now, Gerard? I have betrayed all my little -secret—little, do I say—if you but knew how great, how -all in all it is to me! I have shown you all my heart,” -she whispered.</p> - -<p>They were leaning on the marble balustrade, gazing -over the lovely gardens which the risen moon was silvering -with her glory.</p> - -<p>“Why not now, Gerard?” she repeated, after a long -pause, with sweet, gentle insistence. “What need of -secrets between us two?”</p> - -<p>He longed to respond to this frank confession of her -feelings by telling her everything; and the impulse to -speak was only curbed with great effort. But prudence -stayed him, and the fear of unknown consequences which -might imperil everything by forcing a disclosure to de -Proballe.</p> - -<p>“We will have no secrets one from the other, Gabrielle, -when once this matter in my thoughts has been -cleared up,” he said, his reluctance to refuse her plea causing -him to speak with hesitation.</p> - -<p>“Is it the same of which you spoke to-day so -strangely?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>“The same, yes.”</p> - -<p>“But you were going to tell me—then.” Her pause -before the word, and emphasis in speaking it, did not -escape him. But even the subtle temptation implied in -the sweet accent did not prevail.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I was going to tell you. If I do not, you trust -me?”</p> - -<p>“Gerard, of course. I should trust you always. But—I -am only a woman, and—curious,” she added, with a -tender smile of reproachful invitation.</p> - -<p>“And if I assure you it is for your own sake that I hold -this back, you will bear with me?”</p> - -<p>“For my sake? Now in truth you increase my perplexity, -and do but whet my appetite. How can it be -for my sake? You said to-day that it concerned the very -purpose of your coming here; and when I spoke of that -purpose as I knew it—our marriage, Gerard—you started -back as if in alarm or overwhelming surprise. You -pained me so that I was leaving you in anger.”</p> - -<p>“The pain was greater on my side than yours, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“And then you suggested you had been led to deceive -me in some strange way: I should not believe that, -indeed; and, as if impelled by some sudden thought, you -were about to tell me everything. And then my uncle -came, and you whispered hurriedly that what you had -to say was for my ears alone. Are we not alone now?” -she asked with witching pressure; and she smiled tenderly, -as she added: “You see I remember every word -you said. Indeed, I could never forget them; but I cannot -understand”; and she shook her head as if the puzzle -were all beyond her solving.</p> - -<p>“If you but trust me, what else can matter?” he answered, -at a loss how to meet her.</p> - -<p>“Nothing, nothing now,” she cried joyfully, moving -a little closer to him so that her shoulder was against his.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -“Chide me if I seem too persistent. I have had so much -of my own way in my life that I must be getting self-willed, -I think. But don’t make the chiding too harsh, -Gerard. And do not keep me too long with this secret -between us; I think I shall grow jealous of it. And—another -condition,” she laughed: “Do not tell any one -before you tell me. I could not bear that.”</p> - -<p>“You are even harder to resist when you yield, Gabrielle, -than when you plead, I fear.”</p> - -<p>“Am I? Then I will yield that I may plead. But I -will wait your time. Of course I will. It is such delight -to me to find you what you are, that all else is nothing. -Besides, it is the first request you have made to me, and -I should be a churl to refuse it. I did not think of that, -and could be angry with myself for having forgotten -it. I would not hear you now, if you were to offer to tell -me.” Her laugh at this was as that of a child in its pure -delight.</p> - -<p>“I am almost constrained to tempt you,” he said, -laughing in his turn.</p> - -<p>“Nay, I have put my curiosity away—about that, but -I have plenty left about you and your life and all you -have done to change you from that boy Gerard whom I -knew.”</p> - -<p>“I am very different from him, I trust. I have been -a soldier since the time I was big enough to shoulder a -musket.”</p> - -<p>“And have fought? Tell me, tell me. Where and -with whom? I love to hear of brave deeds. I am a soldier’s -daughter, you know.”</p> - -<p>“I have been a courier of fortune, as all younger sons -must be, and have carried arms under the Bourbons.”</p> - -<p>“We Malincourts, too, claim to be of the Bourbon -blood; but—how do you mean—a younger son? I had -not heard you had ever a brother, Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“All soldiers have brothers-in-arms,” he replied,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -hastily, and with some confusion. “I have had my own -way to push—to prove that I was worthy to lead.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes. And you have proved that long since, I -am confident. But tell me of the fighting. Oh, I would -that I had been a man to bear my part as a soldier!”</p> - -<p>“That had been hard on me, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“True enough, too. And for that I am glad I am -only a woman,” she said, gently, nestling yet closer to him. -And having thus led her on to the safe topic of his -career as a soldier, he told her many of his experiences. -She listened eagerly to his story, hanging on his words in -rare delight, until he broke off, remembering that he was -to see the Governor that night.</p> - -<p>“I am forgetting—I could forget all in your company. -But M. de Proballe has arranged that I see the Duke to-night. -I had best seek him.”</p> - -<p>“You must be careful with the Governor, Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“Why? I do not fear him.”</p> - -<p>“He is all-powerful here in Morvaix. You saw what -passed in the market place yesterday. He is a man of -iron.”</p> - -<p>“Yet what harm can he do me?”</p> - -<p>“He is bad to the heart’s core. His wife is my one -intimate friend in Morvaix, an honourable, God-fearing -woman, who has suffered unspeakable sorrows at his -hands in her life. She is now bed-ridden, poor soul; and -we have spoken freely together of the Duke.”</p> - -<p>“He is a tyrant—that I have learnt.”</p> - -<p>“And many worse things, I fear. I would not willingly -speak ill of any man, but to you I should speak -freely. He has but too well merited the term men give -him—the Tiger of Morvaix. Could the grim walls and -torture chambers of his castle bear witness against him, -fearsome truths indeed would come to light.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me of them.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, not to-night. To-night we will not speak of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -Morvaix horrors; rather let us hope that from to-night, -from your coming, Gerard, better times will dawn for -the city and the unfortunate citizens. The Duke is a -hard, harsh, cruel man, who tolerates but one principle -of rule: blind implicit obedience to his will, to be enforced -by any measure of cruelty, however violent and -harsh. He has ground down the people until the yoke -has become intolerable; and yet there seems no remedy. -I sent tidings privately to the Duke of Bourbon, as -Suzerain of the province, praying him to come or send -aid to us before the people should be driven to open rebellion. -But no one comes, no one heeds; and we must -work out our own rescue. I have a faint hope indeed, -that matters will mend.”</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“I saw the Duke to-day, and urged him to relax the -severity of his rule—to take off this last cruel impost on -the people’s food, for one thing; and he half promised, -making his consent contingent on some sacrifice from -me. God knows there is nothing I would not give in such -a cause. I would strip myself of all my possessions—even -of Malincourt itself, dearly as I love every stone of the -old maison. But I hold the welfare of the people dearer. -He would not name the condition, however, leaving it to -me to do so. And I know not what he wishes.”</p> - -<p>Gerard’s face grew dark with anger as he listened, -knowing full well from de Proballe’s words what the -condition was.</p> - -<p>“We shall together find the means, Gabrielle,” he said -earnestly. “My hand and oath on that; and my life the -forfeit if I fail.”</p> - -<p>“You will help me in this,” she cried, joyfully and -eagerly. “Oh, Gerard, did I not say to-day how glad I -was that you had come! What great issues now depend -on you. With you to help me, a strong man at Malincourt, -to oppose the castle; not violently I mean, but with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> -the strength of all the people’s sympathy behind us, what -may we not achieve? But when you see the Duke, be -wary of him; give him no cause present offence that we -may be the stronger in the future.”</p> - -<p>“Does any one but you know that you sent to Bourbon -for help? Your uncle, for instance?”</p> - -<p>“No. I told no one; not even him. I deemed him too -intimate with the Governor. He would not wittingly -betray me, I know, for he has often spoken to me in sorrow -of the Duke’s government. You like him, Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“I have seen but little of him; but I have indeed found -him blunt in speaking of facts,” was the cautious reply, -drily spoken.</p> - -<p>A footstep on the terrace disturbed them. It was -Pascal.</p> - -<p>“I was seeking you, monsieur, to know if you have -any other commands for me,” he said aloud in a respectful -tone, adding in a whisper, as they stood apart: -“I must speak to you at once. There’s a devil of a -mess.”</p> - -<p>“Wait but a minute,” whispered Gerard; and then -aloud: “I will you see directly, good Pascal. It is my -faithful fellow in some trouble about me, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Then let us go in. Ah, here is Lucette,” she added, -as Lucette, looking very troubled, came out of the maison. -“How is Denys, Lucette?”</p> - -<p>“He was better for some time, but the fever seems -to have come back upon him. The surgeon has seen -him again, and given him a potion, and he is now -asleep.”</p> - -<p>“He should be carefully watched all night, never left -for a moment,” declared Gerard quickly, remembering de -Proballe’s threatening words. “You will see to this, -mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>“The surgeon says he will sleep until the morning, -and will need no more till then,” answered Lucette.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>“Let him be watched. At need I, or Pascal here, will -remain by his bedside.”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, monsieur, that were not well;” and -Lucette spoke so sharply that all looked at her.</p> - -<p>“What mean you, Lucette?” asked Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Denys has, for causes that may be plain afterward, -conceived a violent dislike toward Monsieur de Cobalt; -and if he woke and found him by the bedside, it might -be very ill indeed.”</p> - -<p>“But I have never set eyes on him until to-day, -mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>“It is probably no more than a sick man’s fancy,” said -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“It may be so; yet it is very strong upon him, and he -talks wildly and almost at random.”</p> - -<p>“I fear his wound is more serious than you deemed, -Gerard,” declared Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“It is the more reason for what I have urged—that -he be watched closely and never left. His life itself may -hang upon it.”</p> - -<p>“I will see that it is done,” agreed Gabrielle readily.</p> - -<p>“That what is done?” It was de Proballe who asked -the question, coming out of the house in time to catch -the last words.</p> - -<p>“My poor Denys is very ill, it seems, uncle, and Gerard -has just been saying that he should be watched ceaselessly.”</p> - -<p>“Poor fellow,” he replied in a compassionate tone; and -then with an upcast glance at Gerard he asked: “And -why do you think he should be watched so closely?”</p> - -<p>“I have had some skill in sword-wounds, monsieur, -and Mademoiselle Lucette here says he has been talking -wildly. When delirium follows such a wound as his there -is every need for care.”</p> - -<p>It was an adroit answer, for it satisfied de Proballe -and also bore out what he had said before. But Lucette’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -eyes were very keen, and knowing all she did, she was -watching closely enough to catch de Proballe’s glance of -meaning as he answered—</p> - -<p>“You are right then, Gerard. I will see to this, Gabrielle. -Denys is too good a fellow for us to run any risks -with. My man, Jacques Dauban, has had some training -in surgery, and would gladly keep such a vigil.”</p> - -<p>Lucette bit her lip and cast down her eyes.</p> - -<p>“I think we need not trouble Master Dauban or cause -him to lose a night’s rest,” she said. “My maid and I -can watch, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Ever kind and considerate, Lucette,” said de Proballe. -“Well, we can see to it, as Gabrielle says. And -now, Gerard, I have a word for your ear about the -Governor. He cannot receive you to-night.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry; but to-morrow will do for me.”</p> - -<p>“What is this about Denys?” asked de Proballe, -eagerly, when Gabrielle and Lucette had left them. “You -should not have urged that watching. If the man is alive -to-morrow, everything may be ruined. What has he said -to Lucette there?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, I neither know nor care.”</p> - -<p>“Are you mad?”</p> - -<p>“To-night, perhaps yes; sanity may come in the morning. -I have been talking long and earnestly with Gabrielle, -and her purity and innocence may have maddened me. -If that be so, it is sweet madness.”</p> - -<p>“Psh. Spare me such cant. Would you ruin everything? -We are men with work to do, not fools to stuff -our minds with folly.”</p> - -<p>“Nor villains to murder sick men. If harm should -come to Denys I should never forgive myself—nor you, -monsieur; and I should hold you responsible.”</p> - -<p>“Then you do not wish this marriage?”</p> - -<p>“Not if the path to it be cold-blooded murder, Monsieur -de Proballe.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>“Does it lie in your mouth to speak of murder, after -Cambrai? But your head is turned because you find your -cousin has a pretty face; and if it is not to be turned next -on the headsman’s block, you will cease this folly.”</p> - -<p>“So it was held to be murder at Cambrai?”</p> - -<p>“You try my patience beyond endurance. See to it -that you have more reason in the morning; and that -you may find it, I will give you something to ponder in the -night. I have talked with the Duke to-night, and found -him with another plan half-fledged in his thoughts; and -if ever it gets full-feathered you may look to yourself.”</p> - -<p>“He seems a man quick at hatching schemes. I fear -neither him nor them.”</p> - -<p>“Fool! Do you dream to oppose him? He is now half-minded -to divorce his Duchess and make Gabrielle his -wife. He finds that he stands higher in the favour of the -Cardinal Archbishop than he deemed; his Eminence has -sent him a hundred fighting men for his army; and he -now thinks he can secure a dispensation to put away his -wife. He is childless, and she a bed-ridden invalid; and -the Church might not willingly see so noble a line as his -extinct. If you do not hurry to make Gabrielle your wife, -I would not answer for your head. Ponder that to-night, -and mouth of sweet madness in the morning, if you have -any mind left for such folly.”</p> - -<p>Waiting for no reply, de Proballe turned on his heel -and entered the house; and as Gerard was gazing after -him, Pascal approached and touched him on the arm.</p> - -<p>“Of all the diabolical villains—What is it, man?” he -broke off impatiently.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use of wasting breath in that way when -there are things to be done? This precious maison is like -a nest of spies. I’ve been found out for an impostor by -that pretty sharp-eyed girl whose lover lies wounded upstairs; -and I was wondering how to get to you to tell -you when I came on some sneaking whelp of a man with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> -his ear jammed to the door of the chamber where she -was watching.”</p> - -<p>“Did you break his head for him?”</p> - -<p>“Nearly; but I did better. I played spy in my turn; -and your honest man can beat a rogue at his own trade -when he tries, even when that trade is spying. Presently -the rascal went to the door of the apartments where we -are to lie, and, after listening and waiting, he knocked, -at first gently, and then more boldly, and finding no one -within, entered, and I caught him ransacking among our -baggage. Holy Peter! but he cut a sorry figure when -he saw me peeping round the door at him;” and Pascal -laughed.</p> - -<p>“What did you do? I hope you were discreet.”</p> - -<p>“I first knocked him down and drubbed him soundly, -and then tied him up with a roll of cloth for his supper, -and locked him in a cupboard. Then I came for you that -we may try him together.”</p> - -<p>“Who is he?”</p> - -<p>“I gave him no time to say. But come, or he may be -smothered—for I’m a novice with the gag—and in that -case we shall get nothing out of him; which would be a -pity.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a curious turn,” said Gerard uneasily, as they -hurried away together.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX<br /> - - -<small>WHAT DENYS KNEW</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">PASCAL was all laughter and sallies as he led the -way up to their apartments, but Gerard was in -no such mood. He was very serious and full of -misgivings at the course things were taking. There were -more than enough complications in the position already -without the additional embarrassment of the bestowal of -a prisoner.</p> - -<p>It was not without some sense of relief, therefore, that -he saw Pascal start as he entered the room, and heard -him exclaim in a tone of dismay—</p> - -<p>“The sly devil has wriggled out, Gerard. By my -shroud, I had not deemed it possible. I put him in there -and shot the bolt upon him”; and he pointed to an -empty closet.</p> - -<p>“Never mind. Perhaps it is best so,” answered Gerard -with a smile. “An honest man can’t always beat a rogue -at his own trade, it seems.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, laugh away; but he’ll not laugh if ever I set -eyes on him again, the sneaking mongrel.”</p> - -<p>“For not waiting for your return, you mean? He -knows his business, at any rate.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, that’s certain; but the point is how much he -knows of yours?” retorted Pascal. “I’ll forgive him for -knowing his own, but he shall pay the price for meddling -in mine. Were I not a fool I had mounted guard over -him and waited for you to come here.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure he was spying upon us?”</p> - -<p>“Am I sure that we are on a queer quest here? Who -can have turned him on to such a scent?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>“I should suspect de Proballe, were it not that he -knows all my supposed unsavoury history as the real de -Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“He has no suspicion that you are not?”</p> - -<p>“Not that I can think.”</p> - -<p>“Then it must be the girl who questioned me and said -I was no servant—Mdlle. de Boisdegarde,” suggested -Pascal, with a shrewd nod of the head. “I mind me -now. Are you supposed to have done some ugly thing -at Cambrai? She questioned me on the point.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, a something which de Proballe spells murder, -and for which I am to be pardoned.”</p> - -<p>“A thousand devils! I gave her my word of honour -you had never been there, except as we passed through -the place on our way here.”</p> - -<p>“How can she have got wind of it?” and Gerard -pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Wait, wait. I see. De -Proballe told me this good fellow Denys had his suspicions. -He has told her. Phew!” he whistled. “The -plot thickens.”</p> - -<p>“It’s thick enough already to be a very devil’s pie of -complication,” laughed Pascal. “I suppose, as usual -you will listen to no counsel of prudence.”</p> - -<p>“Prudence, from Pascal de la Tour?” and Gerard -laughed in his turn.</p> - -<p>“Nay, for myself I care nothing. Let come what may -it’s all welcome, so long as there be but some fun in it. -But your life is valuable. Would it not be wise to give -up this de Cobalt business, leave Morvaix, and return as -yourself with the troops from Cambrai?”</p> - -<p>Gerard thought a moment, and then with another smile -answered—</p> - -<p>“You have seen for yourself how a certain matter -stands. Were you in my place, would you act on your -own counsel?”</p> - -<p>“Not I, on my soul. If there are two ways to an end,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -I would choose that which has the more spice in it, and -devil take the danger. But you and I stand on different -footings, Gerard, and I would not so counsel you.”</p> - -<p>“Counsel or no counsel, I stay, Pascal. We will have -the troops up when the need calls for them. But I will -follow the spirit of your advice. I’ll write to my cousin -d’Alembert, at Cambrai, bidding him be prepared to -march hither at an hour’s notice; and to-morrow early -you must find means to despatch a messenger to him. -Then seek out Dubois, and tell him to keep in close touch -with the hundred we brought into the city as monks, so -as to assemble them at any moment. Do you know how -the hundred we played at presenting to this Governor -have been bestowed?”</p> - -<p>“That was a shrewd step,” answered Pascal, with a -laugh. “They are enrolled among the castle guards, in -accordance with the suggestion Dubois handed on from -his Eminence—yourself, Gerard. Pray Heaven, they do -but keep discreet tongues. They are tough fighters, and -every man would gladly give his life for you; but like -soldiers, they love their liquor.”</p> - -<p>“To-morrow, or at any rate the day following, should -see all in readiness for us to act. Now let me write my -letter—a task I loathe.”</p> - -<p>While Gerard wrote, Pascal left the room, wishful in -case of emergencies to learn his way better about the -great house, and he came back just as the seal was set to -the paper.</p> - -<p>“Gerard, that sharp-eyed beauty, Mdlle. Lucette, -wishes a word with you. I met her on the watch in the -corridor as I returned.”</p> - -<p>Gerard went out to her.</p> - -<p>“May I put a question to you, M. de Cobalt?” was -how she met him.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, mademoiselle. Can I help you? You look -sorely troubled.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>“Gabrielle trusts you so implicitly, monsieur, and ’twas -she bade me ask you. Will you tell me why you were -so anxious that Denys St. Jean should be watched so -jealously?”</p> - -<p>“I gave my reasons, mademoiselle. When fever and -delirium follow loss of blood from a sword-thrust there -must always be risk to the patient.”</p> - -<p>“There is no delirium, monsieur. When Denys spoke -of you, he was perfectly calm and clear. At first, that -is, and until his excitement grew. But what he said of -you was said collectedly.”</p> - -<p>“But the fever is on him, and therefore he should not -be left,” said Gerard calmly.</p> - -<p>She made a quick gesture of impatience.</p> - -<p>“Can you not answer me frankly, monsieur? Oh, pardon -me, but I am in such distress. You have some other -reasons. I saw the look that passed between you and M. -de Proballe.”</p> - -<p>“Would you ask me to interpret for you all M. de -Proballe’s looks, and to explain all you may have thought -in your excitement?” and he smiled.</p> - -<p>“Denys is so hot against you, and makes such charges.”</p> - -<p>“Should I warn you to set a watch over him if I myself -were minded to do him any harm for that? In all -honest truth, I care not what he may either think or say.”</p> - -<p>“But he declares——”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, I would rather not hear what he says -except from his own lips. I shall know how to answer -him.”</p> - -<p>She lifted her hands despairingly and was turning -away, when a further question occurred to her. “On -your honour, monsieur, you have no other reason for this -watching than what you have said?”</p> - -<p>“That is a question which I would rather that you did -not put to me.”</p> - -<p>“But we trust you so,” she cried reproachfully.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>He smiled again. “Then do as I have suggested.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a mystery is all this;” she exclaimed, and -left him.</p> - -<p>“One word more, mademoiselle,” he said, following -her a couple of paces. “We are soldiers and accustomed -to long watches and little sleep. One of us will be on the -watch out here in the corridor for the night.”</p> - -<p>She made no reply; and Gerard, going back to Pascal, -told him what he proposed: that they two should watch -in turns through the night.</p> - -<p>“I hope that rat will come stealing back,” said Pascal. -“If I don’t pinch his throat for him, may my fingers forget -the feel of a man’s wizen;” and he agreed readily -to take the first spell.</p> - -<p>The rat did come back, more than once; but so cunningly -and softly now, so warily and so keen of scent for -the watchers, that neither Gerard nor Pascal knew of his -coming; and in the morning both agreed that they had -kept their vigil to no purpose. Could they have heard -the report which Dauban gave to his master, however, -they would have known otherwise.</p> - -<p>De Proballe was ill at ease, indeed. He did not like -the attitude which Gerard had adopted. He had looked -for a pliant tool, afraid of his life; and he found instead, -a man who showed independence and firmness, who had -a will of his own, and who both said and did things that -made against his plans.</p> - -<p>For his purpose it was not by any means enough that -Gerard should succeed in making a good impression on -Gabrielle. That was right, so far as it went; but Gerard -seemed to be captivated by her beauty; and that was altogether -wrong. If there was to be love between them, -the whole scheme might be jeopardised; and with it -would go his own more daring and ambitious plans.</p> - -<p>Were Gerard to marry Gabrielle and then turn against -him, no one could foresee the consequences. The blundering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> -interference in regard to Denys was unaccountable; -and the manner in which he had flinched from the necessary -step of dealing with one whose knowledge was so -dangerous, was profoundly disturbing. It was enough -to rouse the wrath of any one; and when Dauban brought -word that a watch was actually being kept which rendered -it impossible even to get to the door of the room, -his perplexity equalled his ill-temper.</p> - -<p>He had his own standards of judging men; and he -could only come now to the conclusion that Gerard was -in some way playing for his own hand. This thought -kept him in a ferment of speculation the whole night.</p> - -<p>Seeing Gerard in the gardens early, he went down to -him, resolved to have an explanation.</p> - -<p>“I want a word with you, Gerard,” he said, bluntly. -“We must understand one another, or this thing goes -no farther.”</p> - -<p>Gerard had gone out early in the hope of seeing Gabrielle, -and was anything but pleased to have de Proballe’s -company instead; nor did he at all relish the peremptory -tone in which de Proballe spoke. Thus his answer was -sharp and curt.</p> - -<p>“What is there we do not understand, monsieur?”</p> - -<p>“In the first place, you must understand that as I am -the author of this marriage scheme, you must work for -it as I direct, or it must come to an end.”</p> - -<p>“Is that so?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is so; and you had better know it. I first -thought of it; I found the proofs of her parents’ wishes -to lay before Gabrielle; and what I made I can as easily -unmake again. I have but to speak a word and the -bubble will burst.”</p> - -<p>“Then it was a lie, M. de Proballe?” asked Gerard -coldly and incisively.</p> - -<p>“A lie, as you know perfectly well; one in which you -have already taken part, and which you have come here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> -in person to continue to the end. It is useless for us to -play like children at pretences. In your letters to me you -have expressed your willingness to put yourself entirely -in my hands, to do precisely what I tell you. Now, -will you do it? If you will not, say so.”</p> - -<p>“My memory for such matters is short, monsieur, and -in regard to all such communications I am as if I had -never penned them”; replied Gerard, after a moment’s -pause.</p> - -<p>“Then it is as I thought. You have some scheme of -your own to further. What is it?” De Proballe was -furious at the answer.</p> - -<p>“If it be my own, as you suggest, should I be likely to -disclose it to you?”</p> - -<p>“You do not deny it?”</p> - -<p>“I do not admit your right to question me.”</p> - -<p>“Do you intend to marry Gabrielle?”</p> - -<p>“Without a doubt, if she will deign to marry me.”</p> - -<p>“Then why did you set a watch outside that babbler’s -door all through the night?”</p> - -<p>“How do you know that I did?”</p> - -<p>“No matter. I know it, and that is enough.”</p> - -<p>“I was right, then, in thinking you would choose the -night for your work. I set the watch, monsieur, because -I had no mind to be a party to your murderous scheme.”</p> - -<p>“You will repent this attitude.”</p> - -<p>“Very likely. Most of us spend our lives in either committing -one blunder or repenting others.”</p> - -<p>“You tempt me to deem my act a blunder indeed in -bringing you to Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“That may be part of the better understanding, the -reference to which opened our conversation. Need we -say any more?”</p> - -<p>“Before the day is done you may understand better,” -cried de Proballe, furiously.</p> - -<p>“Shall we leave it, then, for the coming hours to decide?”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -retorted Gerard, lightly and without more he -turned his back and walked away.</p> - -<p>De Proballe returned to the house more uneasy and -more wrathful than ever. He seemed to see his schemes -crumbling to pieces before his eyes, and to be unable to -avert the ruin. He had built so much on Gerard’s coming -that he was loath now to carry his fears to the Governor, -and thus stop the marriage altogether; and yet it -was plain that if this was to be Gerard’s attitude when -he had married Gabrielle and was master of Malincourt, -the very marriage itself might but make matters worse -than they were at present.</p> - -<p>He could not see what private scheme Gerard could -have in reserve; and came at length to think that the -success with Gabrielle had so turned Gerard’s head that -he believed himself master of the situation. From this -delusion it would not be difficult to rouse him, however. -A word or two from the Duke that his life was in danger -would soon cure this swashbuckler mood; and such a -word he could instigate at any moment. He could therefore -safely let matters run their course for the present.</p> - -<p>In this temper he awaited the hour fixed for Gerard’s -interview with the Governor; but early in the forenoon -the latter arrived at Malincourt; and de Proballe -found him in a dangerous temper.</p> - -<p>“We were to wait upon you at the Castle, Duke,” he -said, suavely.</p> - -<p>“Am I not welcome at Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“You can need no assurance from me, I trust, that -your presence here is an honour and a welcome condescension.”</p> - -<p>“Umph!” and the Governor shrugged his shoulders. -“Where is Mdlle. de Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“I have not seen my niece this morning. I will have -her sent for.”</p> - -<p>“No, that is not my wish. Where is your villainous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> -jackal, de Cobalt? News has reached me that he made -much impression upon your niece yesterday. Is that so? -Speak plainly.”</p> - -<p>“He came as her betrothed, and he has done as we -would have him do, seeing the purpose in hand.”</p> - -<p>“I have my doubts about this affair after all,” was -the answer, with a heavy frown. “It will not suit me -that he win too far into her good graces. The thing -has cost me a sleepless night of thought, and I have come -now that I may see them together, myself unseen, and -hear them speak one to the other, that I may judge how -matters go. You will arrange this. I am consumed with -a cursed gnawing plague of jealousy.”</p> - -<p>“You will of course understand——”</p> - -<p>“I will understand nothing but that you must do as -I say.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe spread out his hands and was about to -expostulate again, when the Duke cut him short, and -said very sternly—</p> - -<p>“Will you do as I say, M. le Baron, or must I find -some other way?”</p> - -<p>“It shall be as you please. The best plan I can conceive -is that we remain hidden here where we can watch -any one on the terrace, and I will send word to de Cobalt -that the hour is close at hand when he is to accompany -me to the Castle, and ask him to wait me on the terrace. -Then I can send for Gabrielle, and get her there.”</p> - -<p>“Give the instructions in my presence.”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur le Duc!” exclaimed de Proballe, in a tone -of indignation.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur le Baron!” He imitated de Proballe’s tone, -and then laughed coarsely. “I can trust my own ears, -and mean to have no warning conveyed to either of -them.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe started and bit his lip. He had contemplated -doing the very thing the Duke insinuated, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -was bitterly vexed his thought should have been read. -For a moment they faced each other, and then de Proballe -with a shrug of his shoulders turned to obey. But -at that instant the Duke caught sight of Gerard and Gabrielle -strolling in the gardens, and frowned.</p> - -<p>“There is no need to summon any one. I see them. -You will remain with me, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>Standing back well out of sight, the Duke watched the -two lovers with intent gaze, his expression changing -gradually from eager scrutiny to one of jealous anger, -and the heavy frown deepened every moment, till at last -he burst out into angry speech.</p> - -<p>“God of Heaven! it is even worse than the worst I -feared. See how they linger together over the flowers; -how she smiles to him, and he answers.”</p> - -<p>“He does but play his part, Duke.”</p> - -<p>“If that be play, then never saw I earnest. And she, -how her face lights as he speaks to her; her colour -deepens as she droops her head at his words. See how she -lays her hand tenderly on his arm; and he, how he -stoops over her hand and raises it to his lips, and she—by -the God that made us all, she loves him. Look at the -light in her eyes.”</p> - -<p>“He is our man, my lord, and sows but for us to reap.”</p> - -<p>“’Twill be a bitter crop for some of us, or I am no -ruler in Morvaix. ’Twas not for this we sent for him. -And you say they never met till yesterday?”</p> - -<p>“Till yesterday.”</p> - -<p>The Duke turned from the window, and paced the room -with quick angry strides, his face black as night and his -eyes blazing with hot jealous rage. De Proballe watched -him stealthily, wondering what this new dangerous mood -portended.</p> - -<p>“They are coming to the terrace,” he said at length; -and the two watchers concealed themselves close by the -open casement.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>The lovers approached, all unsuspecting that keen -vengeful eyes were bent upon them from under the -strained pent brows of a man half mad with jealous -frenzy. And a handsome picture they made as they -came up the broad steps laughing gaily in the sweet -abandonment of new-found all-trusting love.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle held in one hand the kerchief with which she -had at first covered her head, and in the other was a -posy of freshly plucked flowers, from which she had -chosen a red rose to give to Gerard. Her face was -radiant with smiles and her eyes glowed as she turned -them ever and again upon her handsome lover by her side. -At the head of the steps she stayed and leant in a graceful -pose against the marble pillar on which stood the -statue of a fantastically carved faun.</p> - -<p>“And must you really go now to the Castle?” she -asked.</p> - -<p>“M. de Proballe named this hour, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“I am loath for you to go, cousin; yet could wish you -gone that I may look for your return, and long for it.”</p> - -<p>“You do not think I leave you willingly?”</p> - -<p>A tender glance was the answer, and at the sight of -it the angry man within the room close by drew in his -breath sharply as if in pain.</p> - -<p>“I believe I shall count the minutes till you return,” -she said. “Am I not foolish? But your coming has -changed my world.”</p> - -<p>“If it be foolishness, then it is good to be foolish,” -returned Gerard.</p> - -<p>“You will be careful with the Duke, remembering what -I have told you, Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“I have to think of you, Gabrielle, and the thought -will inspire me to caution.”</p> - -<p>“I would I could be present. Not that I doubt you; -maybe,” she smiled, “it is only because I do not like to be -parted from you.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>“The minutes will be no less leaden to me while I -am away;” and again they smiled each to the other with -such a glance that the Duke could endure no more.</p> - -<p>“This must end,” he whispered fiercely. “I will bear -no more;” and he was moving impetuously when de Proballe -stayed him and whispered in reply—</p> - -<p>“I beg you have patience, my lord. He is but adopting -my suggestion and wooing her that the marriage may -take place the sooner.”</p> - -<p>“Then he must find some other way. It is hell to -me.”</p> - -<p>“Stay; some one comes. By all the saints in heaven, -it is Denys!”</p> - -<p>He was walking with difficulty, and leaning on Lucette’s -arm for support.</p> - -<p>“It is he who knows something of our plans, my -lord, and should have been silenced by your men yesterday. -He must be stopped, or he will poison her ears -against him.”</p> - -<p>But the Duke, catching eagerly at the words, laid a -strong hand on de Proballe’s arm and held him as he -whispered in tense accents—</p> - -<p>“Let him do it, and I will thank him. Stay, monsieur, I -order you.”</p> - -<p>In dire consternation de Proballe, now much agitated, -fell back to his place, and both were again silent.</p> - -<p>“Denys, Denys, what madness is it that brings you -from your sick bed thus?” cried Gabrielle, in surprise -and some alarm for him. “You are risking your life.”</p> - -<p>“It is no madness, mademoiselle, and my life would -be cheaply spent in such a case,” answered Denys, speaking -with great labour and seeming even to breathe with -difficulty.</p> - -<p>“I could not stay him, Gabrielle,” said Lucette, in response -to Gabrielle’s look of reproach.</p> - -<p>“You would not come to me when I sent for you,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> -mademoiselle,” said Denys slowly, when he had found -breath. “So I came to you.”</p> - -<p>“I could not come then, and did but delay, good Denys. -But what is this matter that could not wait?”</p> - -<p>“That man is the matter—Gerard de Cobalt. I know -the truth of his coming hither and his treachery, and not -another hour was to be lost before I told you.”</p> - -<p>“Denys! How dare you speak thus? You presume -upon my good will. It was M. de Cobalt who saved your -life yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“Would God I had lost it rather than that it should be -saved by him. As Heaven is my witness, I speak but the -truth when I say he is a villain; and I can and will prove -my words by his own testimony.”</p> - -<p>A moment’s tense silence followed this fierce accusation; -and in it the Duke whispered under his breath—</p> - -<p>“It grows interesting. I hope he will make good his -words. He is an honest sturdy fellow, and looks as -earnest as he is sincere. A good witness, and welcome.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X<br /> - - -<small>THE ACCUSATION</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">TO Gerard the turn of events was profoundly disturbing. -He had heard from both Lucette and -de Proballe that Denys had suspicions of the -reasons which were supposed to have brought him to -Morvaix, and knew something of the unsavoury past of -the man whose name he had taken; and to have all this -blurted out to Gabrielle might have very ugly consequences.</p> - -<p>Almost any other moment would have been less inopportune, -as it seemed; and he would have given much -to be able to silence his accuser. Yet he could not appear -to shun the charge or shrink from any proofs which Denys -had obtained: could do nothing in fact. It was the irony -of the thing that the very interference which he would -have welcomed at the fitting moment should be so embarrassing -now.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle had, however, only one thought. To her it -seemed treachery even to listen further to the accusation. -She was very angry, and her face mantled with colour.</p> - -<p>“You have been a faithful friend to me, Denys,” she -said, “and are ill with your wound. Were it otherwise, -your present act would part us. There is no place in -Malincourt, or in my service, for any one who maligns -my friends. Lucette, it pains me that you are in this. -Gerard, will you take me into the house?”</p> - -<p>But Gerard’s honour and instincts of fairness forbade -acquiescence in this unjust rebuke.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>“Nay, Gabrielle, I believe you are too hard upon M. St. -Jean and upon Mdlle. Lucette as well. It is but his zeal -for you that makes him indiscreet.”</p> - -<p>“The fool, the fool!” muttered de Proballe. “When -she would have shut her own ears to the truth.”</p> - -<p>“You hear M. de Cobalt, Denys. Take lesson by his -generosity. Go back to your chamber, and when you are -well, in mind and body both, I will hear you. Lucette, see -to this.” She spoke with all the dignity of one who meant -to be obeyed.</p> - -<p>“I have no power to prevail with him, Gabrielle. He -urged me first to come with this story to you, and when -I would not, rose from his bed and insisted on seeking -you for himself.”</p> - -<p>Denys appeared to be almost spent with his effort. He -stood leaning against the parapet in such desperate -straits that Gabrielle was touched with deep compassion.</p> - -<p>“I am passing, I think,” he said. His face was deadly -grey as he clung to the marble with one hand while with -the other he felt for a paper and drew it out. He seemed -so near collapse that Gerard stepped forward to help -him; but anger rallied him and he waved away the proffered -help with a gesture of contempt.</p> - -<p>“Pray God he falls before he can do more mischief, -the meddling dog!” muttered de Proballe again.</p> - -<p>“Lead him away, Lucette,” said Gabrielle, in pain at -the sight. But Denys would not go; and after an effort -he said slowly with much effort and many a pause—</p> - -<p>“My last strength can have no better use than in this -for you, mademoiselle. This letter—from M. de Cobalt -to M. de Proballe. Read it, for the love of God, read it.”</p> - -<p>“Denys, Denys, how can you ask such unworthiness?” -cried Gabrielle indignantly, her eyes and voice full of reproach. -“If it be M. de Cobalt’s letter, give it to him. -Would you have me imitate you and play the spy?”</p> - -<p>“Speak not so harshly, Gabrielle,” exclaimed Lucette.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>But Denys stopped her and spoke again, moving a -step toward Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“He would marry you but to betray you to the Duke. -’Tis my last word. He says it here.” Holding the letter -in his now trembling fingers he made a great effort to -reach Gabrielle with it, his staring eyes fixed earnestly -and imploringly upon her. But his fever-racked strength -was gone. “For God’s sake be warned,” he mumbled -half-incoherently. It was his last effort. As the words -dropped from his lips, he fell prone to the ground, the -letter fluttering from his nerveless fingers to Gabrielle’s -feet.</p> - -<p>Lucette with a cry knelt beside him.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle had shrunk from his approach, but now stood -gazing down on him, pity, pain and distress in her eyes. -And Gerard stooped and felt his heart.</p> - -<p>“He has but fainted,” he said, looking up. “Let him -be carried back to the bed he should never have left. He -is a noble faithful fellow and has freely risked his life -for what he deems the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Good, Gerard! Splendidly played. Did you mark -that, my lord?” whispered de Proballe, intensely relieved -at Denys’ collapse. “What an actor the villain is, -Duke? Said I not he was but acting with Gabrielle? You -could swear that tone of his was a note of honourable -innocence.”</p> - -<p>But the Duke made no reply. He was staring with -pent gloomy brows at the scene.</p> - -<p>“You bear him no grudge for this, Gerard?” said -Gabrielle with a smile of confidence.</p> - -<p>“Should I feel enmity to one whose only motive was -desire to serve you and who has drawn this further -proof of your trust in me? He did and said no more -than he deemed both right and true. I honour him for -his courage.”</p> - -<p>“Then I will tear the letter that appears to have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> -cheated his fevered wits, and so end the matter;” and -picking up the paper she was about to tear it when he -stopped her.</p> - -<p>“Fool! Idiot! Now indeed he goes too far;” muttered -de Proballe, as he saw the gesture. “Let her -tear it.”</p> - -<p>Gerard had the strongest reasons for not having the -letter destroyed, however. It was the proof he needed -to make de Proballe’s guilt clear.</p> - -<p>“I should not destroy it, Gabrielle. There must be -much behind this which we do not yet understand; and -if it is to be cleared, this letter may be needed.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis but the delusion born of fever madness.”</p> - -<p>“Men do not forge letters in delirium,” answered -Gerard quietly.</p> - -<p>“You would not have me read it!” Gabrielle’s eyes -were wide with astonishment.</p> - -<p>“What will the fool do next?” murmured de Proballe, -in deep agitation. “Is he aiming this at me?”</p> - -<p>Gerard paused a moment to think, and then answered -calmly and firmly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I would have you read it.”</p> - -<p>“But it is designed to slander you.”</p> - -<p>“I am too sure of your trust to fear any slander, -Gabrielle. I would have you read it, whatever it be.”</p> - -<p>“By the Cross! he plays a bold hand,” muttered the -Duke, drawing his breath. “What is in the letter?”</p> - -<p>“It will ruin everything,” whispered de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“Then do I not understand him. He must indeed be -sure of her, as he says;” and his frown grew deeper -than before.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle stood fingering the letter in hesitation some -moments and then unfolded it.</p> - -<p>“I will do your bidding, Gerard, although I had -rather not.” She read it then.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">To M. Le Baron de Proballe</span>,—</p> - -<p>“The messenger has brought me your last communication -and the sum of money I asked for. My doubts -are almost satisfied. I have some troublesome matters -to arrange, and some little time must pass before -they can be settled. But you can count upon my -reaching Malincourt by the end of June or the first days -of July, if in response to this you send me a declaration -under the Duke de Rochelle’s own hand that I shall -receive his pardon for the affair at Cambrai. You must -procure this; as without it I shall not trust myself within -his province.</p> - -<p>“You require me to state my acceptance of your -proposal specifically. I now do this. I will marry -Gabrielle. She shall never learn from me that her -parents never expressed any such wish for our marriage -as she has been told. I will use my utmost efforts to -compel her, if need be, to submit to the Duke’s wishes. -And I will act in every way faithfully as you may direct -in any other plans you have.</p> - -<p>“The fortune I shall receive with Gabrielle will be -all I need—that and the pardon; for I seek no Court -position, favour, or influence.</p> - -<p>“Send me the written assurance of the pardon, and -by the time the messenger can return hither, I may be -ready to set out myself.</p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Gerard de Cobalt.</span>”</p> -</div> - -<p>“By the God above us all, what callous infamy!” exclaimed -Gerard, passionately, stirred to the depths by the -letter, whose full meaning he well understood. But it was -otherwise with Gabrielle, who saw in it no more than -an attempt to slander him; and she mistook his burning -words for indignation at the effort to ruin him in -her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Infamy indeed,” she said warmly. “Would that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -knew the author of so vile a slander! If I thought for -a moment that Denys——”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Gabrielle. Don’t even speak such a -thought,” cried Lucette.</p> - -<p>“I had forgotten him,” said Gerard. “I will help -bear him into the house. We will deal with this afterwards, -Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Except to find the villain who forged the letter, there -is no more to do in it, Gerard. They little know me -who think I could be moved by so contemptible a lie. -I could ask your pardon for having read it to the end—could -almost be vexed with you, indeed, for having -caused me to read it. Shall I tear it now?”</p> - -<p>He was bending over Denys and looked up quickly. -“No, I will keep it; and some one some day shall pay -a heavy reckoning,” he answered as he took it. Then -with Lucette’s help he lifted Denys and took him into -the house. Gabrielle was following, when the Duke said -hurriedly to de Proballe—</p> - -<p>“Go and detain her on the terrace. I must speak with -her; but first will think a space. I am on the rack.”</p> - -<p>He had been profoundly moved by the scene and was -intensely agitated. He had let the letter be read without -interference—involving though it did both de Proballe -and himself—in the belief that the revelation of Gerard’s -baseness would change her feelings; and the unshaken -confidence she had shown in Gerard’s honour was to his -jealousy as biting acid to an open wound.</p> - -<p>With a bitterness beyond words to describe and far -too galling for his selfish soul to endure, he saw now that -in causing Gerard to be brought to Morvaix for his own -purpose with Gabrielle, he had but plunged a sword into -his own heart. The villain had played his part so well -that he had won her love; and the wound burned and -stabbed and maddened him with its pain.</p> - -<p>But he would have his revenge. No man should be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> -suffered to come between him and his desires. If this de -Cobalt had won her love, he should pay the price. His -rival’s life lay in the palm of his hand; and in Morvaix -at least there was none to step between him and the -object of his hate.</p> - -<p>It was a treacherous betrayal; nothing else. Pretending -to keep the letter of his pledge, Gerard had broken -the spirit, and should be trusted no more. The pardon for -the murder at Cambrai should be withheld, unless—and -his eyes gleamed dangerously at a fresh thought and he -smiled with a cunning pleasure.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle loved this de Cobalt; and the love would put -a weapon in his hands powerful enough to break her to -his purpose.</p> - -<p>His new resolve was quick to take shape. She should -be his wife; and the price of her consent should be her -new lover’s life. The old scheme should be laid away; -and with it would go at a stroke all need for de Cobalt’s -services. His next move was soon decided; and he -stepped out and joined Gabrielle and her uncle.</p> - -<p>“I make no apology for thus breaking upon you suddenly, -because the reason for it is your own welfare,” he -began, speaking deliberately.</p> - -<p>“I trust your lordship does not deem an apology necessary -for visiting Malincourt,” replied Gabrielle, courteously, -but wondering at his manner.</p> - -<p>“This is no ordinary visit of courtesy, mademoiselle; -and if the manner of it is unusual and displeasing, as -it may well be, the purpose will, I hope, prove its excuse. -We have been close observers of the scene which has just -occurred here—as M. de Proballe has perhaps told you.” -But de Proballe had done nothing of the kind, and he -started in some dismay at the words. His start was lost -by Gabrielle, however, in her intense surprise.</p> - -<p>“Observers, my lord? I fear I do not understand,” -she replied with dignity.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>“Yet my words explain my meaning. Very evil intelligence -has reached me concerning this M. de Cobalt; -and in my zeal for your welfare I came this morning to -confer with M. de Proballe; and we arranged the scene -that this man’s character might be tested openly.”</p> - -<p>“I should prefer that M. de Cobalt be present, my -lord.” Gabrielle took fire instantly, and she made no -attempt to disguise her indignation.</p> - -<p>“It is not necessary. His presence or absence is a -matter of no concern. What you have heard of him -to-day and read in that letter of his is true.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean——” she began hastily, then checked -herself and said proudly: “But I will not deign to ask a -question. Your lordship must be entirely in error. I have -unbounded faith in M. de Cobalt’s honour. It is a matter -your lordship must excuse my declining to discuss.” The -Duke frowned, but repressed his anger.</p> - -<p>“I can understand your feelings,” he said calmly. -“Would that the man were worthy of it! I honour -you for this attitude and would gladly spare you the -pain which the truth must cause you; but it must be told, -mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle would not answer, and the Duke turned to -de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“You will tell your niece, monsieur, that that letter -was written to you by M. de Cobalt himself in reply to -others from you to him.”</p> - -<p>“I think you and I had better discuss this further,” -said de Proballe, in a desperate shift at the new position.</p> - -<p>“It is my wish, monsieur,” replied the Duke coldly, -with a glance of menace.</p> - -<p>“Even my uncle himself will not shake my confidence -in M. de Cobalt, although he may change my feelings -toward himself,” declared Gabrielle, firmly.</p> - -<p>“M. de Proballe,” said the Duke.</p> - -<p>“I know not your intentions,” he answered, in a fever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> -of disquiet. “I—I scarcely heard what the letter contained; -and—and before I can say so much I—ought to -see it—to examine it.” He stumbled and hesitated over -the words.</p> - -<p>“Do I understand, M. le Baron, that you give me the -lie?” and the cold cutting words were accompanied by a -look that no one could misunderstand.</p> - -<p>“God forfend; but I wash my hands of the whole -affair,” he cried, with a gesture of profound agitation -and a sigh. “It is true, Gabrielle. The letter was written -by Gerard to me some time since. It is one of several -that have passed between us.”</p> - -<p>“I do not believe it;” and Gabrielle drew herself up -in proud repudiation of the further attack upon the man -she loved and trusted.</p> - -<p>“On my honour it is so, mademoiselle,” declared the -Duke. “And now I must make my confession of the -part I have played in this. It is no humour of mine to -seek others’ forgiveness, but for what I have done in all -this distressful error, I do beg yours. It was at my -instance that this de Cobalt was brought to Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Then do I thank you, my lord, and, believe me, I -see nothing in the act which calls for forgiveness,” interposed -Gabrielle swiftly, as he paused. He took no notice -of the interruption; he was too deeply engrossed in thinking -how to put his case most plausibly.</p> - -<p>“My motive you will at least admit was worthy—it -was the good of the people of Morvaix. Next to myself, -the House of Malincourt is the most potent influence here, -and thus the subject of your marriage has given me much -thought. It would have been a disaster had you fallen -under the sway of some unworthy man and been prevailed -upon to marry him, and so let the influence of -your house pass into evil hands. To prevent this, we—for -your uncle has shared my views and acted with me -throughout—we planned to arrange your marriage with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -a man who would place himself under our guidance in -all matters.”</p> - -<p>“And your lordship and you, monsieur, chose a man -whose life was so evil—if this lying letter were to be -credited—that he only dared to come hither when he had -been assured under your lordship’s own hand of a pardon -for some foul offence. Surely you would not have me -credit this of you! I do not. I will not. For it involves -a cruel slander upon my true and gallant cousin.”</p> - -<p>“What the Duke says is true in every word, Gabrielle,” -declared de Proballe, much relieved at the astute line the -Governor was taking.</p> - -<p>“We did not know the evil history of this man,” continued -the Duke in the same quiet deliberate tone; “or -he would never have been brought here. I have but -learned it within the last few hours. The affair at Cambrai -was mistold to us; and I have but just gathered -the full details of what I find to have been a foul and -most treacherous murder.”</p> - -<p>A contemptuous smile of disbelief was Gabrielle’s only -answer to this; but it was more eloquent than many words -of her unshaken and unshakable faith in Gerard. The -Duke paused, and after a moment resumed—</p> - -<p>“We had heard that he had repented of his old excesses -and wrong living, and when we sent for him, -believed this to be the case. But when we found that -his repentance was but acted lying—in which he is an -adept—there seemed no course open but to put him to -the proof by confronting him with his own writing, so -that your eyes might be opened and yourself convinced -of the impossibility of a marriage with him.”</p> - -<p>“I have yet to be convinced, my lord; and know no -power or means on earth strong enough to convince me. -My parents’ wishes——”</p> - -<p>“Were but M. de Proballe’s invention, mademoiselle,” -interposed the Duke, in the same cold deliberate tone.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> -“The story was designed to influence you to agree. That -is all. In that we did wrong—grievous wrong, no doubt; -for deceit with whatever motive used must always be -wrong; and in this case it has ended disastrously. For -that, as well as for the pain which, with all zeal for your -real welfare, I have caused you, I crave your pardon.”</p> - -<p>“Had you indeed done the harm you fear, I would -never forgive you. I never could,” answered Gabrielle, -firmly; then breaking into a smile she added: “but if -indeed you have brought my cousin here, then do I thank -you, as I say. Aye, thank you with all my heart.”</p> - -<p>“You do but jest in a very grave issue, mademoiselle. -This marriage is impossible.” There was less deliberateness -and more sternness in the Duke’s tone now, and it -provoked Gabrielle’s pride. Unmistakable defiance was -in her look and mien as she answered:</p> - -<p>“By your lordship’s leave, I am head of my house; -and if that part of what you have said be true—that my -parents have expressed no wish for my marriage—I am -free to choose without let or hindrance from any man. -But here comes my cousin. He will know how to answer -for himself.”</p> - -<p>As Gerard came out of the house he started at seeing -who was present, and then came on with firm step and -confident bearing, and smiled to Gabrielle as he reached -her side.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI<br /> - - -<small>THE DUKE’S SENTENCE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">GERARD saw at once by the faces of all three -that some fresh complication had occurred during -his absence.</p> - -<p>“I am very glad you have come, Gerard,” said Gabrielle. -“M. le Duc de Rochelle and my uncle have made -some charges which you will be glad to face.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” he answered, with a bow to the Governor -and a quick glance at de Proballe. The Duke took no -notice of his salutation.</p> - -<p>“We had a conversation yesterday concerning the -reason for your coming to Morvaix,” said de Proballe. -“You have not forgotten it?”</p> - -<p>“I am not likely to have forgotten. Do you wish it -repeated now?” Gabrielle smiled confidently at the tone -in which this was said. Gerard spoke as the challenger, -not the challenged. There could be no mistaking that.</p> - -<p>“Leave this to me,” interposed the Duke abruptly.</p> - -<p>“He admitted everything to me yesterday,” declared -de Proballe; but the Duke waved his hand impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Now, monsieur,” he said sharply to Gerard. “A -letter of yours to M. de Proballe was read this morning. -Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“A letter was read. It is here;” and he took it from -his pocket.</p> - -<p>“The Duke and my uncle were listening to our conversation,” -said Gabrielle quietly. “They say that the -statements in the letter are true.”</p> - -<p>“They may be,” he said readily.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>“Gerard!” Gabrielle’s was a cry of consternation.</p> - -<p>“Did you think he would dare to deny it, mademoiselle?” -asked the Duke.</p> - -<p>“There is no reason for any alarm, Gabrielle. On -my honour you need but have patience.”</p> - -<p>“Honour!” exclaimed the Governor contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“Does such a word seem strange to the ears of the -Duke de Rochelle?” asked Gerard, quite unmoved as he -met the angry look the question drew forth. “What are -the charges your lordship brings against me?”</p> - -<p>“Those contained in your own letter; the letter which -confesses the truth. Do you deny you wrote that letter -to M. de Proballe?”</p> - -<p>For one moment Gerard hesitated.</p> - -<p>“The statements contained in that letter so far as they -touch me are absolutely false,” he declared emphatically. -“That I affirm on my honour, Gabrielle; but for the -moment I cannot explain the affair.”</p> - -<p>“I need no more. I was sure you would repudiate -them,” she answered exultantly. “I shall stay to hear -no more.”</p> - -<p>“I should prefer you to remain, mademoiselle,” said -the Duke.</p> - -<p>“I crave your lordship’s permission to retire. I can -hear no more of this attack upon my cousin. I am satisfied. -I have his assurance;” and without waiting for -any permission to be given, she went into the house.</p> - -<p>Gerard was glad to be left to deal with the matter in -her absence. He recognized the extreme difficulty of the -situation and the utter impossibility of giving a rational -explanation without telling the truth about himself; but -he was anxious to have some plain speaking with the -Governor, and he turned at once to him.</p> - -<p>“Your lordship will perhaps see the desirability of explaining -this new development to me,” he said.</p> - -<p>“You are an insolent rascal in all truth,” was the fiery<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> -reply. “It is from you I demand the explanation. See -to it that it is satisfactory. I am not wont to be trifled -with.”</p> - -<p>“I see no trifling in all this. Will you explain it, M. -de Proballe?”</p> - -<p>“You play the braggart well, Gerard, on my soul; and -if I see your object may I be cursed. When with me -yesterday you admitted everything; and now to-day you -deny your own writing, and pledge your honour the very -things you have written are false.”</p> - -<p>Gerard regarded him sternly. “Would you have had -me tell that I was brought here to Morvaix to marry -Gabrielle in order to ruin her?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“It is false!” cried the Governor.</p> - -<p>A flush of anger mounted to Gerard’s face at this -insult.</p> - -<p>“It accords ill with your reputation for courage, M. -le Duc, that you insult a man to whom your position -denies the right to call you to account. If you have -no other tone to adopt toward me, I will retire. But -with M. de Proballe the matter stands otherwise. You -will guard your tongue, monsieur, or I shall hold you -responsible.”</p> - -<p>“What an impudent swashbuckler is this murderer,” -sneered the Governor.</p> - -<p>“I am no murderer, my lord,” asserted Gerard, hotly.</p> - -<p>“He means he holds your Grace’s pardon for the deed,” -said de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“It will not save you,” declared the Governor, bluntly. -“You have broken your word and must take the consequences. -I will waste no time with you.”</p> - -<p>“In what have I broken my word?”</p> - -<p>“I will not stoop to bandy words with you. I have -changed my plans; that is enough for you to know. You -are no longer of use to me. But you can have one chance -to save your skin. You came under the protection of my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -assurance. You can leave it again; and never dare in -the future to show your villainous face within my province.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not leave,” answered Gerard, every whit as -firmly. “I have come for a purpose, and that purpose -I shall fulfil.”</p> - -<p>“Do you dare to defy me?”</p> - -<p>“My words are my words and I will not recall them.”</p> - -<p>“In God’s name, you are a brazen scoundrel. But do -not imagine that Mademoiselle de Malincourt can protect -you. She is not to be polluted by a marriage with such -as you. More of this, and I will withdraw what I have -said and have you flung into gaol at once to pay the -penalty for your crime.”</p> - -<p>“That must be as your lordship will. I will not leave -Morvaix even at your bidding.”</p> - -<p>For the moment the Duke’s fury seemed uncontrollable; -but he mastered it and his tone when next he spoke -was cold, tense, and full of menace.</p> - -<p>“It may be better so, perhaps; but you shall have the -chance I named. Understand me plainly. I will give you -twenty-four hours in which to put as great a distance as -you can between you and Morvaix. At noon to-morrow -my troops will start to hunt you down; and whenever and -wherever they find you I swear that you shall die for -that Cambrai murder.”</p> - -<p>“Your hounds will not have far to seek. They will -find me here in Morvaix,” returned Gerard calmly. “I -am not unwilling to witness your methods of trial and -justice here.”</p> - -<p>“You shall not lack the chance, I promise you. One -other condition for your life I make. Before you leave -the city you will return the paper sent to you from me -by M. de Proballe. For the rest, look to yourself; for -as I live, it will need all your wits and more than all -your effrontery to save you from my hands.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>With that he turned his back on Gerard, saying to de -Proballe that he would speak again to Gabrielle before -leaving Malincourt. They walked away together, and -Gerard turned and paced the terrace in busy thought.</p> - -<p>One thing chiefly perplexed him—why the Duke had -shewn this change of front and now wished to drive him -from Morvaix instead of seconding the scheme for the -marriage. It did not occur to him to set it down to the -true cause—jealousy; and he racked his wits vainly to -find a solution.</p> - -<p>The only reason that suggested itself to him was one -that strengthened his resolve to stay—that the Duke’s -object was to rob Gabrielle of even the slender protection -which his presence afforded. If that were so, it followed -that there was some fresh scheme on foot to do Gabrielle -immediate hurt; and in that view no consideration whatever -should induce him to leave.</p> - -<p>But in such a case, why had not the Governor taken -the simpler course of handing him over to his soldiers -at once? In seeking the answer to that question Gerard -came much nearer the truth. If he were to run away, -his flight would be tantamount to a confession that these -charges against himself were true; and Gabrielle would -be led to hold him for the villain which the real de Cobalt -unquestionably was. He would be seen to have pledged -his honour to her, only to break it in a cowardly flight.</p> - -<p>Had the villainous de Cobalt stood in his place, he -would no doubt have gladly welcomed the chance of -saving his life at the sacrifice of his honour and of Gabrielle; -and the Duke had acted on that supposition.</p> - -<p>Nothing should induce him to fall into the snare thus -spread for him; but at the same time he felt that he -must take measures for self-preservation. This Tiger -in his passion was capable of going to any lengths; and -means must be at hand to restrain him.</p> - -<p>He was still pondering this when Gabrielle came out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> -from her interview with the Duke. Her bright looks -had given place to a troubled expression, and she was -very pale.</p> - -<p>“The Governor is like a madman in his wrath against -you, Gerard,” she said. “I have never seen him so moved. -Both he and my uncle are now as furious at the thought -of our marriage as before they—or at least my uncle—was -eager to promote it.”</p> - -<p>“And you, Gabrielle?”</p> - -<p>“I know not how to act or what to say,” she replied -with a sigh of despair.</p> - -<p>“The tension of this morning’s scene has tried you,” -he said gently. “But you do not believe I am the dastard——”</p> - -<p>“Gerard! No. I cannot. Every prompting of my -heart bids me trust you. I think I would trust you if all -the world bore witness against you. But there must surely -be some explanation of so great a mystery.”</p> - -<p>“You love me?” he asked with sudden fervour, taking -her hand and searching her eyes with his, in which the -fire of love burned. She left her hand in his willingly and -trustingly and met his gaze with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Have I not shown it? Do you need any other answer?”</p> - -<p>“With a love strong enough to face even this trial?” -he insisted earnestly.</p> - -<p>“I shall never change, Gerard. Nothing could change -my heart—not even if all this were proven against you, -as they both swear it can be. It would break my heart -and blight my life; but my love would never change. -And believe it I never would or will, unless your own -lips tell me it is true; and even then my heart would -rebel against your words.”</p> - -<p>“I shall never tell you that,” he replied, vehemently. -“Thank God there is no reason why I should not take -your hand and look into your own innocent eyes and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -swear on my soul that all this charge passes me by as -an idle breeze. You will never have cause to regret your -sweet trust. That on my honour.”</p> - -<p>“Why have they made these charges? I am so sorely -perplexed.”</p> - -<p>“It will all appear in time, Gabrielle. There is dark -and evil work behind, and I am resolved to drag it to -the light of day.”</p> - -<p>“But when? They tell me you are going away again! -Ah, Gerard, my heart fell at the news.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis but one more falsehood. Only one thing can -drive me from Morvaix—your own sentence.”</p> - -<p>“Yet they urged me to counsel you to go, saying that -if you stay here you will be imprisoned. What is this -affair at Cambrai which they call by the fell name of murder? -Do not let my question anger you; but if there -be really danger, you must fly.”</p> - -<p>“The Governor would have me fly that you may be -driven to deem me the guilty wretch he describes me. -There is no danger to me, but rather to them; to the -Governor himself indeed most of all.”</p> - -<p>“What would you do? No deed of violence, -Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“Violence there may have to be; but not of the kind -in your thoughts. I am no assassin, whether at Cambrai -or here.”</p> - -<p>“Then you have some scheme with which to combat -him? Can you not tell me that?” she asked with -almost wistful eagerness.</p> - -<p>“It is one that would speak to your heart, Gabrielle, -for it will touch the welfare of all in Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Now you frighten me. Would you further a revolt -here? Heaven knows our wretched people are hot -against him and ripe for a movement of the kind. But -he is so strong in his soldiery, the end would be but -useless bloodshed to be followed by even more grinding -tyranny and misery for the city.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>“Harbour no fears of that. Stay, what if I could -lead a movement here which, without the evil things -that make your woman’s heart shrink, could yet break -this Tiger’s power and give good and just government -to the people?”</p> - -<p>“It is not possible, Gerard. You speak at random. -You are not known in Morvaix; and the people would -not follow an unknown leader. Yet I have dreamed of -something of the kind since you came. Were you but -once established firmly as lord of Malincourt and had -had time to win the confidence of the people and their -trust, as you would win it, then—but there, it is -no more than a dream conjured up by finding you the -man you are.”</p> - -<p>“May I test your trust still further? I have my -reasons, God knows, for thus testing you. If I were in -very truth the wretch the Duke has painted me, and -yet had the means to do what I have said and came to -you in the moment of my triumph and asked you to -be my wife, how would you answer?”</p> - -<p>“I would lay my hand in yours without a question, -Gerard, sure that, whatever your past, you had redeemed -it for my sake.” She gave her answer without a falter -or a second of hesitation.</p> - -<p>“Thank God and you for those words and that trust, -Gabrielle,” he cried, with fervent passion. “If I am -ever unworthy of it, may God deal with me for a traitor! -The time for me to claim you so will come, and until -it comes I will wait to seek from your lips the kiss -of betrothal. Now am I sure indeed that all will be -well with us.”</p> - -<p>“But you will not remain in Morvaix?” she asked, -after a pause.</p> - -<p>“Could I leave you after this?” he replied tenderly.</p> - -<p>“I should understand the reason of your going.”</p> - -<p>“I have far stronger reasons to remain near you.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>“I think you should not. I am safe; but I fear for -you; and my fear will not pass while you remain here. -I am going to-day to the Duchess and shall seek her -aid and counsel—telling her all.”</p> - -<p>“To the Castle?”</p> - -<p>“Of a surety to the Castle. She has sent an urgent -message to see me.”</p> - -<p>“By whom?”</p> - -<p>“The Duke.”</p> - -<p>“I scent trouble in it. I do not like you to trust -yourself in that man’s power. If you go, I shall go -too.”</p> - -<p>“You are needlessly alarmed. She is my friend, and -as good a woman as ever drew breath. I am often with -her. I could not refuse; but it would be madness for -you to think of going.”</p> - -<p>“The term madness does not hinder me. For the part -I have to play a bold front is not only necessary, -it is prudence.”</p> - -<p>“But you can serve no useful end by such a venture. -The Duke might offer you violence, indeed, in his -anger.”</p> - -<p>“I can find a pretext and would gladly have a chance -to get within the walls.”</p> - -<p>“It may be less easy to find one to get out, Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“Even so the work I have to do would not be stayed. -I am firm on the point.”</p> - -<p>“I do not like the look of it;” and Gabrielle’s face -clouded.</p> - -<p>“The look may change on closer view.”</p> - -<p>“Harm will come of it, Gerard. Let me prevail.”</p> - -<p>“When my work is done you shall never prefer a -request in vain. But this you must not press.” She -yielded then, albeit with anxiety and misgivings; and -they went into the house.</p> - -<p>Gerard hastened to his apartments to wait for Pascal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -and to complete the arrangements for striking the blow -upon which he had now decided.</p> - -<p>When Pascal arrived the two had a long conference, -and once again Pascal advised a policy of caution.</p> - -<p>“Don’t set your foot inside the Castle gates,” he -urged vigorously. “It can do no good and may work -incalculable mischief.”</p> - -<p>“Would you go in my stead?”</p> - -<p>“With all the willingness in life.”</p> - -<p>“And shall the leader shirk the risk which his followers -would take? Is it thus we Bourbon leaders -lead?”</p> - -<p>“That is no reason. There are times, of course, when -the leader should be first, but this is not one of them. -You know what sort of wild beast government this is -in Morvaix; you have now ample cause to do all you -will against the Governor; ride out then to Cambrai and -yourself bring up the troops.”</p> - -<p>“Shall a Bourbon give men cause to sneer at him for -a coward? Nay, Pascal, you would but anger me to -press such counsel further.”</p> - -<p>“But your life to me and to us all is too precious to -be risked in such a venture. I know what Dubois -would urge were he here. Still, let it be as you will.”</p> - -<p>“I am not risking my life, man. Do you think this -Duke, daredevil though he be, will venture to harm -Bourbon’s son when once I declare myself? His own -soldiers would revolt against it. No man shall call me -poltroon; and none has ever before advised me to deserve -such a term.”</p> - -<p>“There you wrong me, Gerard. But I say no -more. Pray heaven no harm come of it. It was my -duty to urge this counsel, but I knew you would not -so act;” and Pascal smiled.</p> - -<p>“To our plans then. Another messenger must be -found to ride to Cambrai with all the haste possible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> -and carry this message to my cousin. In it I have -urged him to bring up the troops with all despatch. If -your courier of this morning gets first to hand, d’Alembert -will be already preparing; if not, this urgent message -will hurry him. If our messenger gets quickly to -him some eight-and-forty hours should see him without -the city here; and I have told him to ride straight in -unless a messenger from me meets him with a further -despatch. By nightfall, on the day after to-morrow at -latest, he should be here; and within that short space no -great harm can happen to either Mademoiselle de Malincourt -or to me, let this Governor do what he will.”</p> - -<p>“’Twould be a shrewder plan to get her to ride with -you to Cambrai and return with the troops,” said Pascal.</p> - -<p>“The thought has not escaped me; and it may come -to it yet. We shall see. Failing it, I have this plan: Let -Dubois or yourself choose some likely place in the city -to which our fellows can be brought, so that at need, -should trouble come, we can make a stand.”</p> - -<p>“That is more to my liking,” said Pascal, gleefully.</p> - -<p>“And lastly for yourself, Pascal. Don’t return here, -but don once more your monk’s gown; and when the -task I have given you is completed, go to the Castle and -keep your eyes open. There, if anywhere, trouble may -be looked for, and your ready wit will be most needed.”</p> - -<p>“You will at least let me be near you,” said Pascal -earnestly.</p> - -<p>“I know your zeal and friendship too well to hesitate -to send for you at the first touch of danger. But I look -for none of any serious character. And now,” he broke -off, rising, “it is time for this visit to the Castle. I -must find Mademoiselle de Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle was waiting for him and again urged him -not to go.</p> - -<p>“I have a presentiment,” she said. “Let me dissuade -you at the last moment from this ill-omened daring.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>“I should rather read the omens ill if I were to leave -you or suffer you to go alone, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Is there nothing I can say or do that will urge you -to fly?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, nothing; unless,” he added with a half-serious -smile—“unless you would share the flight. And -that I cannot ask—yet.”</p> - -<p>She started and looked to read his face, and after a -moment answered—</p> - -<p>“I am a Malincourt, and my place, for good or ill, is -in Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“And where is mine if not by your side?”</p> - -<p>Nothing more was said, and they set out, Gabrielle -so chilled by a presentiment of danger that her look was -serious and troubled.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII<br /> - - -<small>GABRIELLE’S FRIEND</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE Duke carried away from Malincourt a heart -bitter with jealousy and black with anger, and -he vented his passion upon de Proballe, whom -he chose to regard as the cause of all the trouble.</p> - -<p>“You have betrayed my confidence shamefully. You -have doubtless your own ends to gain, as that letter -hinted; but they will cost you dear, whatever they are, -monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Betrayed you? How?” asked de Proballe, exceedingly -uneasy as he thought his ulterior plans might be -suspected. “What have I done other than as we -agreed?”</p> - -<p>“Did we agree that this scoundrel was so to arrange -the manner of his coming as to impress your niece in this -way? Was he to flaunt himself as a man of spirit and -courage and impose thus on a young, impressionable, -high-minded girl?”</p> - -<p>“Did I order the manner of his coming? You wrong -me entirely. His secret coming was as much a surprise -to me as an offence to you; and that he was able to -make this impression on Gabrielle was not my doing -but the blundering of your own men. Your soldiers first -in the market place; your followers, de Cavannes and -d’Estelle, afterwards in their attack upon Denys in -Gabrielle’s very presence when Gerard was at hand.”</p> - -<p>“Would God they had killed him!” exclaimed the -Duke brutally. “But after the affair in the market place -you should have told me.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>“Nay, that is an even greater injustice than ever. -Who of us even guessed that the man was de Cobalt?” -De Proballe’s tone was a good imitation of injured innocence.</p> - -<p>“You have betrayed me, I say; and if the thing miscarries -you shall suffer,” returned the Governor, in no -mood to listen to any reason. “You should have stopped -the mischief as soon as you saw it was going so far.”</p> - -<p>“It happened but yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“God’s Cross! man, what has that to do with it? Is -a mischief like this to be counted by hours? Was it ever -in our plan that the villain should win your niece’s -heart?”</p> - -<p>“He had at least to make such an impression as would -induce her to consent to marry him. It is but a passing -fancy which the proof of his evil character will cure—and -his flight will prove it better than aught else.”</p> - -<p>“Passing fancy!” exclaimed the Duke bitterly. “Are -you blind? I know not when I have so keenly suffered. -But if he do not fly, he shall suffer too.”</p> - -<p>“He is not fool enough to remain. It was a shrewd -thought to give him time to cool and think; and if he -have any mind to linger, I will find arguments to drive -him away. He has yet to learn your methods of justice -here in Morvaix: I can find in them ample reasons for -him. Although why you let him go instead of dealing -with him at once I do not see.”</p> - -<p>“If he flies, his flight will be, as you say, the -proof of his guilt.”</p> - -<p>“He will fly,” said de Proballe, confidently. “Did he -not shun your province as a man would shun hell? Did -he not refuse to come without that promise of pardon in -writing? By a man’s acts you shall know him, not by -his words. Let him think of Gabrielle as he will, he -will think more of his own life. But I would have kept -him.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>“When his flight has proved his guilt he can be retaken -for me to use.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe laughed. “You have a mercy of your -own, Duke. I had not thought of that. Stay, what if -he were to use this interval of your mercy to prevail -on Gabrielle to fly with him? He is daredevil enough.”</p> - -<p>“She would never stoop to that, surely!”</p> - -<p>“Women are women, and when they are in—when a -man influences them, I mean, the best will do strange -things.”</p> - -<p>“Return to Malincourt and watch, de Proballe. Your -niece is to come to the Castle two hours after noon. Make -this flight impossible after then; and after that I will -see to it that no chance offers for her to leave even the -Castle itself. If the mad attempt be made, have the -scoundrel seized and brought to me.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe was by no means sorry to get away from -the Governor in his present mood, and returned to -Malincourt to keep the watch; while the Governor hurried -on to the Castle to take further steps designed to -prevent this suggested flight; and some of them were to -have important results in another direction.</p> - -<p>He despatched a body of soldiers to watch round -Malincourt, and at the same time sent urgent commands -to the officers of the different gates of the city that no -one was to be allowed to pass out without leave signed by -him. Thus it came about that the courier whom Pascal -was sending to Cambrai was stopped, and valuable time -lost.</p> - -<p>The Governor, having completed these arrangements, -was closeted for an hour with his wife, and as soon as he -heard, to his intense relief, that Gabrielle had arrived at -the Castle and was with the Duchess, he sent for Dubois -to sound him in regard to that part of the plan which -called for the aid of the Church.</p> - -<p>He was as hot now upon the scheme of divorcing his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> -wife in order to be free to marry again, as he had been -formerly upon the other intention.</p> - -<p>The ruse by which Gerard had succeeded in getting -a hundred of his own soldiers enrolled among the Castle -troops, by pretending that they came as a gift from -the Cardinal Archbishop, was thus having singular -results. The Governor read it as a proof that he stood -so well with the Cardinal that he could hope to receive -his Eminence’s support in the matter of the divorce; and -as he concluded Dubois had been chosen as the Cardinal’s -delegate because of the latter’s confidence in him, here -was the very man at hand to sound on the matter.</p> - -<p>Dubois was a clever soldier and a brave fighter, and -had been selected by Gerard for his present task because -his influence with the men was most likely to keep them -in bounds while in the Castle. He made a very brusque -unmonklike monk, however; and he now found himself -in a very awkward position. Moreover, he knew nothing -of Gerard’s experiences within the last few hours.</p> - -<p>He listened quietly to the Duke, and, seeing no connection -between the matter and any of Gerard’s affairs, -felt no interest in it at all, and gave his own opinion -bluntly. He was a soldier, not a cleric; knew little and -cared less about the theological views as to the dissolution -of a tie cemented by a sacrament of the Church; -and the only thought he had about it was that as the -Tiger Governor was such a tyrant, it was a blessing and -not a curse that he was childless—the point on which -with him the Duke laid the chief stress.</p> - -<p>“His Eminence would never sanction it, my lord,” -he declared brusquely. “It is against the Canon of -Holy Church.”</p> - -<p>“But it has been sanctioned before now,” replied the -Governor, and went on to cite instances and to argue -the matter. Dubois had, however, only one reply to -everything.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>“The Cardinal would never sanction it;” and his -dogged insistence upon this began at length to enrage -the Governor, not a little to Dubois’ grim amusement.</p> - -<p>“I would rather have the countenance of the Church, -but in Morvaix I am the head of the Church as of all -else. I am wont to act first and inquire afterwards in -most things. It is simpler, and the end is the same. This -may be such a case. If I should seek your help as the -Cardinal’s representative you would give it?”</p> - -<p>“It is none of my affair,” replied Dubois hastily.</p> - -<p>“I repeat my question;” and the Governor looked at -him meaningly. But Dubois was the last man in the -world to be browbeaten; and thus he answered stolidly:</p> - -<p>“And I repeat my answer, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“I am not wont to be set at defiance by monk or -priest.”</p> - -<p>“Nor I to be driven from my duty, my lord. I am -not setting you at defiance.”</p> - -<p>“My priests in Morvaix do not answer me thus.”</p> - -<p>“I am not your lordship’s priest.”</p> - -<p>“You will at least keep silence about what has passed -between us.”</p> - -<p>“Unless my duty demand that I should speak of it.”</p> - -<p>“What is that but threatening me and defying me?” -The Governor’s anger was mounting fast in view of -what he deemed the monk’s contumacy, and Dubois was -no less dogged and blunt.</p> - -<p>“If what you propose to do be right, what need is -there for silence; if it be wrong, why should my lips be -sealed?” he answered.</p> - -<p>“Secrets confided to the ears of you holy men are to -be regarded as sacred.”</p> - -<p>“This is no such occasion. You sought my opinion -and I gave it. That is all. My duty is my duty, none the -less or more.”</p> - -<p>“Peace with your canting about duty. You are in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -Morvaix now, and I will settle what is your duty. I -rule here, absolutely.”</p> - -<p>“I am not disputing your rule, my lord; but I was -not sent here to do your bidding or to cease to do what -I deem my duty.”</p> - -<p>“Out of my sight. It is such canting hypocrites as -you who sow discord and do mischief. See to it that -you hold your babbling tongue, or I’ll find means to -silence you.” But Dubois fired at this injustice and answered -hotly—</p> - -<p>“I am no canting hypocrite, my lord, nor am I a -recreant coward to flinch and cringe before your angry -looks and passionate words. They do but convince me -that in this thing you have some evil purpose; and not -in Morvaix, no, nor in all France, is there power to -silence me if I think I ought to speak.”</p> - -<p>“Out of my presence before I send for my guards -to drive you away for a pestilent ribald malcontent.”</p> - -<p>“I came of your seeking, not of my own wish,” returned -Dubois, not one whit abashed by the Governor’s -violence.</p> - -<p>“If I have cause to send for you again you will -repent it.”</p> - -<p>“I am in no ways persuaded of that,” returned Dubois, -sturdily; and he swung out of the room, little thinking -that he had done harm to Gerard by his manful -attitude. Yet in a way he had; for the Governor, -revolving what had passed, determined not to take the -risk of applying to the Cardinal, but to hurry on his -marriage, and leave the Church to interfere when it -would have the accomplished fact to face.</p> - -<p>Had Dubois but known, he would have been more -prudent to have appeared to consent to the Governor’s -plans and to have held out to him the hope of the -Cardinal’s consent, so that he might have been induced -to incur the delay necessary to obtain it. He saw this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> -when Gerard pointed it out to him later. But it was -too late then.</p> - -<p>In the meantime the Duchess had received Gabrielle -with even greater tenderness and love than usual; and -it was some time before she began to work round slowly -to the subject of the Duke’s wishes.</p> - -<p>“I am old, feeble, and bed-ridden, Gabrielle, and -worse than all, childless. I am done with the world, -dear, and willing to give place to one who can play my -part better. It would have been better, far better, had -I died years ago.”</p> - -<p>“Then I should have lacked the truest woman friend -a girl could have,” answered Gabrielle sweetly. “But -you must not yield to this melancholy. You have been -in greater pain than usual, I fear, and it has tried you.”</p> - -<p>“Not of body, child, but of mind, perhaps,” and she -sighed. “It is ill to lag on and on, a weary dreary -nuisance to all around you. There comes a time when -it is good to die.”</p> - -<p>“You are morbid. Something has distressed you. -Tell me,” and Gabrielle sat on the bedside and took her -friend’s hand.</p> - -<p>“I have been a failure, child. I see it now; and see -how the people under the Duke’s rule have suffered in -consequence. The Duke himself has shown me this.”</p> - -<p>“The Duke?” exclaimed Gabrielle in surprise.</p> - -<p>“The influence of a woman’s hand in his governing -has been sadly missed. He loved me once, child, and -then I could sway him, hard though he now seems. But -when I bore him no children and my helplessness fell -on me, an estrangement grew between us and from that -followed, oh, so many evils.” She sighed deeply, and -paused before she added: “Yet he has shown me it is -not too late, even now.”</p> - -<p>“I cannot follow you now, dear,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“A noble without a son to succeed him lacks one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> -the great incentives to do right, Gabrielle. He turns -his thoughts inwards, broods, thinks only of himself, and -grows the harder for the galling grief and disappointment. -It has been so with the Duke. If I had but died -years ago, when first my calamity struck me down, he -would have taken another wife who would have borne -him children. Would God indeed that I had died!”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle said nothing. Deep down in her mind the -thought began to take shape that there was some purpose -behind her friend’s words—some new cause to -bring this side of her sufferings to the light just now.</p> - -<p>“I used to pray so earnestly for a son,” the Duchess -continued, after a painful pause; “but none came; and -I was thus so unneeded, so less than useless; a clog, a -drag, a dead weight in his life. I could not wonder he -grew cold, and that in time the coldness hardened into -cruelty. I stood for no more than the disappointment -in his life.” She spoke in a slow, leaden, hopeless, -melancholy tone, infinitely touching to Gabrielle. “It is a -dreary fate for a wife, child, to stir no other feeling in -her husband’s heart than that of disappointment and to -see it hardening slowly into hate. Had I but dared at -that time I would have taken my life. But I was a -coward. I dared not find freedom in that way.”</p> - -<p>“Did the Duke know of these thoughts?” asked Gabrielle, -keeping her face averted.</p> - -<p>“Whether he could read mine as I could read his, I -know not. I saw him only rarely. This has been so for -many years indeed. That he should speak often of our -childlessness, should even taunt me with it, was perhaps -no more than natural—and yet every word was like a -sword-thrust in my heart. More than once I made -him a proposal.”</p> - -<p>“Yes?”</p> - -<p>“It was my own thought,” continued the Duchess, -smoothing Gabrielle’s hair and petting her. “Quite my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> -own. You know how the idea of self-sacrifice will sometimes -seize upon us women till it becomes almost a desire. -It was so with me. I knew it would be so well for -Morvaix if he could have some one by his side, heart-warm -in the desire to help the people, strong in influence -to modify the ever growing sternness of his rule by -gentle suasive counsel—he is at heart a man amenable -to such influence, Gabrielle—and able to take a due part -in the work of government: a helpmeet in all ways. So -I urged him to gain the sanction of Holy Church to dissolve -our marriage, on the ground of our childlessness, -and seek—another and a better wife.”</p> - -<p>“My dear, my dear,” cried Gabrielle, intensely moved. -“Where could he find a better in all fair France than -you? He refused you, of course.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—then; and not kindly, but with a gibe—that -he had not found marriage an experience he wished to -double. It wounded me of course to have what I meant -in all sincerity to be a help to him thus turned to jeering; -but he did not understand my motive, I think. But now -he has gone back to the plan; for there is one, a woman -among women, Gabrielle, who would be all that Morvaix -could desire as his wife. And the one of all others whom -I could best bear to see filling my place.”</p> - -<p>She paused for Gabrielle to speak; but no response -came.</p> - -<p>“Her heart, like mine, is for the people’s weal and her -influence would be far greater than mine could ever have -been with the citizens; real, powerful, active, where mine -is now dead. You have often told me how you love the -people, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“You must say no more,” answered Gabrielle, in a -low firm voice. “I will not affect to misunderstand you, -and I know you speak in all purity of thought and intent. -But were all other considerations naught, I would never -do you this wrong.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>“He and all would honour you if you were his wife, -Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, I should dishonour myself. I beg you say no -more.”</p> - -<p>“You would be all-powerful to rule in Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Were the throne of France the guerdon I would not -consent.”</p> - -<p>“Your heart is free, child?” The gentle eyes were -full on Gabrielle’s face as the question was put, and the -light that rushed to it did not escape them. “Gabrielle, -my Gabrielle, I did not know;” and at that Gabrielle -lowered her head and hid it on her friend’s heart. “Pray -heaven he is worthy of you. Tell me, child. Or is it a -secret?”</p> - -<p>“No secret,” said Gabrielle, lifting her head proudly. -“My cousin, Gerard de Cobalt——”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, not he, surely not he, I trust,” interposed -the Duchess, in a tone of dismay. “Oh, how I am -punished for not having spoken my fears. Since last we -spoke together of him and his coming, I have heard ill -tidings indeed concerning him, but put off speaking to -warn you until I could be certain. He is not worthy of -you, child; far, far from it.”</p> - -<p>“You have not seen him and spoken with him, or you -would not say that.”</p> - -<p>“When did he come?”</p> - -<p>“But yesterday; or rather, two days past;” and -Gabrielle told of the meeting in the market place and -after at Malincourt.</p> - -<p>“It is a tragedy,” was the Duchess’s comment. “And -you love him! Oh, Gabrielle, Gabrielle, what sorrow is -there not in store for you!”</p> - -<p>“Not through him,” was the confident reply.</p> - -<p>“Alas! child, what do you know of men who judge -them by a comely face and a fair-speaking tongue? -When could a man not speak a maiden fairly? Have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -they not told you of his evil life? Of the crime for -which he craved the Duke’s pardon fore ever he set foot -in the city?”</p> - -<p>“My heart is closed to the voice of slander against -him, dear,” replied Gabrielle, in the same proud confident -tone.</p> - -<p>“How like a maiden in love! But alas! my child, I -know these things are true. His life is forfeit for the -one deed—but one among many in his black life. Oh, -Gabrielle, how terrible, how terrible! It will break your -life even worse than mine has been broken.”</p> - -<p>“I have neither fears for him nor doubts for myself.”</p> - -<p>“When the heart is young how easy to be confident. -How sad and more than sad is all this! And here, then, -is the reason why my words found your ears deaf, is it?”</p> - -<p>“Only in part. Had I never seen Gerard, my answer -had been the same.”</p> - -<p>The Duchess sighed and shivered slightly in fear.</p> - -<p>“The Duke will hear your decision unwillingly, -Gabrielle; and it will harden his heart against the man -who thus comes between you and him. Your cup of -suffering will be full indeed even while you are so young. -He had built upon this marriage; thinking by it to join -the influence of your house of Malincourt with his.”</p> - -<p>“I recall now how he spoke of my having some influence -in the governing of the city, and of some sacrifice -to be made by me. This may have been in his thoughts; -and yet almost in the same breath he had spoken of my -marriage to my cousin. ’Twas inexplicable to me then, -and is even more so now. Yet the thing was not more -possible then than now. Did death itself gape full in -front of me, I would not be his wife.” There was no -mistaking the unalterable firmness of her decision.</p> - -<p>“You have an honest heart and soul, Gabrielle, and -were I you, and so placed as you, I should decide as -you.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>“You uphold me, then?”</p> - -<p>“I told the Duke I was sure what your reply would -be when he laid on me the ungrateful task of questioning -you. Yet in a way I am sorry; for if it be not you, it -may be some one less worthy, to the hurt of all in -Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“And if need should come, you will stand by me as -to my cousin?”</p> - -<p>“Have I ever failed you when I had the power to -help? But in this I am powerless. It would be wrong -to give you fruitless hope. Were he but a good man, -worthy of your sweet pure love, how gladly would I -serve you, if serve any one I can in my helplessness.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle smiled. “I will prove him worthy—nay, not -I, he himself will prove it to Morvaix and the world; -and then I will claim your promise.”</p> - -<p>“Nor claim it in vain, Gabrielle; that you know. And -now let us speak of less trying matters. I am weary,” -said the Duchess, and they were thus engaged when the -Governor entered.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle rose, and the Duke first cast a sharp questioning -glance at his wife’s face—</p> - -<p>“I am always glad to find you here, mademoiselle. I -trust you have had long enough time to come to an -understanding?”</p> - -<p>“I have done my utmost, Charles,” said the Duchess, -shrinkingly.</p> - -<p>“I ask no more. May I beg some words with you, -mademoiselle?”</p> - -<p>“Except on one subject, certainly,” replied Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“We will discuss the exceptions in private,” he -returned with a frown.</p> - -<p>“I beg you to excuse me, my lord.”</p> - -<p>His answer was characteristic. He opened the door -leading to an adjoining room and held it for her to -pass out.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>“Pardon me my insistence. What I have to say must -be in private and cannot wait.”</p> - -<p>For a moment Gabrielle rebelled, raising her head -proudly and meeting his gaze firmly.</p> - -<p>“I repeat, must be in private, mademoiselle,” he said, -adding as an afterthought: “And it cannot fail to -interest you, seeing whom it concerns.”</p> - -<p>She went then and he followed, maintaining silence -until they were alone.</p> - -<p>“There must be no misunderstanding between us, my -lord,” cried Gabrielle, at once throwing down the gauge -of defiance. “The Duchess, your wife and my dear friend, -has at your instigation made me acquainted with your -proposal—a proposal I deem infamous and unholy—and -no power you can exert can bring me even to consider -it. I pray you spare me the pain of any further reference -to it.”</p> - -<p>“You are wrong to meet me thus at the outset with -antagonism. You have heard as yet but one side only, -and must bear with me while I speak of the other. I am -far from being your enemy, Heaven knows.”</p> - -<p>“While matters remain as they are, I cannot count -your lordship among my friends.”</p> - -<p>“Those are hard words to hear, mademoiselle. You -mean?”</p> - -<p>“I mean the slanders you have sanctioned against my -cousin and the threats with which you have menaced him. -His cause is mine; his enemies are my enemies.”</p> - -<p>He made a stern, angry gesture, but held his temper -in check.</p> - -<p>“The Duchess has told you my wishes—that of her own -will and at her own desire our marriage should be dissolved, -in order that you may become my wife. But my -full motive she could not tell you because she does not -know it. It is—that I love you, Gabrielle; love, aye, -worship the very ground you tread and the very air you -breathe. For me all France holds no——”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>“Spare me this added shame, my lord,” Gabrielle -broke in, her voice vibrating and her eyes flaming with -indignation.</p> - -<p>“Shame!” he repeated, with an angry start.</p> - -<p>“What is it but shame, the wrong you would do to -the purest and sweetest wife man ever had; what else -but shame that you should offer to prostrate your government -to your own purposes; what but foulest shame -that almost within hearing of the woman you would thus -wrong you seek to pollute my ears with this infamous -profession? If there be a spark of manhood in you, -kindle it till it light up your soul sufficiently to save you -and me from this unholy degradation.”</p> - -<p>“Your passion but whets my love, Gabrielle. I am not -a man to be set aside from a purpose once formed. My -purpose is now set—you shall be my wife; and neither -man nor devil nor God shall turn me.”</p> - -<p>“I have but one word, then. I hold your offer to be -vile and degrading, and I would rather die than falter -for an instant in repudiating it.”</p> - -<p>“You will not turn me,” he repeated. “I have offered -you my love—a love that burns in me as a consuming -fire—and you think to put it aside with indignation and -contempt. But there are other emotions fighting for me -than love. And fear is one of them.”</p> - -<p>“I do not fear your lordship,” flashed Gabrielle, with -lofty pride.</p> - -<p>“Yet there is none in Morvaix to protect you from -me.”</p> - -<p>“My cousin Gerard——”</p> - -<p>“He has fled the city, like the craven, guilty, worthless -wretch he is,” he answered contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“It is not true, my lord. He is here in your castle. -He came with me, foreseeing more clearly than I the -purpose with which you brought me here. He came for -my protection. And he is no craven guilty wretch as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -you say, but a good and true man: the man, my lord, -whom I love, and whose wife I shall be, by the grace -of God.”</p> - -<p>He stood fighting with the tempest of rage which this -proud avowal provoked and was still striving for self-restraint, -when an interruption occurred. Some one came -to the door, and when, with an angry exclamation, he -opened it, he found a messenger from de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“Your Grace, M. le Baron de Proballe desires me to -say that he seeks the favour of an immediate audience -with you on matters of the most urgent importance affecting -closely M. de Cobalt,” said the man.</p> - -<p>“He has not fled, you say?” cried the Duke, turning -to Gabrielle, and jumping to the conclusion that that -was the news. His manner was full of exultation, and -he laughed unpleasantly as he added: “Come and see -for yourself.”</p> - -<p>Together they went down to where de Proballe was -waiting with strange news that had brought him in hot -haste to the Castle.</p> - -<p>At the sight of her uncle’s face and the triumphant -glance he cast at her, Gabrielle felt her heart sink in -momentary fear for Gerard; but she rallied quickly and -faced them both with a confident smile as she waited -for the tidings.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII<br /> - - -<small>DISCOVERY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">WHILE Gabrielle was closeted with the Duchess -Gerard had made the best use of his time to -learn what he could of the Governor’s Castle.</p> - -<p>Well placed on rising ground just within the northern -gate, it had in former times been a strong fortress, at -once overawing Morvaix itself and commanding the -approach from the north, the side which was most open -to attack. Its outer fortifications formed a long portion -of the boundary walls of the city; and in the more -desperate times when that district had been constantly -overrun by raiders, many a fierce and desperate conflict -had raged round its gloomy walls.</p> - -<p>Gerard saw, not without uneasiness, that the Governor -had restored many of the old fortifications, had constructed -several more modern works, and had thus -greatly strengthened the place.</p> - -<p>The reason was not far to seek. The Duke ruled by -force. He ground the people under the iron heel of -military discipline; and so long as he was sure of the -strength of his Castle and could maintain his soldiers, -the people were powerless. They might protest and -murmur and even rise in revolt; but under the frowning -menace of the Castle, they were helpless.</p> - -<p>Every piece of the military machinery was kept in a -high state of preparedness for eventualities, and Gerard’s -keen soldier’s eye could not fail to note all the evidences -of strength and to estimate them at their true value. -Whatever the Duke might be, he was a good soldier.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> -Everything about the Castle was regulated with military -precision.</p> - -<p>Stranger though he was, no one attempted to interfere -with him or even hinder him as he made his observations. -He had been seen to arrive with Gabrielle, and -as the Duke had never deemed it possible he would -venture inside the fortress and had therefore given no -orders concerning him, he was held to be a guest who had -been made free of the Castle, and was allowed to go -where he would.</p> - -<p>The knowledge gained in this survey might prove -invaluable. The plan of the whole Castle was soon clear -in his mind and he detected the one weak spot in the -defences against which, should the time come, an attack -could best be delivered.</p> - -<p>This was at a point on the city side of the walls where -some works were still in progress. The ground outside -rose to within a few feet of the parapet on the top, and -gangs of men were at work there: some removing the -ground and others deepening the foundations of the -walls, while their ladders and tools lay about the place.</p> - -<p>Gerard smiled with intense satisfaction at the discovery, -which might well have vital importance. If a -crisis arose which rendered it imperative for him to make -a stand against the Governor for a time while awaiting -the arrival of his cousin from Cambrai, Dubois could -easily collect the men within the Castle and with them -make a dash through this breach; or again, if he himself -were put under any restraint by the Duke, here was the -road of escape.</p> - -<p>With these thoughts in his mind he made the most -careful observation of the exact position of the spot, -and then descended from the walls to the courtyards -below to find the speediest and most direct road to it.</p> - -<p>He had completed his survey and was entering the -Castle when he encountered Dubois fresh from his interview<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> -with the Governor and seething with indignation -at his treatment.</p> - -<p>“My lord!” exclaimed Dubois involuntarily, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Good day, holy friar,” answered Gerard, with a -gesture of caution. “I have heard of your good deeds -and would confer with you,” he added aloud for the -hearing of a couple of soldiers who were passing.</p> - -<p>“We can speak here,” said Dubois, drawing aside into -an alcove; and in rapid tones he told of all he had done -since his arrival, and then described the interview with -the Governor.</p> - -<p>“You did well, but could have done better,” said -Gerard, after a moment’s pause. “You should have led -him to think the sanction would have been forthcoming -from the Cardinal, and so have gained time. But it is -vain to speak of that now. Listen to my plans.” He told -him the result of his observation, and instructed him to -ascertain exactly what guard was kept at the works by -night, to have some of their own men always watching -near at hand, and above all to be sure that ladders were -to be available there so that no time should be lost in -case of emergency.</p> - -<p>“I too have a plan,” said Dubois. “The soldiers here -are but a wild mercenary lot, dissatisfied with everything; -disaffected toward the Duke and their officers; any man’s -men who will but pay them. With a few bags of crowns, -many of them could be bought and the Castle itself seized. -Even among those who could not be bought, the men of -Morvaix itself and the district round, there are many who -hate the Governor for his excesses and, in their sympathy -with the people outside, are ripe to revolt.”</p> - -<p>“Splendidly done!” said Gerard. “I knew you would -not be housed in the Castle without results. I like the -scheme. ’Twould be a stroke indeed to vanquish this -strutting cock with his own spurs. Push your inquiries<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span> -all you can in safety, using every discretion, and we will -speak of it again.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, my fine cavalier, so we meet again. Seeking -absolution from our new sir priest here, eh?”</p> - -<p>Gerard turned quickly at the sneering voice to find -that the two gallants whom he had surprised in their -attack upon Denys, had come up unawares and now stood -regarding Dubois and himself with sharp suspicious -glances.</p> - -<p>“Is the Duke dead that his serving men have come -to power?” retorted Gerard. “Or is either of you -minded to renew the affair of the gardens of Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“We are minded to see what the rats are about in -the Castle, whatever the colour of their coats.” It was -d’Estelle who answered. He was pale and weak, and -carried his arm in a sling.</p> - -<p>“You are wounded, monsieur, and so licensed for a -time in your insolence. But you, monsieur,” and Gerard -made a step toward Antoine. “You are still unhurt. -Do you carry also an uncivil tongue? If I know not how -your tongue runs, since I have not heard it yet, I know -at least how your legs run, for I have seen them.”</p> - -<p>“This is no brawler’s tavern,” cried d’Estelle, insolently. -“You are out of your element here.”</p> - -<p>“Peace,” interposed Dubois, in his sonorous tones. -“Be careful of such wanton provocation. I have known -men’s blood to flow for less. You should guard your -tongue, young sir.”</p> - -<p>“All right, bald pate,” cried d’Estelle with a flippant -laugh.</p> - -<p>“You have said nothing, monsieur,” said Gerard to -Antoine.</p> - -<p>“Peace, my son, peace,” said Dubois again, laying his -hand on Gerard’s shoulder. “Would you, too, provoke -strife?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>“Good, old Tell-your-beads. What’s sauce for the -goose is sauce for such a gander,” exclaimed d’Estelle, -with another laugh.</p> - -<p>“These gentlemen and I have met before, father,” said -Gerard. “I prevented them from murdering a man, and -they bear me ill-will in consequence.”</p> - -<p>“It was no murder but a fair quarrel, monsieur,” said -Antoine.</p> - -<p>“Fair? With two swords to one?”</p> - -<p>“I caught M. St. Jean maltreating a lady who is dear -to me, and did but seek to punish him as he deserved.”</p> - -<p>“When I see a liar I watch his lips and listen. I am -watching yours, monsieur,” said Gerard, contemptuously. -“You were set to murder him and for that purpose rode -after him yester morning.” Antoine changed colour and -d’Estelle was silent.</p> - -<p>“Be careful what you say, monsieur,” replied Antoine, -hoarsely. “We are the Duke’s followers and this is his -lordship’s Castle.”</p> - -<p>“If you do not like my words, monsieur, there is an -alternative which men of honour understand,” retorted -Gerard, in a deliberate tone, and with a look which -Antoine had little mind to face.</p> - -<p>“If I do not seek a fight with you, it is not because -I fear you,” he answered, in none too firm a tone; “but -because there may be a way more useful to my master to -deal with you.”</p> - -<p>“I appreciate your discretion, and should I need a -spy, may send in quest of your services.” Then turning -his back upon the pair he added to Dubois: “Now, -father, we will resume our discussion of that point about -Thomas à Kempis. I was arguing in regard to the -warning against apostasy that——”</p> - -<p>“Those vermin may be dangerous. They suspect,” put -in Dubois as they passed out of earshot.</p> - -<p>“A risk or so more or less at this crisis does not count<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -for much; but try to have them marked. They are two -of this Tiger’s claws and would scratch from behind -given the chance.”</p> - -<p>Just then a noise behind them attracted Gerard’s -attention, and turning he saw de Proballe, with Dauban -at his side, hurrying toward the apartments of the -Governor.</p> - -<p>“Ah, Gerard, I find you in good company here!” said -de Proballe in a cordial tone, pausing on his way. “I -have great news. It concerns you.”</p> - -<p>“How so, M. le Baron?”</p> - -<p>“What a formal fellow you are, with your M. le Baron. -We must get to closer terms than these. I’m taking my -news to the Governor. Come with me. Give me your -arm, lad.”</p> - -<p>“I thank you, monsieur, but it is not my wish.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Gerard, Gerard,” cried de Proballe, with a laugh. -“You will never push your way in this good city of -Morvaix while you show yourself so cold and indifferent. -Well, well, come to the Duke or go to the—Church your -own way. It’s all one to me,” and with a laugh he swept -on. He was in high spirits.</p> - -<p>“There is some meaning in this,” muttered Gerard, -gazing after him. “Go you, Dubois, and see to all I -have said. I will make my way to the Duke. ‘When -de Proballe laughs there is the devil by his elbow,’ was -once a proverb in Paris, and it may be just as true in -Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>Without appearing to hasten, he followed de Proballe, -keeping a wary eye for all things as he passed along, and -quickened his steps when he caught sight of the Governor -in the distance in conference with de Proballe, -while Gabrielle, her back toward him, was watching -them closely.</p> - -<p>The Governor had come down in response to de Proballe’s -urgent message in the firm belief that the news<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -was that of Gerard’s flight and his first question was -to that effect.</p> - -<p>“He has gone?” he asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>“A word first into your ear;” and de Proballe drew -him aside. “Gone? No, thank Heaven! better than -that, much better. He is here in the Castle. I have -spoken to him this minute.”</p> - -<p>“Has he dared?” exclaimed the Governor with a -frown.</p> - -<p>“Dared? It seems he would dare anything. Wait, -here he is,” he cried, catching sight of Gerard. “Now -you shall see a comedy. Come, Gerard, come; I was -waiting for you. I want your help.”</p> - -<p>Hearing of his presence Gabrielle turned and ran to -Gerard and stood by him.</p> - -<p>“What is this?” demanded the Governor of de -Proballe.</p> - -<p>“Bear with me and have your guards at hand, and -you will see,” was the whispered reply.</p> - -<p>“They are always at hand here,” was the curt grim -reply.</p> - -<p>De Proballe went toward Gerard, a smile on his lips.</p> - -<p>“So you have not followed our advice, Gerard, and -fled. You like the city and the Castle? Perhaps you -were seeking ghostly advice just now from that sturdy -monk? I found our young friend in close consultation -with a monk as I passed, Duke. Preparing, let us think, -for that longer journey which you mentioned as the alternative -to flight from the city.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe was obviously enjoying the situation and -resolved to make the most of it.</p> - -<p>“Who was the monk? Do you know him?” asked the -Governor quickly.</p> - -<p>“He who came from the Cardinal Archbishop, the -delegate. Gerard, it seems, is particular as to who shall -shrive him. Our Morvaix priests are not good enough.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> -The conference lasted long, too; at least so Antoine de -Cavannes told me.”</p> - -<p>The Governor shot a sharp glance at Gerard, who said -to Gabrielle—</p> - -<p>“The monk is one of those whom I met two days ago -in the market place, Gabrielle, when Babillon, the smith, -was done to death at my lord’s bidding.” He spoke -quietly and calmly. “You may remember him; a dark, -swarthy, burly man who helped you. The companion of -him who stepped between us and the soldiery.”</p> - -<p>“I remember him well,” answered Gabrielle. She was -oppressed by a sense of danger, impalpable and invisible, -but yet real.</p> - -<p>“That is all,” said Gerard, with a smile to reassure -her.</p> - -<p>“Of what spoke you together?” asked the Governor.</p> - -<p>“May not a man speak even with a monk in Morvaix -without the Governor’s permission? ’Twould seem not -indeed; for even while we were in converse, those two -jackals who sought to take your Denys’ life, Gabrielle, -came up with flouts and jeers and sneers, as though -licensed to insult even men of a religious life. I think in -truth this is a matter that concerns you closely, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“How dare you say that to me?”</p> - -<p>“What daring is there in it? I answered the fellow—the -one that is yet unwounded—told him my thoughts -of him and offered him such reparation as he could take; -when he turned upon me and hinted that such insolence -as his was possible by your protection and permission. -He is yonder; let him come and answer for himself;” -and Gerard pointed to where Antoine and d’Estelle were -standing at a distance.</p> - -<p>“Enough of this insolence,” exclaimed the Governor.</p> - -<p>“So I told him,” replied Gerard coolly; “scarce believing -it possible such things could be done with your -sanction.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>De Proballe had been fretting at this interlude in which -he was not taking the important part he desired.</p> - -<p>“You need a curb to your tongue, Gerard,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Does M. de Proballe desire an opportunity of applying -it?”</p> - -<p>“What a fire-eater it is!” cried de Proballe, hiding -his vexation under a laugh, “and what a wit! Where -did you learn to be so free with your tongue?”</p> - -<p>“Not in Morvaix of a truth, where every one must -order his speech to suit the ears of his Governor, it -seems.”</p> - -<p>“Gerard!” whispered Gabrielle, with growing alarm -at his reckless answers.</p> - -<p>“Yet there are things in Morvaix that we can teach -persons of even your high character!” exclaimed the -Governor sharply.</p> - -<p>“I have already learnt many, my lord,” was the dry -retort.</p> - -<p>“One you will learn. Thou shalt do no murder,” added -de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“That is certainly a branch of knowledge with many -expert professors here,” returned Gerard, with the same -reckless air.</p> - -<p>His manner was intentionally assumed. He had not -failed to discern from de Proballe’s manner that some -development was at hand, which boded danger; and he -chose deliberately the attitude of reckless defiance of -all authority. Intrepid by nature, he had often seen -danger met and difficulties overcome by boldness, when -no other means could have succeeded.</p> - -<p>His bearing toward the Governor, despot though he -was in Morvaix, was carefully calculated. As a Bourbon -and the son of the Suzerain Duke, with full authority to -act in his father’s place, this Governor owed him -allegiance, and he believed he had but to reveal his true -character to bring the bully to his knees.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>Moreover, his hot Bourbon blood was fired by the -insults heaped upon him as well as by the infamous -condition of affairs he had found in Morvaix.</p> - -<p>But above all, and more than all, his chivalry was -stirred on Gabrielle’s account; and his new-born love -for her filled his heart with fury against the two men -who had plotted her ruin and had turned their venom -against him only when they found he was no pliant tool -in their abominable scheme.</p> - -<p>The Governor on his side was no whit less angry, and -only Gabrielle’s presence had restrained him from replying -to Gerard’s taunts with violence. He meant to use -Gerard as the means to force her consent to marry him; -and had resolved that he should not leave the Castle until -that consent had been wrung from her.</p> - -<p>This very resolve, however, made him hesitate. To -give him countenance with her, the crime which Gerard -had committed must be the ground for imprisonment; -and while he smarted and fumed and raged under the -lash of Gerard’s bitter words, he had held back. But the -limit of his endurance was reached; and as a first step -he resolved to send Gabrielle away.</p> - -<p>There was a pause of some moments after Gerard’s -last words while the Governor made this decision, and -then he turned to Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle, I must ask you to return to my wife -for a time.”</p> - -<p>“Do not go, Gabrielle, there is no need,” declared -Gerard.</p> - -<p>“He is right, my lord, there is no need,” said de -Proballe.</p> - -<p>“This must end,” muttered the Governor.</p> - -<p>“It shall end—now. Come, Gerard, I have spoken of -your sharp wits. Let us see you use them now. Tell me -the contents of this,” and de Proballe held a paper before -him.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>“I am no wizard to read what I cannot see, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“No wizard; you hear that, Duke. No wizard. Yet -something of a wizard surely—to <i>write</i> what you have -never seen.”</p> - -<p>Gerard on the instant understood what had occurred, -but his face gave no sign and he stared steadily into de -Proballe’s sneering face.</p> - -<p>“Come, Gerard, come. You must know it. It is your -own letter just arrived from you.”</p> - -<p>The Governor understood it now, and with evidences -of great excitement he tore the paper from de Proballe’s -hand and read it.</p> - -<p>He glanced from it to Gerard, and smiled—a smile full -of sinister meaning.</p> - -<p>“Do you say you do not know this?”</p> - -<p>Gerard maintained the same calm collected attitude. -He was considering what course to adopt.</p> - -<p>“You hear? Either you know what is written here or -you are some lying impostor masquerading in a false -name.”</p> - -<p>“Gerard! Gerard!” cried Gabrielle, intensely moved.</p> - -<p>“Aye, Gerard—or some other name,” sneered de Proballe. -“Ask his name, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Now, monsieur, at once if you please,” said the -Governor, in a stern imperative tone. “Speak, or I call -my guards. Do you know this paper? If not, who are -you and why are you here?”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV<br /> - - -<small>“I AM NOT GERARD DE COBALT”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">OF all present Gabrielle was by far the most -agitated. The Duke, perplexed, suspicious, and -bitterly hostile to the man who had stepped between -him and his passion, was chiefly concerned to find -how best to turn the thing to his rival’s hurt. De Proballe, -angry at having been tricked, was for the moment -too occupied in enjoying his personal importance in -having thus unmasked the impostor, to think of much -else.</p> - -<p>But to Gabrielle the issue was all in all. If this were -not Gerard her cousin, the man to whom she had been -betrothed, how strangely forward and unmaidenly she -must have appeared. She recalled with a sense of something -akin to shame how she had almost pressed herself -upon him in the first moment of his arrival; and at the -recollection, her cheeks flamed so that she hid them -beneath her hands and involuntarily drew away from his -side.</p> - -<p>It was but a little thing, that gesture of hers; but -Gerard saw and understood it, and on the moment it -stayed the words of avowal even as they were at his -lips, and changed the whole course of his action. He -had come to Morvaix to ascertain the truth as to the -misgovernment and, if need arose, to depose and punish -the powerful Governor; but his love for Gabrielle was -now so much to him and filled so much of his purpose, -that he set it first and before all else.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>He had won her love by a trick, an imposture. He had -been in great measure forced into it by circumstances, -indeed, and by his very zeal in her cause. But it was -none the less a trick; and he was too proud, having won -it so, to hold it by mere greatness of rank. He would -not avow that rank until he had justified himself in -Gabrielle’s eyes.</p> - -<p>And even as he thought of this and formed the resolve, -another consideration occurred to him. He could by -this means still further test the methods of rule in -Morvaix. He had had ample evidence of the Governor’s -willingness to wrest the considerations of justice -to his own personal ends; but it would throw a fresh -light upon matters to note his conduct when he knew that -the man he had first used and then threatened was not -the cowardly murderer the real Gerard de Cobalt was -said to be.</p> - -<p>“Do you intend to trifle all day with me?” demanded -the Governor, when Gerard had remained silent some -time.</p> - -<p>“I am not trifling, but thinking,” answered Gerard. At -his calm strong tone Gabrielle took her hands from her -face and with another eager, almost imploring glance, -made a half step toward him, and then checked herself in -deep embarrassment.</p> - -<p>“You have need to think, I’ll warrant,” exclaimed de -Proballe.</p> - -<p>But it was to Gabrielle Gerard turned.</p> - -<p>“You have no need to shrink from me, mademoiselle,” -he said with a smile, “although I can understand you. -I fear I must plead guilty to having deceived you. I am -not the writer of that letter. I am not your cousin, -Gerard de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“So you see that game is over,” sneered de Proballe. -“What lie next, pray? You will not find us so easy to -be fooled now.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>“If I am not Gerard de Cobalt, monsieur,” cried -Gerard, sternly, “you will still find I am a man who does -not take insults lightly. For your past words I forgive -you, because of your natural irritation at this discovery. -But for your future words and conduct I shall hold you -responsible—every word and every act.”</p> - -<p>“You will of course explain your conduct, monsieur, -and state as frankly as you can who you are and your -purpose in my city. See to it that the explanation be as -satisfactory as your present position is equivocal.” The -Governor’s tone was curt and peremptory.</p> - -<p>“The explanation is due to Mademoiselle de Malincourt, -and I promise you it shall be frank enough in some -respects to satisfy even you. I had a sufficient object in -coming to Morvaix—what that is for the present I withhold—and -to accomplish it I took a name not my own. -I borrowed it at hazard from a notorious dicer and -wastrel of Paris—Raouf de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“But you called yourself Gerard de Cobalt,” said the -Duke.</p> - -<p>“In ignorance that he had a relative of that name—an -even worse scoundrel, it would seem, than himself—whom -you and M. de Proballe designed to use for your -schemes.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think to carry off this imposture with insolence?” -demanded the Duke angrily.</p> - -<p>“It is not insolence. I have no cause to hide the -truth, monsieur. I had been in Morvaix but a few hours -when I was a witness of the scene in the market place, -and we met for the first time, mademoiselle. I inquired -concerning you, and learning that you were the Gabrielle -de Malincourt whose praises were on all men’s lips, I -haunted the gardens of the maison in the hope of seeing -you again. There we met, yesterday, for the second -time—and you may remember my passing confusion -when you questioned me as to the reasons for what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span> -seemed such strange conduct in a man you believed to -be your cousin and for whose coming you were prepared.”</p> - -<p>“You did not tell me all, monsieur,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“You shall know why. I was on the point of doing -so when M. de Proballe interrupted us, and carrying me -away, told me enough to disclose to me the peril which -threatened you.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, we know all about that,” interposed de -Proballe hastily.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle de Malincourt does not. You read the -letter yesterday of which your follower Denys had in -some way possessed himself, mademoiselle, and I need -only say that that contained in essence the story of this -de Cobalt which M. de Proballe told me at length, adding -that my marriage with you was to be no more or less -than a cover for your ruin at the hands of the Duke de -Rochelle.”</p> - -<p>“It is a lie,” cried the Governor furiously.</p> - -<p>“Then blame the liar, M. le Duc. There he stands,” -and Gerard pointed at de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“It is a tissue of lies,” said de Proballe. “You know -me too well, Gabrielle, to believe this vile slander.”</p> - -<p>“There you mistake. It is I, not Mademoiselle de -Malincourt, who know you. I know M. de Proballe’s -life and reputation in Paris.”</p> - -<p>“This shall go no further. Your name, monsieur?” -demanded the Governor.</p> - -<p>“Does not touch the truth or falsehood of what I say, -and need not therefore be disclosed yet. I shall choose -my own time to disclose it.”</p> - -<p>“You will tell it now, or suffer the consequences.”</p> - -<p>“I do not understand. Do you threaten me?”</p> - -<p>“By your own confession you have come sneaking here -in an assumed name; as a spy of some sort. We soldiers -have a short shrift for spies.”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur——” began Gabrielle, in a tone of entreaty,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span> -alarmed for Gerard’s safety, and a prey to many -mingled emotions.</p> - -<p>“I have committed no offence, mademoiselle, save in -having misled you to believe I was a worse man than -I am. For that I have to crave your pardon, pleading -only in excuse the reasons I have shown. For the rest, -I have done no wrong,” he said, meeting confidently the -Governor’s threatening looks.</p> - -<p>“You are a spy, monsieur, and as a spy shall be -treated.”</p> - -<p>“It is no uncommon thing for strangers to travel without -disclosing their names. Is that a crime in Morvaix -which is a common practice all over France and Europe?”</p> - -<p>“Do you say now you are naught but a traveller?”</p> - -<p>“Far from it. I have a purpose in coming to your -city.”</p> - -<p>“Then you are a spy, I say.”</p> - -<p>“I am no spy, monsieur. I am a soldier. A true son -of France with none but pure French blood in my veins; -and a loyal subject of His Majesty the King, of whom -we are all subjects in common. I have fought under the -great Bourbon, the Suzerain of this city and the territory -of Morvaix. To hold me for a spy will argue ill of -Morvaix and the rule that prevails here.”</p> - -<p>“You dare to threaten me, then?”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur has doubtless his papers to support his -statements and a safe conduct from his powerful friends,” -suggested de Proballe, with a sneer.</p> - -<p>“Aye, of course, produce them,” declared the Governor. -“They may explain the suspicious manner of -your coming.”</p> - -<p>“I can make good my words at any time,” said Gerard, -not relishing this thrust. “The manner of my coming -was my own choosing. But since I have been here your -lordship must have seen for yourself my acts have been -far from those of a spy.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>De Proballe stepped forward and whispered eagerly to -the Governor.</p> - -<p>“Is that so, indeed? I hear that even now you have -been seen making careful observations of our Castle and -the fortifications. You can of course explain so singular -and apt a curiosity? Apt, I mean, as fitting with the -conduct of a spy.”</p> - -<p>“Are the soldiers of France forbidden even to look at -the fortifications of Morvaix’s famous Castle?”</p> - -<p>“Spies are so forbidden, monsieur, and when detected -are dealt with as you, being a soldier, will understand.”</p> - -<p>“I repeat, I am no spy.”</p> - -<p>“Then prove it so, by declaring who you are.”</p> - -<p>“I am accustomed to have my word accepted, monsieur,” -answered Gerard proudly.</p> - -<p>The Governor was about to answer when de Proballe -laid a hand on his arm and drew him to one side.</p> - -<p>“Why not declare yourself, monsieur?” asked Gabrielle, -half-hesitatingly, as the others drew out of earshot. -“You little know the Duke if you think you can safely -hold him at defiance thus.”</p> - -<p>“I am not concerned for what he may think or do, -mademoiselle. It is you, and you only, whom I fear to -have estranged. I deceived you. Can you forgive me?”</p> - -<p>“You should not have done it, monsieur,” she answered, -dropping her eyes. “You—you shamed me.”</p> - -<p>“God forbid you should believe such a thought as that -could have been in my heart.”</p> - -<p>“But I—I deemed you were my cousin. Oh, when I -think of it, my face flames with humiliation.”</p> - -<p>“Then in all truth am I bitterly punished. But you -must see how hardly I was placed. When I heard the -blunt confession of all that was designed against you I -knew not what to do. Hating myself for every act and -word of compelled deception, yet I could not speak without——But -of course, you must blame me.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>“You could have told <i>me</i>, monsieur, if you had trusted -me;” and the reproach in her eyes as she glanced up -stung him so that he winced.</p> - -<p>“And you read in me no more than mistrust?” he -whispered.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur!”</p> - -<p>“And you think I have been untrue to you?”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur!” This time with a little accent of pain, -adding under her breath, “I trusted you so completely.”</p> - -<p>“And now?” His tone was as low as hers, and when -she made no answer he said, “First your words stabbed -me, now it is your silence.”</p> - -<p>She caught her breath and lifted and let fall her hand -with a gesture of perplexity: a pathetic little sign of -her distress.</p> - -<p>“But you, too, are silent—still,” she murmured, after -a pause.</p> - -<p>“And I was so sure of you.” The softly spoken words -stung her so that she winced at the implied reproach in -them. The reproach was unmerited, and while repudiating -the injustice she was both wistful and yet unwilling -to let him see how his words hurt her.</p> - -<p>“Why will you not speak and end the uncertainty?” -she asked.</p> - -<p>“For myself and for others I care nothing, as I say; -but can <i>you</i> find no reason?”</p> - -<p>“It is for me?” she cried quickly, with a swift glance -and an involuntary thrill of delight. She had not -doubted him; but the confirmation of her trust which -seemed to come from the assurance that it was still for -her he was acting thus, brought inexpressible comfort. -If it was for her that he still ran the risks involved in -maintaining silence, it could be for only one reason.</p> - -<p>He had been acting a part, and yet not acting merely -with her. The words he had spoken, the glances he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span> -cast, the thousand little acts and signs he had given while -she had deemed him her cousin, had expressed real feeling. -He had not looked on her as unmaidenly, but—and -as the thought grafted itself more firmly upon her faith -in him, the colour came flooding again to her cheeks, but -from such different causes, and her eyes glowed.</p> - -<p>“I thought——” she said, about to give impulsive -utterance to her new belief, when she checked herself, -looked up with a smile of sweet confusion, and then again -dropped her eyes.</p> - -<p>Gerard had watched her closely trying to read the -perplexing changes of her manner, fearing from her constraint -and silence that she was angered; but gathered -hope fast when she smiled.</p> - -<p>“I would give much to know that thought,” he said, -when she faltered.</p> - -<p>“You must not keep silence and run this risk for me,” -she said slowly, keeping her eyes upon the ground.</p> - -<p>“Am I forgiven the deception I practised?” he whispered.</p> - -<p>“Was it not done because you deemed it best for—for -all things?”</p> - -<p>She had meant to say “for me,” but the words hung -on her lips so that she could not utter them.</p> - -<p>“For all things, no,” he answered pointedly, “for -you, yes; for you only.”</p> - -<p>It was sweet hearing. Her heart beat fast and her -bosom rose and fell quickly in agitation. But she could -not look at him, could not let him see yet how deeply he -had stirred her. She had passed one crisis of racking -pain when she feared that she had mistaken him; and -shrank now from even a chance of misjudgment.</p> - -<p>“I believe that,” she said simply after a pause.</p> - -<p>“And I am forgiven?” he pressed, eager for her to -look at him, that he might read in her sweet eyes the -knowledge for which his heart was hungering.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>“Yes.” It was a whisper, no more; and still she kept -her eyes down.</p> - -<p>“And you trust me as ever?”</p> - -<p>“I may?” she questioned in a whisper.</p> - -<p>“As God is my judge you may,” he answered with -intense passion.</p> - -<p>“Could I forgive if I did not trust?”</p> - -<p>“Thank God for that trust.”</p> - -<p>She smiled and was lifting her face to meet his ardent -gaze, when the Governor and de Proballe returned.</p> - -<p>Neither Gerard nor Gabrielle had had eyes or ears for -them in the minutes of absence; and had not noted how -at first they had talked together and had then sent for -the two men, Antoine de Cavannes and d’Estelle, and -having questioned them, had once again conferred alone.</p> - -<p>It was de Proballe who now took the chief part, and -he approached Gerard with a bland smile upon his -sallow face, and said, in a smooth even tone—</p> - -<p>“My lord has now committed this matter to my hands, -Gerard, as a family affair; and I am confident it can be -easily arranged.” Gerard noticed the use of his name -and the familiar manner, and read in it at once some -change of purpose.</p> - -<p>“I do not wish your interference, monsieur, and -recognize no right of yours to take any such part.”</p> - -<p>“I am acting solely in Gabrielle’s interest. I have put -it to the Duke that this matter can best be settled between -us. You see, Gerard——”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by the use of that name to -me?”</p> - -<p>“Is not your name Gerard?” He put the question -casually and with just the necessary accent of surprise. -“You must see how equivocal the position is.”</p> - -<p>“I desire to hold no intercourse with you, monsieur,” -replied Gerard coldly.</p> - -<p>“You are really making a bad matter worse,” and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -de Proballe spread out his hands deprecatingly. “You -are either Gerard de Cobalt or some one else. If the -former, then this is a family matter which the Duke, in -his love of justice and regard for the honour of our -family, is willing to see arranged. But if the latter, then -your conduct throughout is open to great suspicion. You -came to the city secretly; you took part in our private -affairs without the faintest warrant; you led a violent -revolt against the Governor’s soldiers; you have wounded -one of his followers—most unjustifiably; you have forced -your way into the Castle here and, if not actually a spy, -have acted just as a spy would have acted; you have been -watched and observed to be in long confidential conference -with another stranger—some pestilent contumacious -monk; and thus have so gravely compromised -yourself as to strain the Duke’s clemency beyond endurance.”</p> - -<p>“And all this harangue means—what?” asked Gerard, -bluntly.</p> - -<p>“That you are in a very ugly fix indeed, in which my -influence with the Duke can only with difficulty assist -you. The monk with whom you spoke has been placed -in confinement.”</p> - -<p>“You are right in one thing, M. de Proballe: I can -read in this your influence with the Governor. But those -who know you best know that never yet did your influence -harm those against whom it was directed nor help -those for whom it was cast.”</p> - -<p>At this moment a servant approached Gabrielle with a -request that she would go at once to the Duchess. She -had been taken ill suddenly and had asked urgently for -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“I will come soon.”</p> - -<p>“You need not hesitate on account of me,” said Gerard -with a smile.</p> - -<p>“These soldiers here,” replied Gabrielle in a tone of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> -alarm, as she pointed to a number of men who showed -in the doorways. “See. I fear danger.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis the hour for the change of guard, Gabrielle,” -said de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“I will not go yet,” she declared firmly.</p> - -<p>“You cannot stay here, mademoiselle,” interposed the -Governor bluntly.</p> - -<p>“I will report to you all that passes, Gabrielle,” said -de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“I will not go,” she repeated.</p> - -<p>“I think you had better,” urged Gerard.</p> - -<p>“It must be as you will,” said de Proballe, when she -shook her head resolutely. “Now that the men are here -they will see that no violence is done. Our Gerard is so -hasty, such a fire-eater, that he might be tempted to some -fresh rashness which would be fatal to all settlement. -Wait,” he said as if struck with a sudden thought. “It -will serve the same purpose if you will give me your -sword, Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“That I will never do,” was the quick indignant response.</p> - -<p>“To me then, monsieur,” said the Governor, stepping -forward.</p> - -<p>“To no man, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“Then it must be taken from you;” and the Governor -signed to the soldiers.</p> - -<p>In a moment Gerard’s blade was out.</p> - -<p>“Do you realize what you are doing, and where you -are?” cried de Proballe. “Drawing upon the Governor -of Morvaix?”</p> - -<p>“Who dares to lay a hand on me may look to himself. -I see your plan, monsieur,” said Gerard to de Proballe, -with a bitter smile.</p> - -<p>“Disarm him,” commanded the Governor, his eyes -flashing. “This is treason against the constituted ruler, -monsieur.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>“Gerard, Gerard!” cried Gabrielle in dire alarm.</p> - -<p>“Come, Gabrielle, you must not interfere in this,” and -de Proballe seized her hand and drew her aside.</p> - -<p>Gerard sprang forward to interfere, but the soldiers -interposed and prevented him.</p> - -<p>“Cut him down if he resists,” was the Governor’s command, -implacably given.</p> - -<p>For some moments the fierce unequal combat raged, -and two of the soldiers being wounded, the others fell -back for a moment.</p> - -<p>“My lord, stop this fighting,” cried Gabrielle, struggling -to free herself from de Proballe’s grasp.</p> - -<p>At her voice Gerard turned and made as if to go to -her, but the soldiers, seeing that his eyes were turned -from them, chose the moment to rush in again and one of -them sprang upon him from behind. Thus hampered -he was soon overpowered by the number who attacked -him, his sword was wrenched from his grasp, and he was -led away a prisoner.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV<br /> - - -<small>A PRISONER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">GABRIELLE witnessed the attack upon Gerard -with almost breathless fear lest he should be -wounded or even killed in the fight; but when she -saw him led away a prisoner every feeling was merged -in fierce hot resentment at the outrage.</p> - -<p>De Proballe retained his hold of her until Gerard had -been taken away, and the instant he released her she -turned upon him in magnificent indignation, she drew -herself to her full height and looked at him with eyes -flashing with anger.</p> - -<p>“You have shown me your true character at last, -M. le Baron, and from this point our roads part, and we -are strangers.”</p> - -<p>“I did it for your own good, Gabrielle,” he said -apologetically.</p> - -<p>“You did it because I am only a woman. Were I a -man you should pay the penalty here and now. But there -are those in my household who will not tamely see me -maltreated, and if you consult your safety you will avoid -Malincourt. If you come there, I will have you driven -from my door.”</p> - -<p>“You are very angry and therefore very unreasonable.”</p> - -<p>She turned her back upon him without a word more -and approached the Governor.</p> - -<p>“For the moment you have your way, M. le Duc; but -the day has not yet dawned when the influence of my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span> -house of Malincourt stands for naught in Morvaix. You -have foully outraged an innocent and honourable man, -and if I have to carry my appeal in person to the King -of France, I will have justice done.”</p> - -<p>“I will see you later, mademoiselle, when your indignation -has somewhat spent itself and you can better -appreciate what has occurred.”</p> - -<p>“My indignation will never pass, my lord, until justice -has been done.”</p> - -<p>“Justice will be done, mademoiselle; have no fear on -that score. What you have witnessed is but the needful -preliminary.”</p> - -<p>“What I mean is justice according to the laws of -France, and not according to the Tyrant of Morvaix,” -she cried fearlessly.</p> - -<p>“In your present mood, I have no more to say;” and -with a bow he moved away, leaving Gabrielle free to go -where she would.</p> - -<p>Remembering the message which had been brought to -her and eager to have some one to whom she could pour -out the tale of her wrongs and on whose sympathy she -could rely, Gabrielle went to the apartments of the -Duchess.</p> - -<p>The two men watched her go, both moved by widely -different feelings. Each had been much disturbed by her -outburst.</p> - -<p>De Proballe, thinking naturally of himself, was disposed -to regret the part he had taken. With the doors of -Malincourt shut against him he saw the plans for his own -future advancement in danger of collapse. He had meant -to climb on Gabrielle’s favour with the Duke to greater -things. For this reason he had welcomed the change of -plan which was to make her the Duke’s wife, and had -thrown himself readily into the attempts to ruin Gerard -in her eyes. But if he was to be deprived of the prestige -which the Malincourt influence afforded, he would be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span> -left dependent only on his own wits and the Duke’s -favour; and what a shifting sand the latter was, he knew -only too well.</p> - -<p>But the Governor was scarcely less furious than Gabrielle -herself, and never being inclined to blame himself -laid the whole fault upon de Proballe.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle’s fierce resentment had shown the mistake of -attacking Gerard in her presence; and the fact that he -himself had given the orders only heightened his rage -against de Proballe. He left the latter no reason to misunderstand -his attitude.</p> - -<p>“I am to be an outcast, it seems, because of this,” said -de Proballe, in as nonchalant an air as he could assume.</p> - -<p>“When a man blunders as you have he has no cause -to quarrel with the consequences,” was the blunt reply.</p> - -<p>“As for that, I am too old a hand to quarrel when the -luck’s against me. But what blunder do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Everything you have done.”</p> - -<p>“Umph! I might have expected it,” exclaimed de Proballe, -with a sharp glance at the Governor’s angry face.</p> - -<p>“It was your plan. Had I not listened to you, matters -would have gone very differently. When you learnt that -the man was another than this Gerard de Cobalt, you -should have given me the information privately and have -left me to act. But you must needs meddle in it your own -way—and this is the result.”</p> - -<p>“Did I know you would bring Gabrielle down to listen -to it all? The mischief is that the man was arrested before -her eyes. All women are hysterical fools at such -times. But at least it was not I who ordered your men to -attack him.”</p> - -<p>“That is not true.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe’s reply was a significant shrug of the -shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to give me the lie, monsieur?” cried -the Governor passionately.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>“You had no hesitation about giving it me.”</p> - -<p>“You!” A sneer this, of ineffable contempt, and de -Proballe winced and bit his lip as his sallow cheeks paled.</p> - -<p>“I have tried to serve you in this,” he murmured.</p> - -<p>“You had your wages to earn, that is all. Even this -man knew of your old character in Paris. Do you think -I am ignorant of it?”</p> - -<p>The taunt cut deep, but de Proballe forced down his -temper and answered with a laugh.</p> - -<p>“Put not your faith in princes,” he said, lightly. “If -you mean that having first used me and now abused me -you have no further need of my services, say so, and -we’ll make an end of things.”</p> - -<p>“I have no use for blunderers like you,” declared the -Duke, sullenly.</p> - -<p>“Grant that a blunder has been made—as of course it -has—and say if you like that I made it; whether is it -better to waste time in wrangling over it or to see how -to repair it?” He paused a moment to note how this -was taken, and then added: “At least you have the man -safe under bolts and bars.”</p> - -<p>“And in doing it have changed your niece’s passive -resistance into active violent hatred.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if it comes to that, it would never have been -a love match on her side;” and he laughed.</p> - -<p>“To hell with your sneers,” cried the Governor -fiercely.</p> - -<p>“Life’s too sour a thing to be taken so seriously. I -meant no taunt; no more than a fact. You would have -had to force it; and will have to do no more now. Her -rage will cool. As I say, you have the man and can treat -him at will, either as the scamp de Cobalt or the spy I -was able to prove him. Give her some few hours to -think over his danger, and then see how far she’ll be -ready to go to save his life.”</p> - -<p>“Who can the fellow be?” De Proballe took heart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span> -at the question. He was not going to be thrown overboard -at once; and he answered with gathering assurance.</p> - -<p>“Nay, rather, what does it matter who he is? He -came here as Gerard de Cobalt; he owned it to me; I can -swear to that. Treat him as no other. I called him by -his name that your people might hear; what I said to you -before the arrest stands as good now as then—deal with -him for that murder at Cambrai. You have him tight -enough by that rope and can answer his repudiation by -simply disbelieving it and regarding it as made when he -found himself in a mess. Gerard de Cobalt he was, and -Gerard de Cobalt I should let him remain.”</p> - -<p>“But who is he? And what does he here?”</p> - -<p>“Have you no persuasive methods in this Castle of -yours? I have heard that many a prisoner has before -now been led to confess his crime and so save an infinite -amount of trouble in collecting proofs.”</p> - -<p>“My mind misgives me,” murmured the Governor -uneasily.</p> - -<p>“Ah, that’s Gabrielle’s influence;” and de Proballe -smiled, not pleasantly. “This is no woman’s work, -Duke.” He felt that his words were beginning to have -influence again.</p> - -<p>“But if he be, as I suspect, a spy, in what interest is -he here?”</p> - -<p>“Even spies can be induced to speak in old Pierre’s -chamber. Have him placed there, and you and I can -visit him later.”</p> - -<p>“Do I seek your advice where to place my prisoners?” -asked the Governor, angrily. “But I will have him sent -there,” he added, after a pause.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” and de Proballe smiled again cunningly. “All -will soon be well again, then, and this little mistake made -good. Few men can long resist the creaking arguments -of the rack.”</p> - -<p>The Governor was silent long enough for de Proballe -to think of another scheme.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>“There is, of course, another way. The lever you have -with Gabrielle is this precious fellow’s life and safety, -and if he chanced to get maimed in the progress of inquiry, -she would take it very ill. Promise her his life if -she will consent to marry you at once. Then send him -out of the city—with an escort. Escorts have been known -to quarrel with their charges before now,” he added drily. -“This man, if he be in truth a spy, may be dangerous. -There is that monk, too, who should also be put to the -question. Perchance he knows all that you need to learn.”</p> - -<p>“I had forgotten him.”</p> - -<p>“I had not, and one man is as good as another when -it comes to getting information. Leave this to me, Duke. -I shall not blunder again. Meanwhile, you can go to -Gabrielle with a free hand, to give her any assurances -she may ask.”</p> - -<p>“We will speak of it later; I must think,” said the -Governor.</p> - -<p>De Proballe looked after him as he walked away, and -laughed softly to himself. “What a cauldron of trouble -does this plaguey love brew for us fools of mortals!” he -muttered. “Here are the whole affairs of a city tumbled -topsy-turvy, hither-thither, because Gabrielle has a -pretty face and yonder sour-visaged loon is sick to kiss -it. Aye, aye, and blood will flow too, and men’s pates -will be cracked and their throats slit before his heart -ceases to ache, or I am no reader of signs; and ’twill be -luck more than judgment that will carry one safe -through the hurly-burly.”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Gabrielle had carried her storm of wrath -to the Duchess and had poured out her story with half-incoherent -vehemence until her friend, whose sudden -faintness had been invented by de Proballe as a lure to -get Gabrielle away, was like to be overcome in truth.</p> - -<p>But even a girl’s wrath, however righteous, cannot -last for ever; and thus in time Gabrielle’s began to abate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span> -its hurricane force, and gradually her furious indignation -hardened into a stern determination to secure Gerard’s -freedom and to thwart and punish those who had so maltreated -him.</p> - -<p>“You have been so vehement, child, I could scarce -understand you,” said the Duchess. “I know how it -eases trouble to give it free vent; and so I would not interrupt -to get you to clear the tangled skeins for me. But -now let us see what we can do.”</p> - -<p>“I am nearly mad when I think of it,” cried Gabrielle. -“If this shameful deed is not prevented, I believe I -shall go mad indeed. If aught of harm comes to him, -I will spend my life in avenging him.”</p> - -<p>“But now tell me, who is he?”</p> - -<p>“I do not know nor do I care. For me he is the best, -the bravest, and the noblest man that ever lived.”</p> - -<p>The Duchess smiled, but did not let Gabrielle see the -smile. She loved the girl dearly, and her heart was still -young enough to sympathize even with such a rhapsody. -But the contrast between this whirlwind mood and -Gabrielle’s former calm and unmoved indifference to all -men, and especially to all lovers, was too startling not -to appeal to her.</p> - -<p>“He should have proclaimed himself, Gabrielle, and -then all this trouble might have been spared.” This was -good common sense, but love and youth are contemptuous -of common sense. To Gabrielle it savoured of distrust -of Gerard.</p> - -<p>“He did rightly. He could not do wrong, Duchess,” -she cried. “His motive was nobleness itself. We drove -him into assuming my cousin’s part; he did it for my -sake and mine only; and he could not make himself -known in his own name until he had justified himself -in my eyes. You would not have had him do otherwise. -I would not, not for a thousand worlds.”</p> - -<p>“It would have been less romantic, but very much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span> -simpler, my dear child,” was the practical reply, very -kindly spoken. “But we have to deal with the matter as -it stands. Tell me why did the Duke have him placed -under arrest?”</p> - -<p>“For no cause except—oh, I burn with shame when I -think of it. The Duke believes that he cares for me.”</p> - -<p>“And doesn’t he?” she asked all innocently, mistaking -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you understand?” exclaimed Gabrielle, quickly. -“I mean the Duke himself; he—he forced the words on -me after I saw you to-day. Oh, it is shameful.”</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle, it is a terrible charge you are bringing.”</p> - -<p>“It is the truth; and in such a pass as this, nothing -less than the truth will serve. If it is terrible merely to -speak of, what is it actually to do it? Gerard’s life is in -danger because he loves me and I love him. That is the -infamy of it all.”</p> - -<p>For some moments her friend made no reply.</p> - -<p>“I cannot believe it, Gabrielle,” she said at length, in -a voice of such pain that Gabrielle turned and threw herself -at her side and kissed her.</p> - -<p>“Forgive me, dearest friend, oh, forgive me. I did -not think what I was saying. In my mad selfish sorrow -I forgot the suffering I was causing you.”</p> - -<p>“This then was the reason why he urged me to-day. I -understand now. It comes as the last of many wrongs, -the crown of so many sorrows;” and a deep and bitter -sigh escaped her.</p> - -<p>“Forgive me, dearest and truest, forgive me,” whispered -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“It is not you need seek forgiveness, Gabrielle—and -he need never ask it. He hid this from me, pleading -every other ground—policy, expediency, the good of the -people, the needs of Morvaix—anything and everything -but this. Ah, Gabrielle, the bitterest hour of a woman’s -life is when she wakens to the knowledge that her worst -enemy is her own husband.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>“My dearest, my dearest,” murmured Gabrielle. “I -am so sorry.”</p> - -<p>“No, Gabrielle, we will not grieve, we will act. Together -we will plan and save your lover, be he true man -or false: for false a man may always be.”</p> - -<p>“Not Gerard. Never!”</p> - -<p>“In God’s mercy we will hope not, for your sweet -sake. For though he be true as steel, yet is he in a sorry -plight; and we, you and I together, sweetheart, will save -him. We must first get him out of the Castle and the -task may test our wits. Think, child, think; don’t waste -time in useless repinings over the inevitable. We have -work to do.”</p> - -<p>“I knew I could rely on you,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“First we must find out where they have bestowed him. -Pauline can do this. She is old Pierre’s daughter—you -know how together we saved her from ruin—and she -will serve us both to the death; and so too will her -father. Call her, and she will be at hand.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle hastened away to return in a minute with -the maid.</p> - -<p>“Pauline, we are going to trust you,” said the Duchess. -“You will be faithful, I know; and will do what we need -cleverly and secretly—for Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s -sake as well as mine.”</p> - -<p>“With all my heart, miladi,” answered the girl, a -bright-eyed shrewd brunette.</p> - -<p>“There has been an arrest in the Castle, within the -past hour or so, of a M. de Cobalt. Go and find out -where he has been bestowed. Your father can tell you. -No one else must know that I have even asked. And -be quick.”</p> - -<p>“You give me hope already,” said Gabrielle, as the -girl left.</p> - -<p>“I will do more than that; child, I will give you your -lover. I am feeble and bed-ridden, but not yet helpless.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -As soon as we know where he is, we will have a plan to -set him free. I know the secrets of every cell in the -Castle; and unless he has been placed in one of the underground -dungeons of the keep, there is not one I cannot -help him out of.”</p> - -<p>Their impatience and anxiety made the interval before -Pauline’s return seem long; but when she came, she had -done her errand well and brought the expected news.</p> - -<p>“The gentleman is placed in one of the cells in my -father’s ward, miladi,” she said, “and very strict orders -have been given as to his close watching.”</p> - -<p>“Which cell, Pauline?” The girl’s eyes signalled -trouble at the question.</p> - -<p>“Oh, miladi,” she exclaimed, distressfully. “He was -at first placed elsewhere and has just been moved by the -Governor’s orders into the—the turret cell.” She shuddered -as she mentioned it and glanced toward Gabrielle -who noticed the look and the gesture.</p> - -<p>“What is the turret cell?” she asked. Pauline bit her -lips and was silent.</p> - -<p>“A place from which he must be rescued, Gabrielle, as -soon as we can form the plan;” and the Duchess warned -Pauline with a glance to be silent. “While the daylight -lasts nothing is possible; but as soon as darkness falls the -attempt must be made. Pauline, you must go to your -father again, and tell him from me that no harm must -befall this prisoner, and that at the least sign of danger, -notice must be brought to me. The escape must be -managed to-night; and say that later I will send full instructions -how he is to act. If he can offer a suggestion, -let him send it by you. I will protect him from the -Duke’s anger.”</p> - -<p>“My father would give his life for you, miladi,” said -Pauline earnestly, and hurried from the room again.</p> - -<p>“Have no fear, Gabrielle, your lover shall be free to-night. -We can get him from the cell where he lies; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> -it is more difficult to get him from the Castle. Yet -where can he remain until the chance offers? Come, -child, let us set our woman’s wits to work.”</p> - -<p>“What is this turret cell that both you and Pauline -were afraid even to mention to me? I saw the looks that -passed between you.”</p> - -<p>The Duchess paused for a moment and thought -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“You had best know, perhaps, Gabrielle, for you may -have to use the secrets of the place. It is the place which -you may have heard called the ‘Tiger’s Den.’ A place -of devilish contrivances where prisoners are put to the -question and where many dark deeds have been done.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean they would dare to torture him?” cried -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“I tell you merely that you may know the urgency of -the matter. But diabolical as the place is, it may yet -serve our purpose better than another. It stands high -up in the north turret, and its one barred window overlooks -the courtyard, sixty feet below. Death waits for -the unhappy prisoner who thus seeks escape; and many -a man has gone that way to his death. But with a stout -rope, a clever climber can reach the bottom safely; yes, -yes, I have the idea,” she cried. “Let me think.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me. I am on fire.”</p> - -<p>“One devilment of the place is this. A part of the -wall with the portion of the floor next to it is false. On -this the prisoner’s pallet is laid; and when the wretched -man is asleep the floor and the wall together can be -turned outward with sudden swiftness by the hidden -mechanism, and the sleeper is shot out and down to his -death on the stones below. The wall is then replaced -and by another hidden trick the bars of the windows are -made to appear as if wrenched from their places, and -thus the suggestive evidence is ready to show that the -prisoner has killed himself in an attempt to escape.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>“Can such things be possible?”</p> - -<p>“There is no limit to man’s cruelty to man, child; we -can use this window trick for our end. I can tell you -how to find the spring that moves the bars; you can take -to your prisoner such a rope as would enable him to -escape, open the bars, leave the rope dangling from the -casement to suggest he has so fled; and then bring him -here, where he can lie hid until we can find means to -smuggle him out of the Castle and Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Would God it were dark already,” exclaimed Gabrielle -eagerly. “Till the time comes, the seconds will be -as hours.”</p> - -<p>At that moment they were interrupted and news was -brought that Lucette was asking for Gabrielle.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVI<br /> - - -<small>PASCAL AND THE SPY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap2">LUCETTE’S visit to the Castle in quest of Gabrielle -was the result of several causes which had important -bearing upon the position.</p> - -<p>In the first place Gerard’s plan to send a second messenger -in hot haste to Cambrai, urging his cousin in -command of the Bourbon troops there to hurry on to -Morvaix, had been delayed. The messenger had been -stopped at the city gate.</p> - -<p>Pascal, in his monk’s garb, was present and had been -greatly disconcerted and not a little alarmed by the mischance. -If it meant nothing more serious it must involve -delay. The message must be despatched somehow, -that was certain, because everything depended upon the -troops being brought up at the earliest opportunity.</p> - -<p>To attempt this in the daylight seemed impracticable; -since the messenger would have to drop from the walls -at some favouring point, and the cover of darkness was -necessary for such a venture. Moreover, a spot would -have to be found where the thing could be done; and -neither Pascal nor any of his men knew enough of the city -to select one. There was, further, the imminent risk that -the courier, being on foot, might be intercepted and so -the whole plan fail.</p> - -<p>But in this dilemma, help came most unexpectedly. A -stranger accosted Pascal, and recognizing him as the -monk who had stood between the citizens and the crowd<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> -in the market place, offered his assistance. He was, he -said, the brother of Babillon the smith, the murdered man.</p> - -<p>After a few pointed questions Pascal decided to accept -his help, and left him in the care of his men, while he -made fresh plans. He resolved that two couriers should -go to Cambrai by separate paths, each carrying a -despatch; and in view of the grave risks he decided to -be one of them.</p> - -<p>He returned accordingly to Malincourt, in his character -of servant, to find Gerard and get the despatch -duplicated; but on learning that Gerard was still at the -Castle, he assumed once more his monk’s garb and went -after him.</p> - -<p>The news that met him greatly increased his uneasiness. -Both Gerard and Dubois had been arrested by -the Duke, for what reason no one knew for certain, although -it was rumoured that his assumed character had -been discovered. Pascal knew enough to guess more, and -he was not long in deciding how to act.</p> - -<p>It was clear that with both Gerard and Dubois in confinement -he himself could not leave the city and could -not get a second despatch from Gerard; and, further, that -without waiting for the cover of darkness a courier must -be got out of the city at once.</p> - -<p>He could act very promptly at need, and he did so -now. He added a letter to the leader at Cambrai telling -him what had befallen Gerard and urging the utmost -haste; and wrote two other despatches for d’Alembert -describing the situation. By the aid of Babillon two -men were despatched at once from different points with -orders to procure horses at the earliest moment after -getting free of the city and to ride with all speed to -Cambrai; and he impressed upon both that the life of -their young lord might depend upon their zeal. The third -despatch two carefully picked men were to carry, and -were not to start until dark had fallen.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>The next problem was the much more difficult one of -getting Gerard out of the Governor’s hands. This must -be done by force if necessary and in the last resort; and -a place must be provided to which he could be brought, -where a stand could be made with some hope of holding -the Governor at bay until d’Alembert could reach the -city with the troops.</p> - -<p>Malincourt was obviously the best place for such a -stand. It was strongly built, had ample room for the -necessary force of men, and was sure to contain a store -of provisions which could be increased without any suspicion -being raised. Moreover, he believed there were -arms there.</p> - -<p>He instructed the men in the city, therefore, to go in -their monk’s gabardines and purchase each for himself -enough provision for three days, on the plea that they -were setting out on a pilgrimage on the morrow; after -which they were to remain in readiness for a summons -to meet him at any hour.</p> - -<p>Having the first steps arranged, he returned to Malincourt, -omitting in his haste to put off his monk’s gown. -He meant to see Gabrielle and tell her plainly what his -plans were, and consult with her as to the best means -of rescuing Gerard and Dubois.</p> - -<p>Here came a check, however. Gabrielle was not at the -maison; and as he stood in the great hall considering how -he could best find her, he was seen by Jacques Dauban. -The spy had been sent back to Malincourt by de Proballe -to fetch away certain papers which now that the maison -was shut to him, were too incriminating to be left there.</p> - -<p>It was Dauban who had carried the news to the Governor’s -Castle that Gerard was not really de Cobalt, and -having been a witness of Dubois’ arrest, was struck by -the fact that another monk, of the same order apparently, -should be found at Malincourt. Scenting a mystery he -resolved to follow it up.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>Pascal, unwilling to be recognized in his disguise, -would have avoided him, but Dauban made this impracticable, -and thus Pascal was reduced to the device of -drawing his cowl close so as to hide his features so far -as possible.</p> - -<p>“Give you gooden, good father?” began Dauban.</p> - -<p>“<i>Pax vobiscum</i>, son,” replied Pascal, deepening and -altering his voice.</p> - -<p>“Can I help you, father? I am of the household here—the -secretary.”</p> - -<p>“Then truly you may. I have a message I would deliver -to miladi of Malincourt, and would have speech -with her.”</p> - -<p>“I know her business well and am high in her confidence. -Is it a matter of urgency? I am even now on my -way to her.”</p> - -<p>“Could you get to her at once, or deliver a letter -secretly?”</p> - -<p>“That would be easy enough—the letter I mean.”</p> - -<p>“Can I trust you?” Dauban met the piercing eyes -fixed on him through the close drawn cowl, as if in suspicion, -and answered as he thought with cunning -frankness.</p> - -<p>“That must be as you please. Miladi herself does. -But you must decide quickly, for she waits for me.”</p> - -<p>The monk appeared to hesitate and glancing round -lowered his tone.</p> - -<p>“Do you know aught of this business of the so-called -Gerard de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“Not so loud, father. I know of his arrest and am -even now engaged in the task of procuring his release.” -It was a clever lie and seemed to impose on the monk.</p> - -<p>“Good,” he said. “Lead me where I can write. Life -and death depend on your good faith.”</p> - -<p>“Follow me,” said Dauban, and led the way to de -Proballe’s apartments. On the way they chanced to meet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span> -Lucette, who looked at the pair with curious eyes. Wondering -what Dauban could be doing in such company, she -followed at a distance and resolved to watch.</p> - -<p>“Are we alone here?” asked Pascal.</p> - -<p>“Quite. You need have no fear on that score.”</p> - -<p>“Those doors—are they locked? If not, lock them and -bring the keys here.”</p> - -<p>All unsuspecting and wishing to win his companion’s -confidence, Dauban did so and laid the keys on the table -before him. As if still doubting, Pascal glanced round -the room for himself, taking advantage of the minute -to loose his habit stealthily.</p> - -<p>“Paper, monsieur,” he said, and while Dauban’s back -was toward him he slipped off his habit and laughed.</p> - -<p>At his laugh Dauban turned, and the colour fled from -his face in the fright of the recognition.</p> - -<p>“Now, Master Spy, we will have a little talk and an -understanding,” said Pascal. “Sit down there,” pointing -to a seat, “and if you give but one faint sign of resistance, -I’ll first break half the bones in your body up -here, and then pitch you from the casement yonder for -the courtyard stones to break the other half.”</p> - -<p>The spy sat staring open-eyed and agape at him, -cursing himself for his blindness in not having recognized -Pascal; and cudgelling his wits how to get out of the -trap into which he had walked, and in abject fear for -himself.</p> - -<p>“You thought to trap me, Master Spy, and instead I’ve -trapped you. Now understand, I’m in too dangerous a -mood to bear any trifling and am in desperate haste. Do -all I tell you and do it at once, and answer my questions -plainly, and you’ll save your life; but try to fool me and—well, -I’ve told you what I’ll do, and I’m a man of my -word.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve no desire——”</p> - -<p>“Silence, till I bid you speak. This is your master’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span> -room and you are in his confidence. You know the part -he has played in all this business about M. de Cobalt. -Find at once and give to me every paper that concerns it.”</p> - -<p>“I know nothing, monsieur, I swear; and there are -no papers. I’ll swear it on the holy crucifix.”</p> - -<p>“If you keep me dallying in this way the next oath -you take about it will be in hell,” growled Pascal sternly.</p> - -<p>“I declare on my soul——” But before he could say -more Pascal had him by the throat and shook him till his -teeth rattled and the stars came out in myriads in the -firmament of his dazed sight.</p> - -<p>“Now perhaps you’re frightened enough to tell the -truth,” he cried, with a fierce oath, as he flung him back -on the seat. The spy fell doubled up against the table -and as Pascal jerked him up again he heard the crackle -of papers under his doublet.</p> - -<p>“So you have them on you, you sly devil, have you? -Strip, to the skin, and let me see what’s there. If I play -valet for you you’ll find little play in it, on my oath.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you all, monsieur,” gasped Dauban, faintly. -“Let me but get my breath.”</p> - -<p>“I want no more of your lies. Give me the papers.”</p> - -<p>“They are there,” and Dauban pointed to a desk.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, master liar, but first I’ll have those on -you. Quick or——” and another threatening gesture -finished the sentence.</p> - -<p>Slowly and with a groan of anguish, Dauban took out -some of the papers he had concealed in his clothes, and -laid them on the table.</p> - -<p>“The rest,” said Pascal, putting these out of the spy’s -reach. “Strip and don’t try my temper farther, or I’ll -not answer for myself.”</p> - -<p>Trembling so that his aching teeth chattered, Dauban -obeyed the command; and as each garment was drawn -off Pascal examined it for any concealed documents, and -a quick glance at what he found showed him the nature<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> -and value of his discovery. He had the proofs not only -of de Proballe’s infamy but also of the Duke’s complicity -in everything.</p> - -<p>“Now open these places and, while I search, put on -your clothes again. Quick!” he thundered.</p> - -<p>Then Dauban formed a plan. Terror-stricken though -he was, he had yet sense to reflect that he could never -face his master with such a confession. He donned his -clothes rapidly and going to the cupboard said—</p> - -<p>“There is a secret hiding place here, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>But Pascal was as sharp as a dagger’s point, and on -the instant detected a change of tone, and was ready for -a trick.</p> - -<p>“Open it,” he said, curtly, and without turning his -head shifted his position just sufficiently to watch the -spy. Dauban made a pretence of opening some secret -recess and Pascal saw him snatch up something and -conceal it.</p> - -<p>“It is open, monsieur,” said the spy.</p> - -<p>“Good. Fright makes a ready servant of you,” replied -Pascal; and as if unsuspicious of treachery, crossed the -room turning his back to give the spy his chance.</p> - -<p>With a quick stealthy rush Dauban sprang forward -only to find himself foiled, his uplifted right hand caught -in a grip of iron, the weapon taken from it and himself -pinned against the wall with fingers of steel playing on -his windpipe and Pascal’s eyes gleaming close to his. He -wriggled and fought with the strength of despair; but -the air was shut from his lungs, his sight grew blurred, -a blood red mist surged about him, and then all was dark -with the darkness of death.</p> - -<p>“The sly treacherous devil,” murmured Pascal, as he -let the inert helpless body of the spy slip to the ground. -“Who’d have thought he’d even enough pluck for such -a thing?”</p> - -<p>What to do with him was a difficulty, however. Pascal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> -had already lost time which could ill be spared and having -had one experience of Dauban’s cleverness in slipping -out of his bonds, he was loth to trust again to mere cords.</p> - -<p>A hurried search of the room offered no solution, and -for the moment there seemed nothing for it save the -desperate step of plunging the knife into his heart. He -had earned death by his last murderous attack, and Pascal -picked up the weapon; but he shrank from the deed, -and with the object of obtaining the assistance of some of -the household, he opened the door.</p> - -<p>In the corridor he found Lucette strolling near the -room with an assumed air of indifference. On seeing him -she made as if to hurry away, and he called her.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle, you must help me,” he said, somewhat -brusquely and with a touch of command in his tone.</p> - -<p>“Where is the monk, monsieur?” she asked, shrinking -from him, “and Jacques Dauban? What is the meaning -of that knife?” and she pointed at the knife which -unwittingly he retained in his hand.</p> - -<p>“I am the monk, mademoiselle. For God’s sake don’t -run off in that way.” He turned and tossed the knife -back into the room. “Did you think I had murdered -myself and with an unstained knife?” he asked, and -smiled. “I am here on M. de Cobalt’s business and -miladi of Malincourt’s, and I must have help.”</p> - -<p>Reassured by his tone she returned then.</p> - -<p>“What has happened?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“That which may help to straighten all this devil of a -tangle. I have tricked that spy of de Proballe’s and -pinched half the life out of him, and must have help to -get him safely caged. He proved too slippery for me -once before.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you;” and he opened the door so that she -saw Dauban.</p> - -<p>“Is he dead?” she asked, shrinking again.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>“He would be if he had his deserts.”</p> - -<p>“But what does it all mean?”</p> - -<p>“Such a cauldron of troubles as the devil loves to set -a-bubbling, mademoiselle. M. Gerard de Cobalt has been -found to be not Gerard de Cobalt and the Governor has -clapped him into one of his Castle cells; this cur here and -his mangy master are at the bottom of it—I have just -laid hands on the written proofs of their part. I have -had a busy afternoon and am in search of Mademoiselle -de Malincourt, and must find her at once. I have no time -to fill in the details for you; so smother your curiosity -and just say if you will help me?”</p> - -<p>“You have a commanding way with you, monsieur, -for a serving man,” cried Lucette with a smile.</p> - -<p>“I am no serving man, but just a soldier; and by your -leave have no time for badinage. There is much to be -done, and talk must wait on action. I want irons and -a guard for this carrion here. Can they be got in the -maison? If not, I must take the knife to him, much as -I dislike it. But his babbling tongue must be silenced, -or we shall all be in peril.”</p> - -<p>“You would not kill him in cold blood?” cried Lucette, -with a look of horror.</p> - -<p>“I would kill any one and any thing that stood between -me and my master’s safety.”</p> - -<p>“I can get what you need,” she said, and hurried away, -to return quickly with a couple of men with manacles. -Pascal gave them his orders, and placing the gyves on -Dauban’s wrists—none too gently, for the spy was hated -by every one—they carried him away.</p> - -<p>“Now, mademoiselle, you must find a place of security -for these,” said Pascal, giving Lucette the papers. “De -Proballe may come in search of his precious spy, and he -must not find these, nor must any one know aught of the -spy’s whereabouts. If my advice be followed I would -clap the master in the next cellar to this man; but that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> -as you please. Now, how to find Mademoiselle de Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“She is still at the Governor’s Castle. You can seek -her there.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, by your leave, that can I do only in the last -extreme. Suspicion is all over the place, and if they were -to clap me by Dubois’ side there would be more to pay -than we can just now afford.”</p> - -<p>“Dubois? Who is he?”</p> - -<p>“Another of this Governor’s prisoners, and while he’s -in I must keep out. Will you go to miladi?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I will. What shall I tell her?”</p> - -<p>“That the liberty and perhaps the lives of the prisoners -depends upon her seeing me instantly.”</p> - -<p>“Who shall I say you are?”</p> - -<p>“Say what you like—that I am close in my master’s -confidence and have a plan for liberating him, if she will -but come to me quickly.”</p> - -<p>It was this conversation which sent Lucette hurrying -in hot haste to seek Gabrielle at the Castle, while Pascal -employed the time of her absence in examining Malincourt -with an eye to putting it in the best condition of -defence.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVII<br /> - - -<small>GABRIELLE PLEADS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">GABRIELLE heard Lucette’s story with intense -interest, and saw that with help from Pascal -outside it might be possible to get Gerard away -from Morvaix without concealing him first in the -Duchess’s apartments; and she resolved to go immediately -to Malincourt to consult with Pascal.</p> - -<p>But she found the Duchess opposed to this.</p> - -<p>“If you go and then return to me, Gabrielle, it may -provoke notice and start suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“But I must see Pascal,” she urged.</p> - -<p>“Then safer to see him here. Let him come as if to -me. I have frequent messengers from friends; and his -coming will cause no talk. He can come as with a message, -say, from the Count and Countess d’Auvaine, and -no questions will be asked.”</p> - -<p>“He is known to some in the Castle. M. de Proballe, -for instance, and others; and recognition would be ruin.”</p> - -<p>“It would be worse, child, if a watch were set on -yourself and so the way to the prison quarters blocked. -If this gentleman is loath to risk coming here, let it be -known that you are staying with me for a few days—as -you have done before—and let Lucette carry your -messages. There is reason for her passing to and fro, -as you will need many things for your stay here.”</p> - -<p>“You are right; I will go and tell Lucette.”</p> - -<p>She was about to leave when Pauline returned.</p> - -<p>She had seen her father, she said, and he had readily -agreed to do anything that was asked of him. He advised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> -that the best hour for making any attempt would -be about ten o’clock at night; as the guard would be -changed at eleven, and they were always less vigilant in -their last hour of their watch.</p> - -<p>“My father says there will be a great risk, miladi,” -said Pauline; “and urges the utmost caution. He declares -it will be far safer for all concerned if the prisoner -makes his escape by the window and avoids the hazard -of encountering any of the soldiers or servants in attempting -to leave by any other way.”</p> - -<p>“It could be done,” said Gabrielle, readily, “now that -this Pascal can help from outside. I will send him word -by Lucette of the time, and tell him to find means of -getting to the courtyard.”</p> - -<p>She hurried to Lucette and told her the plan and the -reasons why it was not deemed prudent for her to leave -the Duchess, and they were discussing this when the -Governor entered.</p> - -<p>“You will know what I shall need for a few days, -Lucette,” said Gabrielle, with a swift warning glance; -“and if I have forgotten anything in my haste, you can -bring it or even return for it. How is Denys?”</p> - -<p>“Much improved, but very weak, of course, and fretting -at his weakness.”</p> - -<p>“I wish to speak with you, mademoiselle,” interposed -the Governor.</p> - -<p>“I am remaining some days with the Duchess, monsieur, -and am sending instructions in regard to matters -at Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“That is good news; it is as I would have it.”</p> - -<p>“One thing more, Lucette, and the most important -of all—M. de Proballe is not to be allowed to enter the -maison until my return.”</p> - -<p>“That is a harsh injunction, mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>“I am the mistress of Malincourt, my lord, and am -firmly resolved on the point.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>“I shall hope to change that resolve amongst others,” -he replied, as Lucette went away. “It is for that I wish -to speak with you.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle made no reply for the moment. The storm -of her indignation against the Duke had passed, as he -noticed with satisfaction; but he could not read her -present mood; and mistook a deliberate intention to outwit -him for a readiness to listen with some complacency -to the alternatives he had come to propose. The hope of -setting Gerard free spurred her woman’s wit to the -utmost. She was, indeed, ready enough to listen to him, -schooling her temper and keeping it under control, so -as to learn his plans. She was fighting the cause of the -man she loved against the man she hated with hate implacable; -and she would fight warily and coolly, with -every weapon in her armoury, and with a full knowledge -of all the danger that might follow a false step.</p> - -<p>“I have spoken with your uncle.”</p> - -<p>“He is no longer kin of mine, my lord,” she interposed, -coldly. “He has wronged me beyond endurance.”</p> - -<p>“Well, with M. de Proballe then, and have convinced -myself that he has had no motive save that of serving -your best interests.”</p> - -<p>“As head of my house, monsieur, it is for me to say -whom I count upon my side and whom I deem against -me. Never again will I speak to or see M. de Proballe. -I hold him for my worst enemy.”</p> - -<p>“And what of me?” he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“You have done a bitter injustice and a cruel wrong -to an innocent and gallant gentleman—but it is in your -power to repair it. Will you speak the word that will -undo it?”</p> - -<p>“Innocent?” he carped. “Was it innocent to steal -among us in a false name and character. Was it gallant -to act such a lie?”</p> - -<p>“He was forced into it.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>“How forced and by whom?”</p> - -<p>“Need we pretend that we do not know?”</p> - -<p>“I do not know,” he replied bluntly. “Who is he, if -he be not indeed this de Cobalt? I have clear proof that -he was spying in the Castle here. If he be not de Cobalt, -then is he a spy. Am I to suffer my Castle to be overrun -by spies?”</p> - -<p>“He is no spy; of that I am assured.”</p> - -<p>“Then if an honest man, why this mystery?”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle knew the reason, recalling with a little thrill -of delight how he had said it was for her sake; but she -answered—</p> - -<p>“Is every honest man who comes to Morvaix to be -treated as a spy and thrown like a dog into a prison cell?”</p> - -<p>“If you were Governor here you would see this as -I do; but I am indeed almost persuaded that he is still -only deceiving us.”</p> - -<p>“I do not understand.”</p> - -<p>“I believe he is in truth what he avowed himself at -the first—Gerard de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“But you yourself and M. de Proballe held it disproved.”</p> - -<p>“The letter may have been but a trick, like other -things. He had deceived us as to the flagrancy of that -act of his at Cambrai; and knowing it to be too vile to -be pardoned, had this further lie enacted, meaning to pass -for some one else and so save his head. But he will not -save it.”</p> - -<p>“You mean he will be tried for the crime?”</p> - -<p>“I mean he’ll lose his head for it,” was the blunt -answer.</p> - -<p>“You will not do this foul injustice,” said Gabrielle, -with a touch of indignation.</p> - -<p>“Who murders, dies, mademoiselle; that at least is -law all over France; and Morvaix is no city of shelter.”</p> - -<p>“He must not die; you cannot be so cruel.” Half protest,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> -half entreaty was in her tone; and the Governor -paused and bent his eyes upon her before he replied.</p> - -<p>“For your sake more than any other’s, it is best that -he should.”</p> - -<p>“I do not understand you,” cried Gabrielle, with a -catch of the breath as in fear.</p> - -<p>“He has impressed you so deeply that, were his life -spared and his liberty given to him, you would never be -safe from him. He is a murderer, a man of the vilest -life, who would never cease to persecute you, after what -has passed.”</p> - -<p>There was an even deeper depth of vileness in this -man than she had deemed, was Gabrielle’s thought; and -for a moment it cost her a supreme effort to remain -calm. But the thought of Gerard’s peril came to her -aid.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean you would kill him out of consideration -for me?” she asked, as if incredulous.</p> - -<p>“I would do anything for you—either kill or pardon, -but you will not let me,” he answered, with the first -touch of passion.</p> - -<p>He had led round to his object cunningly; but not so -cunningly that she did not understand him.</p> - -<p>“Yet I <i>may</i> ask you,” she replied. “Prove to me his -unworthiness first; and then——” she stopped.</p> - -<p>“What then?”</p> - -<p>“You cannot prove it, monsieur,” she cried, as though -she had first wavered in her faith and then rallied it. -And so he read her words. “He is what I have said, an -innocent and gallant gentleman.”</p> - -<p>“If he be Gerard de Cobalt he is a murderer of the -vilest and most treacherous type. I have the fullest -proofs.”</p> - -<p>“But if he be not M. de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“Then he has shown himself a spy; and spies when -they are caught must take their chances. But he is more -than a spy.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>“How?”</p> - -<p>“He has deceived you with specious lies, has won -upon you until the scene below to-day showed your feelings. -You are the head of a noble house, mademoiselle, -whose influence here in Morvaix is too great to be at the -mercy of either a treacherous scoundrel or a hireling spy. -And while you remain unmarried and at his mercy, because -of your gentle trustful heart and of the feeling -he has stirred within you, such a man cannot be at -large. The interests of all in Morvaix render it impossible.”</p> - -<p>“Again you make the strange suggestion that this is -done for my sake,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“And it is true, Gabrielle. Were it not for you, the -prisoner might go free this moment.” Every word -spoken was now chosen to bring him nearer to his -object.</p> - -<p>“But if he be the unworthy man you say, do you hold -me for a thing too feeble and weak to withstand his evil -influence?”</p> - -<p>“Worthy or base, it is as I say. His freedom rests -on you.”</p> - -<p>“In plainer words?”</p> - -<p>“Consent to do as I have asked you, and the man’s -fate is for you to determine. As my wife, Gabrielle, -your lightest wish would be my law.”</p> - -<p>“And if I still refuse?”</p> - -<p>His answer was a shrug of the shoulders and a lifting -of the hands. He looked for another storm to burst; -and was surprised when Gabrielle remained quiet, cold -and thoughtful. He read the sign to be favourable to -him. Hitherto she would not even listen. He felt the -strength of the weapon he wielded, and was glad.</p> - -<p>She paused as if in deep distress and fear, and sighed -as she asked—</p> - -<p>“Do you think such a union as you suggest could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> -bring happiness to either of us, or having such a beginning -could end in aught but ruin to all?”</p> - -<p>“I love you, Gabrielle; that will suffice for all,” he -declared passionately.</p> - -<p>“Spare me that, I beg of you,” she cried quickly and -very earnestly. “When you spoke of this to me before, -I answered you out of my indignation. I am cooler -now; but can you not think how such a declaration sounds -to me? It is not one jot less terrible because I school -myself to listen without temper. Can you not feel what -treachery it is to my dearest friend, your wife—surely -the purest wife ever given to a man?”</p> - -<p>“She is willing for our marriage to be dissolved.”</p> - -<p>“Does that make my treachery to her less ignoble? -If the thing stood on any other ground than where you -put it by these words, it would still be wrong—a cruel, -cowardly wrong to her; but to plead for it no more than -mere passion, is to clothe it with its vilest dress.”</p> - -<p>“There are other reasons—many,” he said sullenly. -“You wish to wield influence in the rule of the people; -I give you a chance. ’Twas but yesterday I put the -matter so to you.”</p> - -<p>“The baseness of the act is not lessened by wrapping -it about with specious pleas. And I will be frank with -you; for frankness in such a crisis is best. I could -never feel to you as a wife should feel toward her husband. -The shame of this wrong to my friend would -ever be a canker to blight all other thoughts, and make -my life—our lives—one lengthened monotone of remorse -and pain.”</p> - -<p>“I would leave that issue to time and my love. You -did not think thus until within the last few hours.”</p> - -<p>“I will deal with you frankly, as I said. I understand -you; and in some part you are right. I love this -man who is in your power. I believe him good and -true and noble; I am not ashamed of my love. Love<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span> -comes to every woman at some time in her life, and she -is powerless to resist it. That is our nature. This has -come to me. Could I then wed another man while yet -the love for him burns like a fever, filling my heart with -thoughts of him, gladdening it with hopes for him; and -forming already more, far more, than half my life?”</p> - -<p>“You are frank, as you say; but such frankness is -ill hearing.”</p> - -<p>“If it be ill to hear me speak of it—and I am calm -enough to speak without temper and say this not to -anger but to prevail with you—if it be ill for you to -hear me speak of it, what would it be in the after time -to live ever with the knowledge of it? Think you that -happiness lies that way? You with the knowledge that -my heart is given to another man; I with the bitterness -of remorse for the wrong you would have me do, relieved -only by the ever aching sorrow of a broken heart?”</p> - -<p>“I wish to hear no more.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, but you must hear me. Only a coward would -shut his ears to the truth; and you at least are no coward. -You have not thought what kind of thing this really is -that you would do. Were I to wed you as you now wish, -we should grow to hate one another. Your passion would -cool and you would come to feel the bitterness of the -mistake, the galling yoke of the load on your life and -would look on me as the cause.”</p> - -<p>“You little know me, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Then at least I know myself. I am but a girl and -very human; and in the long dark hours of my misery -and unavailing remorse, my spirit, unbroken—for we -Malincourts are not easily broken—would revolt against -you as the cause. Would yours be happier? Have you -thought what life would be to be mated with a woman -who hated you, as we Malincourts can hate?”</p> - -<p>“I love you. I think of naught else,” he said doggedly.</p> - -<p>“Love! Love! What sort of love is that which would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span> -blight and destroy the object that has kindled it? What -is it in me you think you love? My face? My form? -Would these retain their comeliness in your eyes when -you knew that beneath them burnt the fire of hate? -When I could never suffer you, without a shudder, even -to look into my eyes? When at your approach you found -me shrink; when your lightest touch would seem to be -repugnant? Oh, put this cowardice away from you, and -understand the truth as it is. If there be this feeling -for me that you deem, have courage to see that it is -wrong and evil. If it were love it would be selfless, and -you would seek my happiness, not your own mere desires. -The flame will burn out and die down; and if you will -but act as a man should act, you will grow to hate the -thing you now desire, and thank me for having kept -you true to a man’s better part.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean you would have me see you marry -this man? I would see you dead sooner. And he shall -die,” he cried fiercely. “My mind is made up. If you -will not save him, his blood will be on your head.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle had not hoped to move him, and his decision -stirred no surprise. She had pleaded urgently and -sweetly; but with another thought than that of prevailing -with him. She had to disarm his suspicion so that -time might be gained, and now began to let her alarm -make itself evident.</p> - -<p>“He must not die; he must not,” she said, after a -pause.</p> - -<p>“You can save him by a word.”</p> - -<p>“I must have time. I have told you I love him; and -I swear to you that if he were to die now I could not—nay, -I would not survive him. I would take my own -life. My God! I could not bear it yet,” she cried, wildly -and vehemently.</p> - -<p>He had not looked for this; and the thought, impressed -as it was by the conviction that she was in deadly earnest,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span> -alarmed him and kept him silent. Before he could find -any words to reply, she continued with equal vehemence.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, it shall be so. You are right, you are right. -His blood will be on my head. I shall be his murderess. -His murderess!” She changed her almost hysterical -passion to a low tone of intense earnestness as she -repeated the words. “His murderess! Then it is right -that I should die. Who kills, dies. It is the law of the -universe. And how I should welcome death! Do this -thing. Kill him; kill him. Do not stay to give me time -to learn that he is unworthy; and let me die, loving him, -trusting him, and believing him to be the noblest and -best man in all fair France. Then indeed can I die happy -and be happy to die.”</p> - -<p>The outburst prompted just the thought she designed.</p> - -<p>“If I prove him first to be the scoundrel that he is?”</p> - -<p>“You cannot. That you cannot do. Oh, I can bear -no more,” she cried in a voice vibrating with pain and -distress. “He is in your power to do with as you please. -Do what you will and so let me free. If he be the man -I believe, he will welcome death before my dishonour; -and if he be not, at least you can spare me the pain of -knowing it. You will not be merciful in one way, then, -for the sake of God, be merciless in all. The sooner -the end, the more welcome death in such a case.”</p> - -<p>“I must think of this,” he said sullenly.</p> - -<p>“What would you do?” Eyes and face and manner -all full of fear.</p> - -<p>“You shall know this man for the scoundrel he is. -You must not cast your life away for a worthless villain. -I will have the truth made plain to you.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, now I see how you hate him,” she cried distractedly. -“You would blacken his name even in my -memory. How hard and harsh a man you are!”</p> - -<p>“It is right you should know the truth.”</p> - -<p>“I do not seek to know it. Spare me. I cannot bear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> -the suspense. My very courage to die may be killed by -delay; already I can feel it waning. A week of suspense -and I should be coward enough even to wish to live.”</p> - -<p>“You shall know the truth. I will find it out; and -when his rank unworthiness is proved to you, you will -see the folly and madness of this last wild resolve. You -will live to thank me yet, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, why did I speak it, fool and coward that I am!” -she cried, despairingly.</p> - -<p>“It is well you did,” he answered; and with this he -left her.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVIII<br /> - - -<small>IN THE “TIGER’S DEN”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">WHILE all these plans were being hurried forward -for his release, Gerard took his imprisonment -very philosophically. There was but -one circumstance which caused him uneasiness—the -doubt whether Dubois could have had time before he was -placed under arrest to pass on the instructions he had -given him.</p> - -<p>But he had no serious fear. If Dubois had been able -to set things in motion there would soon be some effort -on foot to secure his liberty; while if not, the worst -could only be that he himself would be driven to announce -his real rank to the Governor.</p> - -<p>He was indeed more than half disposed to regret having -maintained silence at the moment of arrest. He had -measured the lengths to which the Governor was prepared -to go; and the brutal command to cut him down -if he resisted was one not to be forgotten. That and -the indignity to which he, Bourbon’s son, had been subjected -by this tyrant should be paid for heavily.</p> - -<p>He had a recompense, however. Gabrielle had answered -nobly to the test he had made. She loved him. -He was sure of her now; and with that as a consolation -to sustain him, the hours of his retirement passed lightly.</p> - -<p>When his gaolers entered and led him from the cell -in which he had first been placed to one in which stood -the instruments of torture, he regretted no longer that -he had not avowed his identity.</p> - -<p>Rumours of the Governor’s savage treatment of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> -prisoners had reached him, garnished with many a horrible -story of torture and violence. He had now the -evidence of this before his own eyes; perhaps to be -threatened even against himself; and these things he -might never have been able to prove had he declared himself -earlier.</p> - -<p>That they were there to intimidate him he was soon -to know, for a warder entered and began to make them -ready for use.</p> - -<p>Gerard watched him curiously from the spot where -he sat bound, and at length broke silence.</p> - -<p>“You ply a strange trade, my friend,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Prisoners must be silent,” answered the man. It was -Pauline’s father, Pierre, who had received orders from -de Proballe in the Duke’s name to have the ghastly instruments -in readiness, and to do the work before the prisoner’s -eyes.</p> - -<p>“Silence, too, eh? Is this another of your Governor’s -pleasant methods of hospitality?”</p> - -<p>“I tell you to be silent,” replied Pierre gruffly. He -had been both troubled and alarmed at the command -which his daughter had brought from the Duchess. Fully -prepared to do her bidding, he was nevertheless anxious -so to do it as to prevent suspicion falling on himself. To -him the event might mean life or death; and however -strong the Duchess’s intentions might be to shield him in -the event of discovery, she might lack the power, should -the Governor get proof of his treachery.</p> - -<p>“So you are the Governor’s torturer,” said Gerard -next. “I don’t envy you your trade.”</p> - -<p>“A man must live,” returned Pierre.</p> - -<p>“A pretext for villainy and cruelty as long as the -world has been a world, I suppose. Yet were I a lusty -fellow like you, I’d find some honester use for my muscles -than to maim my fellow-men and drag their joints -asunder, Master Torturer.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>“I am no torturer,” said Pierre. “I am the warder.”</p> - -<p>“Warder only, eh? You get the torture ready and -stand aside for some one with a tougher stomach to do -the mangling. Yet by the look of your face, I think I’m -wronging you. Those eyes of yours have a light in them -that speaks of a better nature than your words imply.”</p> - -<p>“I have to obey my orders. You are a soldier they -say, and should know that. Why are you placed here?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a question I could better put to you. To -watch you set those instruments running smoothly for -my poor bones, maybe.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis a sight many a brave man has quailed at seeing. -But I mean, what is your crime; what have you done?”</p> - -<p>“As much as many of the Governor’s prisoners probably; -that is, nothing.”</p> - -<p>“Then these are to find the offence.”</p> - -<p>Gerard laughed lightly.</p> - -<p>“You’ve a pleasant wit, warder. What’s your name?”</p> - -<p>“Pierre Delmont.”</p> - -<p>“And so you think, Pierre, that I am to be put in the -embrace of some one of those pretty toys of yours in -order to induce me to confess to something I haven’t -done? And I suppose you speak after some experience.”</p> - -<p>“I have counselled many a man to confess to some -light crime rather than face these; and more than one -has scoffed at my words to his after sorrow.”</p> - -<p>“Then you are here to frighten me with thoughts of -the torture.”</p> - -<p>“You are a brave man, I am told; yet many a man -brave enough on the field of battle has made his first -acquaintance with fear in this cell. God forgive the -cruelty of it!”</p> - -<p>“I am in no danger, Pierre.”</p> - -<p>“Yet not for any reasons you know of.”</p> - -<p>“Surely that sentence has a double sound.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>Pierre left his work, crossed toward Gerard, and -answered in a low tone.</p> - -<p>“It means what I did not purpose to tell you yet—that -I am your friend at the bidding of others. We -shall set you free, you and the other prisoner, the monk. -My work here I must do; otherwise I might be suspected; -and I meant to hold my tongue until it profited -to speak.”</p> - -<p>“Who are those others?”</p> - -<p>“Some one is coming. Silence,” said Pierre hastily, as -he withdrew to the other end of the cell and busied himself -again with his gruesome task.</p> - -<p>Presently a knock sounded on the door, and Pierre -let drop the irons he held with a clanking sound. The -knock was repeated; and he opened the door.</p> - -<p>The Governor and de Proballe entered.</p> - -<p>“Why did you keep me waiting?” demanded the former -angrily.</p> - -<p>“I was working yonder, my lord, and did not hear -you.”</p> - -<p>“I heard the clanking of irons,” said de Proballe. -“I ordered him to have all in readiness.”</p> - -<p>Pierre went back to his work, and the two stood looking -down at Gerard.</p> - -<p>“You can see now what comes of defying the Governor -and playing me false, M. Gerard de Cobalt,” said -de Proballe, with an evil smile. “And this is only the -beginning; unless you are in another mood.”</p> - -<p>“It is worthy of the Baron de Proballe to gloat over -a helpless man,” answered Gerard contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“Exactly, helpless is just the right word, prisoner.”</p> - -<p>“The Duke of Rochelle has surely some other motive -in coming here than to allow this carrion to insult me,” -said Gerard, turning to the Governor.</p> - -<p>The Governor smiled at de Proballe’s start of anger.</p> - -<p>“I have come to you with a merciful object.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>“I seek no mercy at your hands, monsieur. If you -have come to do tardy justice it will suffice for me, for -you will order the gaoler there to unbind my hands and -set me free.”</p> - -<p>“Not so fast, prisoner, not so fast,” cried de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“I addressed you, monsieur,” said Gerard to the -Governor.</p> - -<p>“What would it be but mercy that should impel me to -pardon the murderer, Gerard de Cobalt?”</p> - -<p>“I am no murderer, neither am I M. de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“Admit that you are he and no harm shall come to -you. I will keep my word and pardon you for the affair -at Cambrai.”</p> - -<p>Gerard paused. The turn in things surprised him; and -he could not see the motive of it. The Governor mistook -his silence for hesitation.</p> - -<p>“Write the admission that you are Gerard de Cobalt -and guilty of that crime, and on my oath you shall go -from Morvaix a free man.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“It is not for you to question. But I gave my word -before you came and I will keep it even now.”</p> - -<p>“Why should I confess to a crime I never committed -and blacken—ah, I think I see. You would show the -confession to Mademoiselle de Malincourt. Is that the -motive for this unexpected mercy, as you term it? I -might have guessed it.”</p> - -<p>“Your answer?”</p> - -<p>“I would sooner cut my hand off than write the lie.”</p> - -<p>“It is well that I told Pierre to be prepared,” said -de Proballe. “We know that you are Gerard de Cobalt, -and that you devised the scheme of that letter to make -us doubt you when you saw the danger in which you -stood. But we have means at hand that will make you -speak.”</p> - -<p>“Who, then, do you say you are?” asked the Governor.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>“For what crime am I made a prisoner and threatened -with the torture?”</p> - -<p>“Prisoners are to answer, not question.”</p> - -<p>“Is it your custom here in Morvaix to imprison men -first and ascertain their crimes afterwards? And to use -the rack and the boot to drive them to make a false confession? -This is not the law of France, my lord Duke, -and you will beware how you threaten me with such -iniquity.”</p> - -<p>“Will you speak and say who you are?”</p> - -<p>“I bear a name, my lord, which, were I to mention -it, would make even you pause in the contemplation of -this outrage. It is enough that I say I am a soldier and -a man of honour and standing, with full right to be in -your city. If I withhold my name now, it is only that -I may see how far report has belied the evil reputation -of your rule, and to what lengths you will go in wronging -an innocent man.”</p> - -<p>“Brave words, brave words,” sneered de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“As for you, monsieur,” said Gerard, turning upon -him. “Your notorious life in Paris prepared me to -find you playing the part I see you filling in Morvaix. -Having wormed your way with lies into your niece’s confidence, -you were ready to betray her in the vile scheme -your own lips confessed to me. Coward, bully, cheat, liar, -and scoundrel, the part of procurer was still open to you -in baseness; and you filled it with a treachery worthy -even of you. Have no fear: you shall have your reward.”</p> - -<p>“’Fore God, this is too much,” cried de Proballe, rushing -forward to strike Gerard in the face. But the Governor -prevented him; he was none too sorry to hear de -Proballe abused.</p> - -<p>“Stay, monsieur,” he said with cold contempt. “You -take the truth badly. If you are minded to strike that -blow, I will have the prisoner set free for your benefit.”</p> - -<p>“I have not deserved this at your hands, my lord,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> -said de Proballe; but the Governor let the protest pass -with a sneer.</p> - -<p>“Your name, prisoner?” he said, sternly.</p> - -<p>“You shall hear it, my lord, never fear; and hearing -it, shall understand all that this means to you.”</p> - -<p>“I hold you for the man you have already declared -yourself. As Gerard de Cobalt you came here; you yourself -gave that name, and in it you won your way into -Malincourt; and as Gerard de Cobalt I will treat you. -I give you two hours to decide whether you will admit -this to be the truth, or compel me to have it dragged -from you.”</p> - -<p>“Stay, my lord Duke,” cried Gerard sternly, as he -was turning to the door; “let me have this in plainer -terms. If I do not admit that I am Gerard de Cobalt, you -propose to put me to the torture to drag such a confession -from me?”</p> - -<p>“I will have the truth one way or the other. Use the -time of grace well and be thankful that I concede it;” -said the Governor with a heavy threatening frown, and -motioned to Pierre to open the cell door.</p> - -<p>“As there is a God, I had not believed that any man, -even you, could be capable of such infamy,” exclaimed -Gerard, as the two went out. The Governor whispered -a word or two of instruction to Pierre who came back -and resumed his work, making much noise over it.</p> - -<p>Presently he crossed to Gerard, holding a set of heavy -irons which he clanked loudly.</p> - -<p>“In his present mood he is a fiend, monsieur. He -ordered me to seek to break your nerve with the full view -of these things, and then to leave you in solitude that -your fears should gather.”</p> - -<p>Gerard smiled.</p> - -<p>“Clank them as much as you will, I heed them not. -My nerves are tough enough to withstand a greater strain -than that.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>“He would keep his word, monsieur. In this mood -he is iron.”</p> - -<p>“Are you in truth an honest man? The breed seems -rare in the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“I hope so—as men go, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“And you heard what passed?—my last question and -his reply.”</p> - -<p>“I could not help it.”</p> - -<p>“I am not this Gerard de Cobalt, and he knows it; -yet you heard him declare that if I would not confess -to this lie he would torture me until I did confess. If -all else slips from your memory, at least remember that; -for the time may come when I may need your testimony. -Now do what you will; I am tired and would sleep;” -and Gerard lay back on the pallet.</p> - -<p>“Not there where you lie, monsieur, safer here;” and -to Gerard’s surprise Pierre made him shift his position.</p> - -<p>Presently Pierre left the cell, and Gerard fell asleep, -to be wakened by a sound at the door. He sat up thinking -the two hours had passed and that the Governor had -returned; then started with an exclamation of delight -and surprise, as he saw Gabrielle enter, dressed in a loose -black cloak.</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle! You!”</p> - -<p>“I have come to set you free,” she said, pausing with -blanched cheeks as her eyes ran round the cell. “What -a fearful place.”</p> - -<p>“You have run this risk for me!” and he smiled.</p> - -<p>“I run no risk; but if risk there were, you must be -free.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I go, mademoiselle? The door must be -locked,” said Pierre.</p> - -<p>“Yes, go, good Pierre. Keep watch and warn us of -any danger.”</p> - -<p>“There is a full half-hour and more, mademoiselle. -But I will watch;” and he went out and locked the door -behind him.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>“How you trust me, Gabrielle,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“We must not speak save in whispers; and there is -much to do and to tell you.” As she spoke she slipped -off the cloak and disclosed a somewhat bulky roll fastened -cunningly about her. Then she took a knife from a -sheath, and with it cut the bonds which bound Gerard’s -arms and legs.</p> - -<p>He tried to rise, but fell back helpless.</p> - -<p>“You are ill!” she cried in quick alarm; and glancing -at the torture implements, which showed gaunt and gruesome -in the slanting rays of the moonlight, she caught -her breath and added—“They have not dared——”</p> - -<p>“No, no. It is but the rush of blood through my -numbed veins. It will pass in a moment.”</p> - -<p>She sighed in relief and then cut loose the roll.</p> - -<p>“A ladder of fine silk rope that will reach to the -courtyard below,” she exclaimed, as she laid it on the -pallet, while Gerard was chafing his arms and legs. He -glanced at the window bars. “They can be moved,” -she added, catching the look; and gave him rapidly a -description of the place.</p> - -<p>“Another devil’s trick, indeed,” he muttered, with a -frown; and watched her while she sought for the spring -to release the bars. Before she found it he had regained -the use of legs and arms, and went to her help.</p> - -<p>“I have it,” she said at length, and pressed upon it -with all her strength while he tugged at the bars. Success -soon crowned their efforts, and then a place was -found where the grappling hooks of the ladder could be -fastened.</p> - -<p>“Now the way is clear,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Not yet. There is a guard below. But we have done -our part so far. Your friend, whom you call Pascal, -will be here soon—should be here now indeed, to surprise -the man and clear the path for you below. He will come -in by the breach made for the repair of the walls, and he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span> -has friends posted there. Look if you can see anything -of him. Cautiously, or the moonlight on your face may -betray you.”</p> - -<p>Gerard peeped from the casement.</p> - -<p>“There is no sign of Pascal. There is a guard below; -he is leaning on his musket just underneath this spot. -Listen!”</p> - -<p>Listening almost breathlessly, the sounds from below -came up. They heard the soldier stamping his feet as -if chilled with the night air; then his musket was -grounded; and a moment later the stillness was broken -as he began to sing in a sweet tenor voice the ballad -which Lucette was fond of carolling—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“There was a maiden in Arcady</div> -<div class="verse">Whose lover both feal and true,</div> -<div class="verse">Came riding forth from the sullen north</div> -<div class="verse">Her sweet white hand to woo.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>As the simple words were borne to their ears they -both smiled.</p> - -<p>“Apt words,” whispered Gerard gently, as he captured -Gabrielle’s hand and carried it to his lips.</p> - -<p>“How shall I thank you, Gabrielle?”</p> - -<p>“You are not yet free, monsieur,” she answered, withdrawing -her hand.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur?” he whispered. “Was it not you who -once reproved me for calling you mademoiselle?”</p> - -<p>“If I think of you as Gerard, yet do I not know how -to call you now.”</p> - -<p>“I am Gerard, in truth.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am so glad,” and she sighed.</p> - -<p>“And sigh for gladness?”</p> - -<p>“Sigh partly for gladness—that is a woman’s way, -Gerard; yet not all for gladness, but partly in fear lest -even now this plan of ours should in some way miscarry. -Your Pascal lingers, and yet I urged him so. -Pray look again.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>“He will come surely. Never yet has he failed me. -But if he were prevented, it would be no grave matter.”</p> - -<p>“No grave matter?” she repeated anxiously.</p> - -<p>“I have learnt all and more than all I came to learn, -and there is no longer need for concealment. Parlous -as my plight seems, yet I am not in such peril as you -deem, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“I do not understand. What came you to learn?”</p> - -<p>“You do not ask me who I am.”</p> - -<p>“You will tell me in your own time, I know.”</p> - -<p>“What a trusting heart is yours, Gabrielle! What -proof you have given me of your love! Yet I know how -I must have tried you. Have you not even guessed why -I came?”</p> - -<p>“I have tried, but failed hopelessly,” she said with a -smile. “For me it is enough that you did come.”</p> - -<p>“You sent certain messages to the Duke of Bourbon. -Have you not wondered that no answer came?”</p> - -<p>“Are you from great Bourbon? And this Pascal? -And the monk who is a prisoner? And the others of -whom Pascal spoke? You are to go to Malincourt, -where he has gathered a force of men—monks they were, -Lucette told me. Is this all a part of it?”</p> - -<p>“All,” he replied. “We came to gather for ourselves -the truth as to this Tiger’s doings.”</p> - -<p>“And you are the leader, then. Oh——” she paused -and looked in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“I am Bourbon’s son.”</p> - -<p>At this she fell back from him in great concern.</p> - -<p>“My lord——”</p> - -<p>“Nay, Gerard to you, Gabrielle, my dearest; always -Gerard to you, as you will always be Gabrielle to me. -My Gabrielle;” and he stretched out his arms and folded -them about her.</p> - -<p>“I am frightened, my lord,” she cried, burying her -face on his shoulder.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>“My lord cannot hear that, Gabrielle,” he whispered -tenderly.</p> - -<p>“Gerard,” she murmured, and lifted her face and -gazed upon him with eyes of love.</p> - -<p>“Thus then I break my pledge. I said I would not -seek a betrothal kiss till I came for it having freed -Morvaix from the claws of its Tiger; but—” and stooping -he kissed her on the lips. “My Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“My Gerard, my knight, my love,” she whispered, -and of herself with love’s sweet rapturous abandonment -sought his lips in return.</p> - -<p>They stood thus in silent happiness too deep for words, -when the stillness without was broken.</p> - -<p>“Who goes there?” It was the voice of the guard.</p> - -<p>“Pascal has come,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“And we shall have to part. I could almost grudge -his coming. But look down, Gerard, and see what -passes.”</p> - -<p>“There are several soldiers,” he reported, his head at -the casement. “Ah, it is a ruse. Good Pascal.”</p> - -<p>The sound of a moment’s struggle came up; a weapon -fell with a clang upon the courtyard stones; the press -of heavy footsteps; and then again silence.</p> - -<p>“Done without bloodshed,” said Gerard; “and well -done, Pascal. He sees me and motions. Give me the -rope, dearest;” and he flung it out far into the night.</p> - -<p>“Go, Gerard, go,” cried Gabrielle, excitedly.</p> - -<p>“And you, Gabrielle? Where do you go?”</p> - -<p>“Back to the Duchess. She has planned this and is -our staunch friend. To-morrow I shall return to -Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“I would rather you went with me. You would be -safe at Malincourt. This rope would bear us.”</p> - -<p>“I shall be safe with my friend. Go, Gerard, for the -love of God, go. Every moment is precious.”</p> - -<p>“I do not like to leave you.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>“No harm can touch me with her.”</p> - -<p>“But first I must know that you are safely out from -this cell. Call Pierre. I cannot leave you here. The -rack would be a gentler punishment than the suspense -till I knew you were safe.”</p> - -<p>“I will go then.”</p> - -<p>“God keep you, dearest, till we meet at Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>He threw his arms round her and they kissed again; -and then both started back in alarm.</p> - -<p>Some one tried the door of the cell, and a voice harsh -and stern called loudly—</p> - -<p>“Pierre, Pierre, come here at once and open the door.”</p> - -<p>“God have mercy upon us both, it is the Duke’s -voice,” whispered Gabrielle, clinging to Gerard. Then -with intense agitation in her voice she added—“Fly, -Gerard, if you love me; fly, or it will be too late.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, it is too late. I cannot leave you now,” he -answered, in a tone of calm strength.</p> - -<p>“Then let us go together.”</p> - -<p>“That also were useless. He would be in before ever -we could reach the courtyard; and he would either cut -the rope and we should go to our death, or summon his -soldiers and we should be caught. I will await him here.”</p> - -<p>The Governor’s voice was heard again then, oathing -and cursing at Pierre’s delay and calling to him in -strident tones to hasten.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIX<br /> - - -<small>A LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT was indeed a desperate situation in which Gerard -and Gabrielle found themselves, and for a few -moments Gabrielle could do no more than cling to -her lover and stare at the door, overcome by terror. -Then, shaking off her lethargy, she once more begged -him in an impassioned whisper to fly.</p> - -<p>“You must not ask it, Gabrielle; nor will he dare to -harm either of us when I tell him I am Bourbon’s son.”</p> - -<p>“He will; he will, I know him and you do not,” she -urged strenuously. “Within the last few hours he -swore to have your life, if I would not consent to marry -him. If he finds us together he will have you slain -before my eyes. For the love of God, fly while there -is yet time.”</p> - -<p>“Will you risk it with me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, anything; anything rather than that he -find you here,” she answered desperately.</p> - -<p>At this moment they heard the key fitted into the lock -and Pierre’s voice as he replied to the Governor’s reproaches. -But before the key could be turned, Gerard -dragged the pallet to the door and wedging it against -an angle of the wall, improvised a barrier which jammed -the door fast.</p> - -<p>The key was turned and those outside strained to -thrust the door back; and Pierre’s deep voice was heard -declaring that the lock was wedged.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>“Come, Gabrielle, quick.” Gerard drew her to the -window and, getting out, stood upon the ladder and -held his arms waiting in a fever of impatience for her -to follow. She went to the window and looked out, but -with a gasp of fear shrank back, appalled by the far -descent, and shuddered.</p> - -<p>“Heaven help me, Gerard, I dare not,” she cried. Her -nerve failed at the look of yawning darkness, and when -at the same moment a great knocking sounded against -the cell door, she fell on her knees on the floor and -buried her face in her hands.</p> - -<p>“Come, Gabrielle, courage,” said Gerard. “Trust -yourself to me and all will be well.”</p> - -<p>“I cannot, I cannot, I dare not. I cannot die that way. -I am a coward, Gerard. But do you go! Oh go, if -you love me.”</p> - -<p>“That I will not,” he answered and climbed back into -the cell, to the dismay of Pascal and his companions who -were watching below.</p> - -<p>Then the clamour at the door ceased.</p> - -<p>“What does it mean, Pierre?” asked the Governor.</p> - -<p>“The lock has jammed, my lord,” was the reply. “I -have known it so once or twice before and reported it. -With your lordship’s leave I can get another key that -may open it.”</p> - -<p>“Quick then, man, quick. And have up some men -with bars to break the lock in lest you fail.”</p> - -<p>“His entrance will be your sentence of death, Gerard,” -whispered Gabrielle. “When roused he is too recklessly -desperate in his fury to let aught stand in his way.”</p> - -<p>“He will not dare to harm me, Gabrielle,” he answered -calmly.</p> - -<p>“When he finds that I have come to rescue you, he -will kill you. He would do it were it the King of France -himself who stood in his way.”</p> - -<p>They heard the Governor muttering to himself as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span> -fumbled at the lock impatiently while awaiting Pierre’s -return; and then a plan leapt into Gerard’s thoughts.</p> - -<p>“We will see,” he said. “Quick, Gabrielle! Rouse -yourself, my dearest. I have a plan that will yet save -us both. Where is the knife you brought? He shall -come in.”</p> - -<p>“What would you do, Gerard?” she whispered, in a -voice of awe, rising and peering into his face in the -dim light.</p> - -<p>“Not murder; but I have a plan. Stand over there in -the shadow and be ready with the knife when I call to -you. Give me your cloak. Quick, now, for the love of -God. Seconds are priceless.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle slipped off the cloak and handed it to him, -and stood back where he had directed.</p> - -<p>“When I have moved the pallet stand as still as death, -till I call to you.”</p> - -<p>Making as little noise as possible he wrenched the -pallet from the door and placed it ready for use again, -and holding the cloak in readiness took his stand behind -the door.</p> - -<p>As he did so he heard Pierre in the distance.</p> - -<p>The Governor tried the door again then and, finding -it yield, pushed it open and entered the cell, all unsuspicious -of any danger.</p> - -<p>In a moment Gerard threw a cloak over his head and, -smothering his cry of alarm in the folds of the cloak, -dashed him violently to the ground. Then leaving his -prisoner for a moment he thrust the bed once more -against the door just in time to prevent those outside -from entering, or indeed seeing what had occurred.</p> - -<p>The Governor finding himself free, however, began -to shout for help, when Gerard sprang upon him again, -gripped him by the throat, and clapped a hand roughly -over his mouth.</p> - -<p>The Governor was a powerful man, and he fought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span> -with frantic efforts to free himself from Gerard’s grip. -A desperate struggle in the darkness followed—Gerard -bent on preventing a single cry from escaping his adversary’s -lips, and the Duke writhing and straining to cast -off the sinewy hands which clutched his throat and -mouth, threatening to suffocate him.</p> - -<p>The silence, broken only by the hard breathing of -Gerard and the convulsive movements of the pair as they -were locked in the deadly embrace, added to the weird -terror of the scene.</p> - -<p>“The knife,” whispered Gerard at length, as he felt -the strength of his enemy beginning to give out; and -Gabrielle, whose courage had now returned, crept across -the cell as near to him as she dared, and held it out. -Waiting his opportunity he released the grip on his -opponent’s throat, and taking the knife held it over the -weakening man’s heart.</p> - -<p>“My lord, my lord!” called Pierre, puzzled at not -finding the Governor at the door. “Where are you?”</p> - -<p>Then the other men whom Pierre had summoned came -up and spoke to him.</p> - -<p>Tearing the cloak from the Duke’s face, Gerard let -him see the gleam of the knife in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>“My lord Duke, a single sound from your lips other -than I direct, and as I am a man, the blade goes straight -home to your heart.”</p> - -<p>To further the threat he pressed the dagger until the -sharp point entered the flesh; and withdrawing it, he -dragged him to his feet and held him.</p> - -<p>At Gerard’s fierce tone and menacing gesture, and still -more at the slight wound inflicted, the Governor’s -courage gave, and he stood trembling in deadly fear for -his life.</p> - -<p>At that moment the clamour began again at the door.</p> - -<p>“You are in my power; but I do not seek your life -unless you force me by treachery,” breathed Gerard into -his ear.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>“What do you want?” The harsh strident voice was -feeble and husky as the question came from trembling -lips.</p> - -<p>“Send those men away, all of them. Say all is well, -and bid them cease their efforts.”</p> - -<p>Realising his helplessness and too appalled by his -imminent peril to attempt treachery, he turned toward -the door and called to Pierre by name. But his quavering -voice was drowned by the din and clatter those -outside were making.</p> - -<p>“Louder, louder,” whispered Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Pierre, Pierre,” called the Governor; but the call -was still unheard, and with the hilt of the knife Gerard -knocked angrily at the door.</p> - -<p>The clamour ceased and all was still as the grave.</p> - -<p>“Are you there, my lord?” asked Pierre.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Pierre. Cease your efforts.”</p> - -<p>“Is that really you, my lord?”</p> - -<p>“Louder, and in your natural tone, or—” threatened -Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Who should it be, fellow? Send those men away, I -say,” cried the Governor with an effort.</p> - -<p>“It is the Governor. You are to go away,” they heard -Pierre say to the others; and their footsteps were heard -as they went, growing fainter until the distance swallowed -them.</p> - -<p>“Tell him to go too, but to leave the keys in the door,” -prompted Gerard next.</p> - -<p>“Are you there, Pierre?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“I told you all to go away. Leave the keys.”</p> - -<p>“You have saved your life,” said Gerard, releasing -his hold; and the Governor fell prone on the prisoner’s -bed, as Gerard gave a deep-drawn sigh of relief. The -first part of the struggle was over and had ended in -victory.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>But there was yet much to do, and what course to -take was a hard problem to solve.</p> - -<p>Could Gabrielle have ventured to trust herself with -him on the rope, the way would have been easy enough; -but her nerve had so failed her that he feared to ask her -again.</p> - -<p>There was nothing for it, therefore, but to put a bold -face on things and to find their way out together as -best they could. Leave her he would not, come what -might. After what had occurred, nothing should induce -him to let her stay within reach of the mad fiend this -Governor would be when once he was liberated from -the cell.</p> - -<p>He had prevented her being seen, it was true; but the -Governor would set such inquiries on foot that her presence -in that part of the Castle would be surely discovered; -and what would follow the discovery no one could -attempt to say.</p> - -<p>Yet the time was pressing with cruel insistence. Any -minute might bring de Proballe upon the scene with -the men who were to apply the torture. And under the -spur of this thought, Gerard made his plan.</p> - -<p>With a threat to his prisoner to lie still on pain of -death, he gave Gabrielle her cloak with a sign to put it -on, and tearing off his coat, he whispered to her to take -it, find Pierre, get Dubois liberated, and tell him to give -her his monk’s garb.</p> - -<p>“Lose not a second,” he whispered earnestly. “It -may mean our lives.”</p> - -<p>He opened the cell door, saw her speed away on her -errand, and turned to finish his preparations.</p> - -<p>Hauling in the rope ladder, lest it should be seen and -rouse suspicions, he cut the ropes, and having bound the -Governor securely hand and foot, improvised a gag with -part of the bedclothes.</p> - -<p>He had just finished his task, working with desperate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> -haste, when he heard a heavy footstep in the corridor. -Fearing it might be de Proballe, he seized the knife and -stood in readiness behind the door.</p> - -<p>With intense relief he saw Pierre’s bearded face. In -silence Gerard pointed to where the Governor, thus -bound and gagged, lay in a corner of the cell, and then -donned the monk’s gabardine which Pierre had brought. -In this guise he left the cell, locking the door and taking -the key with him, and followed Pierre along the gloomy -corridor.</p> - -<p>“They are close here, monsieur, watching,” whispered -Pierre; and a moment later they came upon Dubois and -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>A hurried consultation followed as to the least hazardous -means of getting out of the Castle. Gabrielle -was for going to the apartments of the Duchess; but -Gerard, all unwilling that she should remain a minute -longer than was necessary, would not consent.</p> - -<p>“No, we must get you beyond this Tiger’s reach, at -any hazard. What say you, Dubois?”</p> - -<p>But Dubois having heard the Governor was a prisoner, -had another and much bolder scheme.</p> - -<p>“I am with mademoiselle, so far as staying here,” he -said. “I would take the bold line, my lord. Keep the -Governor a prisoner; let me collect our men together, -declare yourself openly, and by a bold stroke seize the -Castle itself in the name of your father. At best we -should have half the garrison on our side; and at worst -should only have to hold this part of the Castle for some -two days. With our hundred men we could maintain it -against half an army, especially with the army disorganized -and leaderless. Mademoiselle could remain with -the Duchess in perfect safety, because the Governor -would be in our hands.”</p> - -<p>“It is like you, Dubois, and might succeed; but I see -a thousand difficulties.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>“There are difficulties every way; but as I told you -to-day, I know the disaffection among the men here; and -the difficulties stoutly faced would yield.”</p> - -<p>Gerard thought earnestly a moment and then shook -his head.</p> - -<p>“The hazard is too great. If we can but once reach -the courtyard, Pascal is there with a force enough to -get us through the breach in the wall I noticed to-day; -and we can then leave the city. Can you guide us by a -safe way to the courtyard, Pierre?”</p> - -<p>“It may be done, my lord; but ’tis now close on the -hour for the change of guard.”</p> - -<p>“Then I decide for that,” broke in Gerard. “Lead the -way.”</p> - -<p>“It is full of risks, my lord. There is an iron door -on every landing, and a sentry posted at each.”</p> - -<p>“Go you on ahead then; and if any difficulty is made -about our passing, leave it to us to force the way.”</p> - -<p>They started at once—Pierre some little distance in -front, Dubois next, and Gerard with Gabrielle following. -The stairway, narrow and pitch dark, wound down the -western tower of the prison fortress; and the light from -the lantern which Pierre carried scarcely reached those -above.</p> - -<p>Not a word further was spoken, and each of the three -trod as lightly as the broken uneven stairs would allow.</p> - -<p>Soon they saw Pierre’s light stop and heard some one -speak to him.</p> - -<p>“Who goes? Is that you, Pierre?”</p> - -<p>“Who else, Armand?” was the gruff reply. Then a -faint chink of something falling on the stone and an exclamation -from Pierre. “Diable! I’ve dropped my key. -Lend me your eyes, Armand.”</p> - -<p>A musket was set down; and a moment later the sound -of a heavy blow and a low groan, at which Gabrielle -caught her breath and shuddered.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>“Quick, my lord,” called Pierre; and running down -they found him bending over the unconscious form of the -sentry. “There was no other way,” he said. “He -would have fired his musket and roused every guard in -the Castle had he caught sight of you.”</p> - -<p>“’Twas cleverly done,” said Dubois. “Make sure -of him;” and he picked up the soldier’s musket, glad to -get a weapon so easily.</p> - -<p>“Not cleverly; treacherously, monsieur,” replied -Pierre regretfully; “but there was nothing else for it;” -and he opened the iron door for them to pass.</p> - -<p>“You will have to leave with us now, Pierre,” said -Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Pray Heaven we are as lucky at the next gate,” he -answered, and again went on ahead.</p> - -<p>Fortune was with them at the next gate. The sentry -was asleep, and Pierre opened the gate and let them -through.</p> - -<p>“Naught but luck put the sot Crateau on guard to-night -of all nights,” he said. “If the Governor hears -of it his head will ache no more with liquor. There is -but one more gate, my lord, and there we may have -trouble; but once passed, a few steps only remain till -we reach the courtyard.”</p> - -<p>They continued the descent as rapidly as practicable -until Pierre stopped them.</p> - -<p>“I think you had better come on with me, monsieur,” -he said to Dubois; “and leave my lord and mademoiselle -to follow when we have seen the way is clear.”</p> - -<p>The two went down together, and Gerard felt in -the darkness for Gabrielle’s hand.</p> - -<p>“You are not frightened, Gabrielle?” he whispered.</p> - -<p>“I am with you,” she answered, pressing to his side.</p> - -<p>“You are trembling, sweetheart.”</p> - -<p>“It is for you, dearest. If we were but free of this -dreadful place!”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>“Courage, dear one; all will come right.”</p> - -<p>“Pray God it may,” she said fervently. “What peril -I have caused you.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, it is I who have brought you to this pass. But -you may trust Dubois to carry us through.”</p> - -<p>“It is you I trust, Gerard. Ah! something is happening!”</p> - -<p>Pierre was right in anticipating trouble. As they -neared the gate they heard the voices of several men.</p> - -<p>“Assembling for the change of guard, monsieur,” he -whispered to Dubois. “They will let me pass, and I -shall say you are one of the new officers who joined the -Castle force recently.”</p> - -<p>“I am one, Pierre.”</p> - -<p>“I thought as much,” was the pithy reply. “Some of -your men may be amongst them. But I know not what -to do.”</p> - -<p>“Put a bold face on it and leave it to me,” said Dubois; -and the next moment they found themselves among half -a dozen men clustered by the gate. “It is a fine prison, -friend Pierre, but I don’t envy you your warding,” said -Dubois aloud, in an easy tone, as he reached the bottom. -“And these men, who are they—the guard?”</p> - -<p>At the sound of his voice the soldiers looked round, and -two of them drew themselves up instantly and saluted. -With intense satisfaction Dubois recognized them as his -own men, returned the salute, and addressed them.</p> - -<p>“On guard, Vauchamp, and you, Dentelle, learning -your new duties? Good. Open the gate, Pierre.”</p> - -<p>“Who is this, Pierre?” demanded the sergeant in -command.</p> - -<p>“What, don’t you know your own officers, Vauban?” -returned Pierre, in a surly tone. “Out of the way and -let me obey my orders.”</p> - -<p>“Not so fast, surly-tongue,” growled the man angrily. -“No one passes here.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>“Surly-tongue yourself, you uncivil beast,” returned -Pierre, and as if with sudden passion, he dealt him a -blow on the head which sent him reeling to one side, and -thrust the key in the lock.</p> - -<p>Recovering his surprise and furious at the blow, the -man sprang at Pierre to be met with the butt end of -Dubois’ musket full in the face.</p> - -<p>“Back, you mutinous dog,” cried Dubois, in a voice -of command, as the man fell stunned and bleeding. “Is -this the way you Castle men treat your officers? You -know better at least,” he said to his own men. “See that -there’s no more of this mutiny. Bring down the visitors, -Pierre.”</p> - -<p>But there was no need to fetch them, for Gerard at -the first sound of trouble had hurried down with -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>The sergeant’s men, taken by surprise stood in doubt -what to do; but as two of their new comrades had -recognized Dubois for an officer and sided with him, and -being as they saw outnumbered, they offered no resistance, -and the little party were through the gate, and -the gate itself was locked before their surprise had passed.</p> - -<p>The stairway now was broader and led straight to the -open doorway, which let out upon the courtyard; and -they were hurrying down, Gerard and Gabrielle leading, -when the figures of two men showed in the doorway, and -Gabrielle clutched Gerard’s arm in sudden fear.</p> - -<p>“De Proballe,” she whispered, shrinking against the -wall.</p> - -<p>At the same moment there came the sound of shots and -angry voices in the courtyard, and all the evidences of -a fierce battle.</p> - -<p>“It is the guard changing, my lord,” said Pierre. -“They have discovered something wrong.”</p> - -<p>“They have run up against Pascal’s force,” he replied. -“Dubois, we must clear that doorway; or we shall be -caught like rats in a hole.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>“I’ll do it,” answered Dubois sternly, gripping his -weapon.</p> - -<p>“Stay, monsieur, by your leave. I have a thought,” -urged Pierre; and without waiting to explain what it -was he ran on down the stairway to de Proballe.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XX<br /> - - -<small>A DASH FOR THE WALLS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DUBOIS looked after Pierre with some misgivings -as he saw him accost de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“I suppose he is to be trusted,” he muttered.</p> - -<p>“Hasn’t he given proof of it?” replied Gerard.</p> - -<p>“I would trust him with my life,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“And I would trust few men of Morvaix with anything,” -returned Dubois. “I am minded to go and hear -for myself. While that din rages outside I could get up -unheard and would soon have the way clear.”</p> - -<p>But there was no need for suspicion of Pierre. He -went up to de Proballe and addressed him openly.</p> - -<p>“By your leave, my lord, I was seeking you. The -Governor sent me to find you for the work in the turret -cell.”</p> - -<p>“Where is he?” asked de Proballe.</p> - -<p>“I left him with the prisoner, my lord, and he ordered -me, if I should find you, to ask you to hasten to him -at once by way of the upper gallery. Jean of the Mask -has gone thither and I am in search now of the surgeon.”</p> - -<p>“Then the prisoner will be racked?” asked de Proballe, -in a tone of satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“Rack for the one, my lord, and the weights for the -priest,” answered Pierre, so glibly and readily that de -Proballe never thought he was lying. “The Governor -is full of impatience, my lord,” he added; and de Proballe -hurried away, making an excuse to his companion.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>“What is the trouble, captain?” asked Pierre.</p> - -<p>“A quarrel with some of the new soldiers which will -end in work for you, I fancy, Pierre.”</p> - -<p>“It seems serious, captain; and I’ve work enough with -my last birds not to need more. They are to be questioned -to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Who are they, Pierre?” asked the officer eagerly.</p> - -<p>“If you will walk with me I’ll tell you. I am seeking -the surgeon.”</p> - -<p>He led the officer away with this pretext, and the doorway -being thus cleared, Gerard and the others ran down -into the courtyard.</p> - -<p>“Which way now?” asked Dubois.</p> - -<p>“I can find the road,” said Gerard. “But where is -Pierre? We cannot leave him after what he has done.”</p> - -<p>“If we wait for him we shall have the place swarming -with men,” answered Dubois.</p> - -<p>And this seemed true enough indeed. Attracted by -the news of the fighting, soldiers were beginning to pour -out of the doorways into the courtyard, laughing and -oathing as they ran in the direction of the now receding -sounds of conflict; and Gerard saw to his disquiet that -the stream was setting in the direction of that part of -the walls through which he hoped to make his escape.</p> - -<p>“Pascal has had to retreat,” he said. “But we must -go. Pierre or no Pierre,” and giving a last glance for the -absent gaoler he set off at a brisk pace across the courtyard.</p> - -<p>No one seemed to heed them and they were turning -a corner of the building when Pierre came running after -them.</p> - -<p>“This way, my lord; not a moment must be lost,” he -said, breathing hard. “I had to get rid of the captain -yonder and to find you swords. There may be some -fighting to be done.”</p> - -<p>They raced along for a short distance at full speed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> -Pierre guiding them through deserted ways until at a -turn of the walls they came in full view of the fighting, -when Pierre stopped abruptly.</p> - -<p>“We are too late,” he said hurriedly. “It would be -madness to attempt it. See, they are already close to the -breach.”</p> - -<p>He was right, as Gerard recognized at a glance.</p> - -<p>“What can we do?” he asked. “Is there another -spot by which we can get out?”</p> - -<p>“I know of none, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“How say you, Dubois? Dare we risk it?”</p> - -<p>“With mademoiselle it is hopeless,” he replied.</p> - -<p>“Then leave me, Gerard. You can get through alone, -and I can find my way safely either to the Duchess or out -through the main gateway. No one will stop me.”</p> - -<p>“You wrong me in that thought, mademoiselle,” said -Dubois hastily and earnestly. “God forbid that I should -think of leaving you.”</p> - -<p>“We would not dream of it,” declared Gerard. “We -must wait where we are until matters have quieted down, -and then go.”</p> - -<p>“There is an old guard-house close by, my lord, where -we can wait unseen,” said Pierre. “Unused now, save -as a storehouse for the workmen.”</p> - -<p>“I see the plan of the fight,” said Dubois. “It is -Pascal, right enough. See, he is drawing off his men -in good order. He knows his work when put to it, -gabble-tongue though he be.”</p> - -<p>“We may be spied out and suspected, my lord,” said -Pierre. “Any minute may find the escape known now,” -and he told how he had got rid of de Proballe. “If the -Governor be found in your cell, hell will soon be loose in -the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“Come, Dubois, to cover,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Good, good,” cried Dubois, the soldier in him rejoicing; -“they are through the walls to a man,” and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span> -reluctantly he obeyed Gerard’s injunction and followed -him to the shelter.</p> - -<p>“You can watch matters from here, monsieur,” said -Pierre, as they entered the place. “The window up -there commands a view of that part of the battlements.”</p> - -<p>In a moment Dubois had clambered up, and the others -waited anxiously to hear his report.</p> - -<p>“All seems well,” he said, after a minute’s observation. -“Pascal must have made off. The Castle men are not -following. They are clustered round the place like bees, -but hesitate to follow for some reason. Pascal must have -had more men posted there. That’s it. Some of the -men are straggling back. Yes—yes. Good! What’s -that?” he broke off suddenly as guns were fired from -the Castle, followed by a trumpet sounding the assembly.</p> - -<p>“The escape is known,” said Pierre. “Now, Heaven -help us all.”</p> - -<p>“The men are rushing back in a body,” reported -Dubois.</p> - -<p>“We must take the risk and go,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Let me go first and see the way is clear,” replied -Dubois, jumping down and darting into the night.</p> - -<p>“Cautiously,” whispered Gerard.</p> - -<p>As they left the old guard-house they saw the soldiers -running back to the Castle in hot haste to obey the call -and learn the news; and in a minute the place where -they had swarmed in such numbers was deserted except -for sentries.</p> - -<p>“We must take our chance,” said Dubois, staying for -the others. “Come on with me, Pierre;” and the two -ran forward, followed at a few paces distance by Gerard -and Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>The Castle itself was now the scene of great commotion. -Lights were flashing everywhere, men hurrying -in all directions, trumpets sounding, and guns booming -at intervals. Everything showed that events of deep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -import had occurred and preparations on a great scale -were in progress.</p> - -<p>Dubois, with Pierre at his heels, crept up the steps -and with the utmost coolness made his observations and -laid his plan. Four men were standing together close to -the breach talking eagerly.</p> - -<p>“There are but four men,” he whispered to Gerard; -“and we have the advantage of a surprise. We had -best attack before any more come up.”</p> - -<p>Gerard nodded his assent, and dashing up the three -sprang forward and attacked the soldiers. Two of them -went down before Gerard and Dubois, and the others -broke and ran for the Castle with shouts to raise an alarm -as they sped.</p> - -<p>But the way was won, and before the men could reach -their comrades to tell their news the four were safely out -and speeding away through the moonlight toward the -city.</p> - -<p>The distance was short, fortunately; but short as it -was, Dubois, knowing that pursuit would soon be hot -on their heels, cast many an anxious look behind him -at the Castle.</p> - -<p>“Would to Heaven we could have met with Pascal,” -he muttered.</p> - -<p>“He has gone to Malincourt,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Should we not follow him? The pursuit will spread -out like a fan and every inch of the ground will be -scoured.”</p> - -<p>“We could not reach Malincourt, I fear,” was Gerard’s -verdict, and then Gabrielle was ready with a suggestion.</p> - -<p>“I can find shelter and help in a hundred houses while -we make our plans. In the city I am sure of my people.”</p> - -<p>“Our plans should not take long to form,” answered -Gerard. “To leave the city by the gates is impossible, -of course, and we need but a guide who will lead us to -some spot by which we can get out. Once outside we -can trust to ourselves to find the road to Cambrai.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>“To Cambrai?” asked Gabrielle. “Why to Cambrai?”</p> - -<p>“Because at Cambrai lies a Bourbon force strong -enough to break the Governor’s power.”</p> - -<p>“Would we were safely housed in Malincourt to await -him,” said Dubois.</p> - -<p>“Better were we safely out of Morvaix altogether,” -replied Gerard.</p> - -<p>Under Gabrielle’s guidance they hurried through the -streets, in which the citizens were beginning to assemble, -attracted by the Castle guns. Groups of townsfolk stood -at the corners and in the roadways discussing the meaning -of the unusual disturbance in more or less eager -tones and with many a sign of fear lest it boded ill to -the city and themselves.</p> - -<p>Now and again a soldier or two, who had been loitering -late in their revels in the city, would dash past them -scurrying Castlewards. Everywhere excitement and uneasiness -prevailed.</p> - -<p>Many curious glances were cast after the four as they -hurried on their way, and once or twice, when Pierre -chanced to be recognized, a question would be flung after -him as to the meaning of the trouble at the Castle. But -no one sought to stay them, and a good distance had -been safely put between them and the Castle when -Gabrielle stopped before a long, low-gabled house in a -dark by-street.</p> - -<p>“I can get the guide we need here,” she said. She -knocked at the door and entered, to return in a couple -of minutes.</p> - -<p>“There is bad news, I fear,” she said. “You remember -the man who was slain in the market place, Babillon -the smith. This is the house of his brother; he is -entirely to be trusted. He knows every inch of the city -walls and is often passing in and out by secret ways -when the gates are shut. He says that something has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> -occurred which has put the guard on the alert, and that -to-night it is scarcely possible to pass.”</p> - -<p>“Let me question him,” said Gerard, and they went -in together.</p> - -<p>“Greeting, good friar,” said Babillon, a strong, lithe, -hard-faced, keen-eyed man, saluting Gerard respectfully.</p> - -<p>“I am no monk, my good fellow,” said Gerard, “but -a soldier, and together with mademoiselle here need your -help to get from the city. What is this you say has -occurred?”</p> - -<p>“A command was sent by my lord the Governor, to-day, -monsieur, that the gates were to be closed and no one -permitted to leave without a license from himself. Soon -after that I was at the south gate and having been stopped -was hanging round in curiosity, when a courier rode up -and was stopped likewise. A monk, whom I recognized, -was with him, and seeing both were much disconcerted, -I followed them and offered my services.”</p> - -<p>“Can you describe either?” asked Gerard quickly.</p> - -<p>“The monk was tall, erect, spare of figure, with a blue -eye sharp to read your thoughts, quick of tongue, and -customed to command, as I found afterwards. A noble, -monsieur, and yet of winning condescension and with -a laugh where many another would have a curse.”</p> - -<p>“It might be Pascal,” said Gerard to Gabrielle. “What -next, Babillon? You say you recognized him?”</p> - -<p>“I had seen him before, my lord. It was he who -stood between you and the soldiers when my brother was -killed, mademoiselle. He told me that if I could get him -two men in secret from the city he would reward me -well; and when I showed him it could be done, he carried -me with him and left me in charge of some monks—at -least they were dressed as monks, monsieur, though my -ears being trained to catch sounds readily, I heard more -muttered oaths among them than one looks to hear from -men of holy life. I served him, monsieur, and he paid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -me well; but ’twas this work which has caused the city -to be shut like a bear’s cage with the door barred.”</p> - -<p>“You got them away then?”</p> - -<p>“Two separately while the light lasted and two together -after nightfall, but the last piece was hazardous. They -were seen, and I escaped capture by no more than a hair’s -breadth. And since then at every doubtful point where -such a thing could be attempted soldiers have been -posted.”</p> - -<p>“This is both good and ill news you give, friend. You -have done that which will earn you a higher reward than -at present I can name. But now, can you increase my -gratitude, and get us past these guards? Think. It is -Pascal, of course,” he said to Gabrielle, while Babillon -stood thinking. “He has trebled the messengers to Cambrai. -Now, Babillon, how say you?”</p> - -<p>“There is the river,” he answered, shaking his head -doubtfully. “Men might do it, but——” he glanced -toward Gabrielle and shook his head again.</p> - -<p>“Tell me,” said Gerard quickly.</p> - -<p>“It runs for some three hundred yards by the walls -between the north and east gates: the walls are high -there and no one would look for an attempt at such a -spot; and so the guards are but sparsely set. I have -done it, but I have swum the stream. I can scale the -walls and could plant a rope ladder for you all—but there -is the stream,” and once more he shook his head as he -glanced toward Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“You can go that way, Gerard,” she said instantly. -“I can lie hid if need be——”</p> - -<p>“We shall not part,” he answered. “Could we not get -a boat or even some planks?” he asked Babillon.</p> - -<p>“It would be full of hazard, monsieur. With such a -watch set as there is to-night we should almost surely -be seen before we had crossed. They would fire upon -us and, even if we escaped their shots, they would send<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span> -round a party from the eastern gate to cut us off. But -if you wish it, I am willing.”</p> - -<p>“When the disease calls for it, only a coward shrinks -from the knife,” said Gerard. “We must make the -attempt and leave the issue to Heaven.”</p> - -<p>“You had best wait here, monsieur, while I make such -preparations as I can. I may be away some time,” said -Babillon, and he hastily outlined his plan.</p> - -<p>Dubois and Pierre were brought into the house and -Babillon left. Gerard explained the nature of the desperate -position to Dubois, and the three men discussed -it anxiously with many secret misgivings, while Gabrielle -went to Babillon’s wife, Gerard urging her to seek rest.</p> - -<p>“I doubt we should do better to seek refuge at Malincourt,” -was Dubois’ judgment. “This is a scheme for -men, and not for a dainty girl like Mademoiselle de -Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“We can but try it,” was Gerard’s reply.</p> - -<p>Babillon was absent so long that all began to grow -uneasy; but when he came he explained that he had had -much to do, and he brought less cheerless news.</p> - -<p>“I have been to the spot, monsieur, and found, as I -hoped, that it is scarcely watched at all. I have got help, -too. A man on whom I can rely as on myself, a fisherman, -has his boat on the other bank of the river some distance -from the spot, and he will help us. He scaled the -wall while I was by and swam the river without being -seen, and he will have his boat moored ready for us -right under the place where we shall leave. I hope now -that we shall win the way out.”</p> - -<p>“Are there many soldiers abroad?” asked Dubois.</p> - -<p>“Yes, monsieur, search parties, I learnt, hunting for -some of your prisoners, friend Pierre, who have escaped -from the Castle. But they will not trouble us,” answered -Babillon. “I can lead you by ways they will never suspect. -Have no fear on that score.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>Gabrielle was roused, and after some words of caution -from their guide they set out, Babillon leading them -through narrow devious streets and alleys where they met -no one.</p> - -<p>“We are close to the spot now,” he said at length. -“Remain here in the shadow and I will go forward to -see that all is well.”</p> - -<p>He was absent some few minutes.</p> - -<p>“All seems quiet, monsieur,” he reported to Gerard, -and they started again. “The wall is yonder,” he said, -pointing to it. “I shall climb it and fix the rope in -position, and I need not urge you to make all haste in -following and to keep silent.”</p> - -<p>They watched him dart across the intervening space -at top speed, stand for a moment in the deep shadow of -the wall, and then begin the ascent. Gabrielle’s heart -began to beat fast with excitement and hope, and even -the men’s pulses quickened as his black shadow crept -nearer and nearer to the parapet at the top.</p> - -<p>“What is he doing?” whispered Gabrielle; for -Babillon stopped suddenly and flattened himself against -the black wall.</p> - -<p>“It is nothing,” answered Gerard. “See, his head -shows above the top now. He is as cautious as he is -daring, and does but seek to make sure all is well. Wait, -he sees some one. Ah, and he has been seen, too!” he -exclaimed, catching his breath. The call of one man to -another came to their ears, and the figures of two soldiers -running toward Babillon were silhouetted against the -sky line.</p> - -<p>At the same moment a jingle of arms was heard close -at hand.</p> - -<p>“One of the search parties,” said Dubois in a deep -undertone.</p> - -<p>At that moment they saw Babillon spring on to the -parapet, rush at one of the soldiers, and deal him a blow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span> -which felled him to the ground. Then seizing his musket -he turned upon the man’s comrade. But the latter, instead -of staying to meet the attack, fired his musket to -rouse the alarm, and in an instant Babillon had fastened -the rope to the parapet and came sliding to the ground.</p> - -<p>But the search party now came up at the run, attracted -by the gunshot, and just as two of them dashed -off to intercept Babillon the leader caught sight of Gerard -and Dubois, who had stepped forward incautiously into -the moonlight in their anxiety at their guide’s peril.</p> - -<p>“Who goes there?” he challenged, and in a moment -the guns of the rest of the soldiers were levelled point -blank at them.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXI<br /> - - -<small>AT MALINCOURT AGAIN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">“WE can’t let him be taken, Dubois, after what he -has done,” said Gerard under his breath.</p> - -<p>“By Heaven, I should think not. They -are only five to four, and we have them divided.”</p> - -<p>“Feign a surrender,” answered Gerard, and they -walked calmly up to the soldiers, Pierre following.</p> - -<p>“What is it, sergeant?” said Dubois, in a quiet tone -of authority.</p> - -<p>“Ho, it’s you again and Master Pierre, is it? You -don’t fool me twice with your tale of captain. You are -our prisoners now.” It was the sergeant, Vauban, whom -Dubois had knocked down in the escape from the Castle, -and his tone betokened intense satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“You mutinous dog! do you dare to speak to me like -that?” was Dubois’ reply in a voice of thunder.</p> - -<p>“Mutiny or no mutiny, you will come with us and -explain to the Governor. If you’re not one of the escaped -prisoners, I’m no man.”</p> - -<p>“There can be no objection to that, monsieur,” said -Gerard quietly to Dubois.</p> - -<p>“And who are you?” demanded the sergeant roughly. -“With so many of your cursed brood in the city, there’s -no room for honest men.”</p> - -<p>“Rough words are no proof of honesty, my friend,” -answered Gerard so quietly that the man had no inkling -of his intention.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>“A little change of language will do your holy ears -good, if you are a monk,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“Where do you wish to take us?”</p> - -<p>“Why, to the Governor.”</p> - -<p>“Come, then,” said Gerard in a tone of almost submissive -readiness.</p> - -<p>“Have they caught the rascal yet, Louis?” asked the -sergeant, and the man addressed turned his head to look.</p> - -<p>“Now,” cried Gerard, and on the instant hurled himself -on the sergeant, who was taken entirely by surprise. -Gerard wrenched his musket from him and -clubbing it, knocked him senseless to the ground. Dubois, -divining Gerard’s intention, had edged close to the second -man and dealt with him in much the same fashion, -while Pierre engaged the third.</p> - -<p>The struggle lasted scarcely more than a few seconds, -and as soon as it was over, Gerard and Dubois ran to -the assistance of Babillon, whom the soldiers had -captured.</p> - -<p>Seeing help coming, they released him and levelled -their muskets at the onrushing men. But Babillon with -ready wit jostled one against the other so that the shots -were fired in the air.</p> - -<p>The rest was easy. The two men broke and fled, but -were soon caught and treated like the rest of the party, -in order to prevent the danger of pursuit.</p> - -<p>“Now for the wall,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“It is impossible, monsieur. The boat must have been -seen, and the further bank of the river is alive with soldiers,” -said Babillon, “and they have seized the boat. It -was that made me return.”</p> - -<p>“We must get away, then. Those shots will soon -bring a whole company to the spot. Did the men know -you, Babillon?”</p> - -<p>“No, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Good! then lead us back to your house. You have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> -served us magnificently, my good friend; and that last -trick of yours may have saved our lives.”</p> - -<p>They ran to Gabrielle and explained the failure of the -venture, and started to return to Babillon’s.</p> - -<p>It was a galling disappointment, but neither Gerard nor -Dubois was likely to waste time in fruitless repining; -and by the time they reached Babillon’s house, both had -thought their way to the same decision. They must -make for Malincourt.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle wished it also.</p> - -<p>“The two points are—what has happened there, and -can we hope to reach there safely?” said Gerard, as he -and Dubois sat discussing it, Gabrielle having again gone -to seek rest.</p> - -<p>“I would that I had been in the cell with the Governor,” -growled Dubois. “It would have gone hard -with me if I had not found a way to end his power to -do us more evil.”</p> - -<p>“We are soldiers, Dubois,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“We shan’t be soldiers long if the Tiger can get his -way with us.”</p> - -<p>“My cousin will be up in forty-eight hours.”</p> - -<p>“Forty-eight minutes may suffice for what he may -do if he but gets his hand on us.”</p> - -<p>“He will not dare to use violence to me,” said Gerard. -“His head would pay for it.”</p> - -<p>“But it wouldn’t put either yours or mine back on our -shoulders, my lord, if he’d struck them off first. And as -for daring—what won’t a madman dare? And a madman -he is. My advice is to keep out of his clutches so -long as we can.”</p> - -<p>“And what we have to consider is the best way of -doing it. Tell me, Babillon, what chance have we of -reaching Malincourt undiscovered, and what is the -distance?”</p> - -<p>“Twenty minutes would take us there, could we go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span> -direct, monsieur; but the road is a very open one, and -I——” he finished the sentence with a doubting shake -of the head.</p> - -<p>“Is there no other road?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, monsieur, but it trebles the distance; and miladi -is already overwrought.”</p> - -<p>“And the devil of it is that we don’t know what we -should find when we get there,” said Dubois. “Mademoiselle -can’t tramp the city all night. I have a thought. -Let me go and find out what is passing there, and smell -out the chances of safety. Could the rest lie safe here, -think you?” he asked Babillon.</p> - -<p>“For the night, I should think, yes,” was the reply. -“But I can best go. I could get into the house and carry -any message.”</p> - -<p>“You can guide me,” said Dubois, “and get me a -workman’s blouse. It is best so,” he added to Gerard. -“If Pascal is there holding the house, I can gauge the -chances of our getting in and arrange for him to send -out to meet us. What say you?”</p> - -<p>“I could do it all and better alone, messieurs,” urged -Babillon. “One can get through where two may well -be stopped. And if they were to arrest me, I am known -to be frequently at Malincourt. I have a daughter there -in miladi’s service; and if I were seen every one would -deem it but natural for me to be anxious for her at such -a time.”</p> - -<p>“There is wit in what he says, Dubois.”</p> - -<p>“True,” he assented, and then murmured, “but there -is little to please my wit in sitting inactive here.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I cry you patience, good friend? Go, Babillon, -and make all speed,” decided Gerard. “It will not be long -now before the dawn breaks, and we must be inside -the house while it is yet dark, if we are to get there -at all.”</p> - -<p>“If all goes well, an hour will see me back.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>“He is a shrewd, nimble-witted fellow,” said Gerard -when the man had left.</p> - -<p>“And you will be shrewd, my lord, if you fill the time -by snatching a soldier’s nap. I’ll keep watch.”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, my lord, let me watch,” put in Pierre. -“Watching is my business,” and with that the other -two lay down on the floor and were soon asleep.</p> - -<p>Babillon was as good as his word, and in less than an -hour and a half he was back and brought good news.</p> - -<p>He had seen Pascal and learned that the house had -already been searched by the Castle troops, and a small -body of soldiers left to guard it. These Pascal was -prepared to overpower at any moment. Babillon had -found the road thither fairly clear also and had ascertained -the best route to take.</p> - -<p>“In half an hour at most we can reach the woods of -Malincourt, my lord, and the captain will be there with -a strong force to meet us.”</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll be off at once,” said Gerard; and once -more Gabrielle was roused and they set forth.</p> - -<p>Misfortune appeared to have dealt her last blow at -them for that night, in foiling the attempt to escape; -and under Babillon’s guidance they reached the woods -of Malincourt without mishap.</p> - -<p>“You will come to the maison, Babillon,” said Gabrielle. -“You may be in danger in the city, and you have -rendered us a service I shall never forget.”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, miladi, I will return. Suspicion will -not fall my way; but should there be danger I can then -seek your protection. Trouble is already in the making -in the city, and when the men of Morvaix learn how -your ladyship has been treated, I know nothing of their -tempers if there be not deep resentment and wrath.”</p> - -<p>“A timely thought,” interposed Dubois, overhearing -this. “A diversion in the town would help us much at -Malincourt.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>“But it might lead to violence and perhaps to bloodshed,” -said Gabrielle. “I would not have that on my -account.”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, I would rather return,” repeated -Babillon.</p> - -<p>“How shall we thank you?” asked Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Miladi’s safety is enough reward for any Morvaix -man, my lord,” he answered sturdily, and with that he -turned and went.</p> - -<p>“Such a fellow changes one’s judgment of the men -here,” declared Dubois.</p> - -<p>“Ah, monsieur, we have many such men, true as steel -to their friends and honest as the daylight,” replied -Gabrielle warmly, as they hurried on to the house.</p> - -<p>There was much to be explained on both sides, and -when Gerard had told Pascal briefly how things had -gone with them, he questioned him as to his doings.</p> - -<p>“It’s a wonder we were not trapped at the Castle. -But no one seems to have looked for an escape, and we -had very little difficulty in gaining admission to the -courtyard. We were taken for a party of the new -troops. Had you come, we should have got away without -suspicion, for I had the sentries safe. But when I -saw the rope ladder pulled up back to the cell, I knew -something must have miscarried, and despatched one of -the men to those whom I had in waiting outside the -walls, telling them to creep as close as they dared.”</p> - -<p>“I see it,” exclaimed Dubois.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it saved us from capture. We were waiting in -the shadow of the wall, with a growing impatience I -cannot describe, when the fresh guard turned out and -came on us. The officer at first mistook us for his own -men and was more angry than suspicious; but he soon -saw something was amiss and was for arresting the whole -of us there and then. There was nothing for it but to -rush through him. They fired a volley for assistance and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span> -attacked us; and soon a swarm of men came rushing out -of the Castle. But we managed to draw off to the breach -in the wall, and when they saw we were in force they -stopped where they were—to my fellows’ disappointment. -And that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“But what did you do next?”</p> - -<p>“Then there came a deuce of a commotion in the -Castle, caused, as I judged, by the fact that you had -escaped some other way and the fact had been discovered. -So I drew off and made my way here. I was sorely -puzzled, on my word. I heard you had not come to -Malincourt, and I posted the men in the woods. I judged -that Malincourt would be the first place to be searched -for you, and thought that if we could let the Governor -feel satisfied no one was here, it might make it all the -safer as a hiding place when you did come; whereas, had -I resisted the search, I should only have brought his -troops swarming here and so have made it impossible for -you to get in at all, besides subjecting the house to be -knocked about for no good.”</p> - -<p>“It was cleverly thought, Pascal,” said Gerard, with -a smile.</p> - -<p>“It was more a lucky guess than aught else, but the -guess was right. His men came and satisfied themselves -you were not here and left a guard behind strong -enough to overawe the household, but weak enough for -me to deal with in a few moments. I was growing -desperate at the approach of daylight and still no news -of you, when that good fellow, Babillon, who had helped -me before as it turns out, arrived with your message. -Then I had up a force strong enough to put the Governor’s -guard in the cellars and came to meet you.”</p> - -<p>“Can we hold the house?” asked Dubois quickly.</p> - -<p>“The walls are strong and we have close upon a hundred -men, but——” and he shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“But what?” was Gerard’s eager answer.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>“I would give half the men and choose a weaker -house for more arms and powder.”</p> - -<p>The other two were silent for a while at this ominous -reply.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean we can’t stand our ground even for -the hours until my cousin can arrive?”</p> - -<p>“We are men and can try. But it depends on the -Governor—if he learns that you are here, and when he -learns it, and what he does when he knows.”</p> - -<p>“He thinks we are in hiding in the city. We had a -brush with a search party near the walls, and they will -soon carry the news to the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“Let us pray that he remains in that belief; for if he -swoops down on this place with a strong force it will be -an ugly business. We could not hope to resist for many -hours.”</p> - -<p>“Let us go round and see, Dubois,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>Dubois and Pascal went out and Gerard stayed a -moment with Gabrielle, who had listened with intense -interest to the discussion.</p> - -<p>“So even Malincourt is not to be a refuge, Gerard,” -she said.</p> - -<p>“We are far from beaten yet. Have courage.”</p> - -<p>“I have courage; but how bitterly I regret that moment -of cowardice when I could not face that descent -with you.”</p> - -<p>“It would have made no difference. The watch was -already set on the city walls and we should have come -straight here with Pascal—when matters would have -been at an even worse pass. We have gained hours that -may prove invaluable.”</p> - -<p>“You are brave to be so hopeful.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_244.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption">“GOD BLESS YOU, GABRIELLE, FOR THIS FAITH -OF YOURS”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>“If it comes to regrets, Gabrielle, it is I who am to -blame. Had I taken Dubois’ bold counsels and tried -to seize the Castle when the Governor was in my power, -I believe it would have been best. But at that rate, I -may as well go farther back to the mad thing I did in -coming to Morvaix in the way I chose.”</p> - -<p>“True—all might have been very different,” she said, -and glanced up and down again, and then smiled as -she added, “And would you have me regret that too?”</p> - -<p>“I did not mean that,” he said quickly, taking her -hand.</p> - -<p>“I care not what happens,” she answered softly.</p> - -<p>“Nor the trouble and danger I have brought to you?”</p> - -<p>“There is something other than danger or trouble, -Gerard; it is of that I think. At this danger we shall -smile together when it is over; and I know you will find -a way to safety.”</p> - -<p>“Which means that I had better hurry after Dubois -and Pascal,” and he smiled again.</p> - -<p>“Nay, it means rather my unbounded trust in you. So -confident am I, that I am going to be quite prosaic and -seek rest. And I shall sleep, secure in my faith in you.”</p> - -<p>“God bless you, Gabrielle, for this faith of yours,” he -said, drawing her to him and kissing her.</p> - -<p>“And God bless you, my Gerard, for all you are to -me.”</p> - -<p>It was a long and anxious conference that followed. -The men that formed their guard were picked and -seasoned soldiers who had fought under Gerard in more -than one tough campaign; his to a man, heart and soul, -ready to do anything at his bidding, willing to lay down -their lives in his cause, and burning with resentment at -the treatment he had suffered.</p> - -<p>They were glad to have laid aside now the monkish -garb and to scent the prospect of a fight; and he found -them grouped together laughing and jesting in the intervals -of abusing the Governor.</p> - -<p>Had all else been as reliable as his men, he would -have had no doubt of the course to take, and none as to -the result. But Pascal’s fears were only too well<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span> -grounded. Without ammunition the house was little -better than at the mercy of the Governor should he send -a strong force to attack it. And they had neither enough -muskets to arm the men, nor enough powder for the -scanty guns.</p> - -<p>“At the last gasp we shall have to take the chance -of a fight, of course,” he said when he had completed his -inspection; “and the fighting must be done from the -north wing of the house. But we must first exhaust -every other means.”</p> - -<p>“In that wing we could keep them at bay for a month -if it were only hand to hand work; but the Governor -has cannon,” said Dubois.</p> - -<p>“We must hope that the news of our presence does -not reach him until too late. See to it that nothing about -the place raises suspicions, and if any messengers come -from him let them enter the house and be detained.”</p> - -<p>“Would God he would come himself,” exclaimed -Pascal.</p> - -<p>“Ah, it’s easy to ‘would God’ a good many things,” -growled Dubois. “You had better rest, my lord, at any -rate until the day is warmed. I’ll have you called at the -slightest sign of need. You may want all your strength -for the morrow’s work. We’ll set the watch and let the -men sleep too, Pascal. They’ll fight the better for it, if -it has to come to fighting in the end.”</p> - -<p>The two left him then, and as they stood in the great -hall Pascal said—</p> - -<p>“You mind my words in the market place, Dubois, -that a woman had to be reckoned with now. He has the -fever badly. I know the symptoms.”</p> - -<p>“You ought to, you’ve had it yourself often enough,” -returned Dubois.</p> - -<p>“And shall again, I hope. ’Tis a sweet malady, you -old sour-heart; but it doesn’t help a man to act; and -it won’t help us now. Do you follow me?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>“Have I no eyes? I put a plan to him to-day—to -hold this Governor a prisoner when we had him safe, -and seize the Castle itself. A week ago he would have -thought of it for himself, but to-day he would scarcely -hear it mentioned. He only hesitated out of fear for -her. Love’s best for a soldier when it crosses him.”</p> - -<p>“She’s a sweet and lovely creature; were his case -mine I should feel the same.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t gainsay it, but I’ve been married,” Dubois -answered drily, with a short grim laugh.</p> - -<p>“And that has made you the cynic you are, eh? I’m -wiser than you, Dubois. I stop short of the plunge into -the abyss of disillusion; it’s the easier side to laugh on. -But now we must do something.”</p> - -<p>“There’ll be plenty doing before the day ends.”</p> - -<p>“And I propose to find out what is to happen. I’m -going to the Castle to spy out things.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll take your life in your hands.”</p> - -<p>“So long as it stops in mine, what matters? I can go -as one of the new soldiers and take my chance. Better -that than taking cold here waiting for something to -happen.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a dare-devil step, but it’s a good one,” and after -discussing it earnestly they agreed upon it and agreed -also not to mention it to Gerard, and Pascal was soon -on his way.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXII<br /> - - -<small>PASCAL PLAYS SPY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">PASCAL dressed himself in the uniform of one of -the Castle troopers, and his intention was to pass -as a soldier who had been merrymaking in the -city and, having just heard of the excitement at the -Castle, was hurrying thither to report himself.</p> - -<p>His aim was first to get into the Castle, then to find -the Bourbon commander, Captain Bassot, and explain -the position at Malincourt, and to learn such news of the -Governor’s intentions as he could, and arrange with the -captain some little plan of action.</p> - -<p>He had but little fear of discovery in his soldier’s -dress. Scarcely any one in the Castle knew him, and -even if the Castle men failed to recognize him as one of -the new troops, it would be no serious matter, because -the captain, when consulted, would soon set that right.</p> - -<p>As for the danger, it was to his liking. He was brave -to the verge of recklessness, and the thought of tapping -the Governor’s plans under his very nose as it were, -pleased him hugely.</p> - -<p>As he was indifferent about encountering any of the -search parties who were patrolling the city, he made no -effort at concealment, and covered the distance between -Malincourt and the Castle at a quick speed, thinking over -the matter and laughing at the venture as a kind of -pleasure jaunt.</p> - -<p>He resolved to make for the main entrance of the -Castle, and had reached within short distance of it when -he encountered one of the patrols. He was hurrying -by, but the man in command challenged him.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>“Ho, there! Who are you and where are you going?”</p> - -<p>“To a mess of devil’s broth I expect, probably to -arrest. I’ve just heard hell’s loose at the Castle, and -I’m going for my share.”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?”</p> - -<p>“Not one of your men, sergeant. Ambroise Tourelle -of Captain Bassot’s command.”</p> - -<p>“What were you doing in the city?”</p> - -<p>“Just seeing how you enjoy yourselves in Morvaix. -You don’t manage badly. Is the gate open?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know the news? Some prisoners have -broken out and half killed the Governor. The whole garrison’s -in arms. You may look for a warm welcome if -old Tiger hears you’ve been absent.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s deafness to him, then,” answered Pascal with -a laugh. “I’ll hurry on.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll send a man back with you lest you lose your -way,” returned the sergeant drily, and detailed one for -the purpose.</p> - -<p>“Did you say you’re one of the new lot?” asked the -soldier, as they went to the Castle. “I don’t know -your face.”</p> - -<p>“Yet it’s one your Morvaix girls will know soon, I -warrant,” laughed Pascal. “It’s more to the matter if -you know what the punishment is for being out of the -Castle without leave.”</p> - -<p>“It mayn’t be noticed at such a time, especially as -you’re a new man. If you take my advice you’ll go -straight to your captain and just tell him the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but where the devil shall I find him? To hell -with the liquor and the women, say I; they get us into -all the troubles.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, and leave us to scramble out for ourselves. -I know it.”</p> - -<p>“I take to you, friend; we must see more of one another,” -said Pascal, with a genial laugh.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>“I could show you some things in Morvaix,” chuckled -the soldier. “Where have you been to-night?”</p> - -<p>“The devil seize me if I know, but you breed some -pretty faces in this city of yours. Do you know a blue-eyed -wench named Marguerite?” and Pascal went on -to invent a story for his companion’s benefit, making him -laugh and swear that Pascal was a man after his own -heart.</p> - -<p>As they approached the Castle gates Pascal urged the -soldier to go in with him and find Captain Bassot, and -in this way he passed the gate and entered the guard-room -without difficulty or question.</p> - -<p>But the captain could not be found, and, as his companion -had to leave again to hurry after his party, they -separated with mutual promises to meet again, and -Pascal was left to his own devices.</p> - -<p>He stayed some time in the guard-room, and from the -talk of the men he ascertained that the soldiers were -patrolling Morvaix on foot and that mounted men in -great numbers had been despatched to scour the country -round, lest the fugitives should have escaped from the -city.</p> - -<p>No one took any notice of him beyond casting an -occasional glance of curiosity in his direction, and finding -himself thus free to go where he would, he left the -guard-room and made his way into the Castle in search -of his captain.</p> - -<p>The excitement had largely subsided under the strict -military discipline, and so many of the troops had been -despatched on the work of search that he found the -lower rooms of the Castle comparatively empty. The -few persons he met he asked for Captain Bassot, for -whom he now said he had news.</p> - -<p>He was sent fruitlessly in various directions, and at -last when passing through one of the corridors he met -Lucette. She was hurrying by with bent head and did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span> -not see him, so with a glance to make sure they were -alone, he accosted her.</p> - -<p>“Your pardon, mademoiselle, can you tell me where I -can find Captain Bassot?”</p> - -<p>“No, monsieur,” she answered, and glancing up as -she recognized him. “You?” she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad they are no other than your bright eyes -that see me, mademoiselle,” he answered smiling.</p> - -<p>“We must not speak here. Follow me,” and she -hurried back along the corridor until she came to a low -doorway, through which she passed, giving a quick -glance about to see that no one was observing her.</p> - -<p>Pascal followed and found himself in a small antechamber -bare of furniture and overlooking the courtyard.</p> - -<p>“Tell me the news, monsieur,” urged Lucette. “This -suspense is killing. Where is Mademoiselle de Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“First tell me why I find you here,” he said, cautiously.</p> - -<p>“Ah, you suspect even me,” she answered quickly, -with some indignation.</p> - -<p>“Suspect is far too strong a word, but I am curious, -I admit.”</p> - -<p>“You are grossly unjust. I am a prisoner. After -I saw you for the last time last night, I came here to be -with Gabrielle, and was with the Duchess awaiting her -return from the prison, when the escape of the prisoners -was discovered; and since then I have been in a fever -of suspense to know that she is safe and where she is. -The Duke was like a madman. He came to the Duchess’ -apartments in search of Gabrielle, and raged like a fiend -incarnate at not finding her. I thought he would have -flung us all into prison; and he threatened me with the -rack if I did not tell him where Gabrielle was.”</p> - -<p>“He is a chivalrous gentleman,” said Pascal.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>“He told us his life had been attempted, charged the -Duchess with having been a party to the escape, vowed -that he would have the truth out of us and make us -pay bitterly in his revenge. The Duchess is a noble -woman and showed splendid courage and dignity; but -oh, monsieur, I was never so frightened in my life.”</p> - -<p>“But he has not actually ill-treated you; surely, he -is not so base as that.”</p> - -<p>“He vows that unless the prisoners and Gabrielle are -in his hands within twenty-four hours he will put me -to the question; and he ordered me not to leave the -Castle and placed me in charge of one of his own officers. -But he shall kill me before I will say a word.”</p> - -<p>“You shall do better than that, mademoiselle; you -shall leave the Castle. But where is your gaoler?”</p> - -<p>The suspicion of a smile hovered about her lips for a -moment, and her eyes lighted as she answered—</p> - -<p>“I will tell you that directly, monsieur. When the -Duke had terrified us in this fashion he called in his -men, and actually had the whole apartments of the -Duchess searched. Oh, it was shameful! Even the -rough soldiers themselves were ashamed of their task, -and hurried it. And when he found nothing, there being -nothing to find, he grew even more violent, and taunted -and insulted that noble woman till my heart ached for -her and my blood boiled at his cowardice and brutality. -And when at last he left us, it was only to send message -after message telling of the steps he had taken to recapture -the prisoners; with lie after lie; first that they -had been taken, then that they were dead—any tale which -could serve to frighten us, coward that he is. But I have -managed to learn the truth in spite of him, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Through your gaoler?” he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, monsieur. He put me in the care of Antoine -de Cavannes,” said Lucette demurely.</p> - -<p>“And who is Antoine de Cavannes?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>“Ah, you do not know. He used to think I—I would -marry him, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, those bright eyes of yours, mademoiselle,” -laughed Pascal.</p> - -<p>“But he is hateful, this Antoine. It was he who with -M. d’Estelle tried to kill Denys St. Jean when—when -M. Gerard met Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“The devil he is! and you fooled him, so that he lets -you go where you will?”</p> - -<p>“He made me promise not to leave the Castle, and he -keeps watch in the courtyard by the gate. I was going -to him for news—the Duchess is almost dead with -anxiety.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me what he has told you.”</p> - -<p>“They think the prisoners have got out of the city. -They have searched Malincourt and found no one there, -but have left a guard in possession of the house. They -do not think that even Gabrielle will return there, and -believe either that the prisoners have escaped from Morvaix -with her or that they are hiding in the city.”</p> - -<p>“Long may they hold that belief!” exclaimed Pascal.</p> - -<p>“There have been many arrests, monsieur. You see -Gabrielle is known to almost every one, but M. Gerard -and the monk to very few; so every one who cannot be -recognized is arrested to be identified. At first they were -brought here, but now they are taken somewhere in the -city. Where are they, monsieur?”</p> - -<p>“At Malincourt,” he replied readily.</p> - -<p>“Oh, and I cannot go to Gabrielle!” cried Lucette -distressfully.</p> - -<p>“We will see about that. You are doing splendid -service here, but you must not stay lest this Tiger should -seek to carry out his threat. Besides, Mademoiselle de -Malincourt would gladly have you with her. Could you -get this lover of yours to leave the Castle with you for -a walk, say in the grove on the way to Malincourt?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>“He would take me to Malincourt itself if I asked him, -I think,” she replied with the air in which she had referred -to Antoine before; and Pascal smiled. “He -offered once, asking if I did not need some things from -there.”</p> - -<p>“Good! Be there at noon at the gate by the cedars -at the south end of the gardens, and I will see to the -rest. And now, you had better go. Wait—one question. -Do you know aught of de Proballe?”</p> - -<p>“He is with the Governor, and both are away in the -city.”</p> - -<p>“And that spy of his, Dauban. When the soldiers -searched Malincourt they found him where I had put him -in one of the cellars, and carried him away with them.”</p> - -<p>“He is here in the Castle, monsieur. I’ve seen him.”</p> - -<p>“The devil he is! He must not see me. Twice he has -slipped through my fingers, but it shall go harder with -him the third time. He is dangerous.”</p> - -<p>“He is not dangerous to me, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“What, another?” cried Pascal, laughing. “Why, -mademoiselle, I begin to fear for myself.”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur!” said Lucette, using her eyes.</p> - -<p>“You are a witch, Lucette, with those eyes of yours. -But if you can get hold of this Dauban, lead him away -from these lower rooms for an hour while I am still -here, or you may have one admirer the less.”</p> - -<p>“You mean—M. Dauban?” she asked coquettishly.</p> - -<p>“On my soul, it’s in your very blood, mademoiselle. -But I am shot-proof,” he laughed, shrugging his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“At noon, then, by the cedar gate—that is how we -call it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, at the cedar gate; and till then—good fortune -to you.”</p> - -<p>With a last coquettish glance and a smile, Lucette -went to the door, opened it cautiously, peeped out, and -stepped back hurriedly.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>“Antoine and Jacques Dauban are together at the far -end of the corridor, monsieur, coming this way. Have -a care,” she whispered hurriedly.</p> - -<p>“Is there a hiding place here?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Alas! no, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Very well; then if they come in some of us will not -go out again,” he answered coolly, and stepping behind -the door he loosened a knife he had concealed under his -coat. “Leave the door open.”</p> - -<p>Lucette stood where she could not be seen by any one -passing; and they waited thus in suspense as the sound -of footsteps on the stones without came nearer. She -turned pale and clenched her hands and began to mutter -a prayer as the steps came close and the murmur of -the two men as they talked in low tones reached their -ears.</p> - -<p>They were discussing the one absorbing topic—the -prisoners’ escape and the subsequent events, and they -paused close to the open door.</p> - -<p>“I tell you it is not possible, Master Dauban,” Antoine -said. “There is not a spot in the walls ten yards wide -that has not one or more soldiers.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, now that they are safely outside. Did they not -get out of here? Answer me that, monsieur. And if out -of here, why not from the bigger cage? I tell you they -are many a league from Morvaix long ere this.”</p> - -<p>“But the whole belt of country for leagues round has -been scoured by our horse. And they were away from -the city within an hour after the prisoners had fled.”</p> - -<p>“Have it as you will, monsieur; but those who could -not hold may be no better at finding. A hen’s egg would -be hard to find hidden in this Castle, but not harder, methinks, -than two men and a woman concealed in a belt -of country leagues wide and where every man and woman -would be their friend. I speak but what my master -thinks and what the Governor thinks too.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span>“Nay, they will be found in Morvaix, Master Dauban; -and if I were but given leave I could find them,” and -Antoine laughed confidently. “There is one in the -Castle, in my charge, too, who knows the secret, I’ll -wager; and I am but waiting.”</p> - -<p>“There will be a fat reward for the man who tracks -them. I heard the Duke and my master speak of it. A -thousand crowns will be offered: a goodly sum, but fifty -thousand won’t find in Morvaix what is not there to -seek.”</p> - -<p>“A thousand crowns!” repeated Antoine in a tone -of greed. “A valiant sum, in all truth, and I know how -it may be earned, and with it my revenge.”</p> - -<p>“Two heads are better than one in a thing of this -kind, Master Antoine,” said Dauban cunningly.</p> - -<p>“But one pocket can hold the reward and would be -fuller than two, Master Dauban,” replied Antoine with -a laugh, and they passed on.</p> - -<p>“There is one in the Castle who knows the secret, -eh, Antoine?” muttered Lucette when they had passed -out of earshot. “If I do not read that I am no woman,” -and her eyes had a light that boded no good to Antoine -de Cavannes.</p> - -<p>“Something of the huckster in this admirer of yours, -mademoiselle,” laughed Pascal. “He would turn this -admiration of his for you to a profit. You must act -warily, for if he suspects the object of your visit to -Malincourt he may get the tidings to the Duke.”</p> - -<p>“You may trust me, monsieur,” said Lucette confidently.</p> - -<p>“This Dauban, too. You heard how he pricked his -ears at what was said. Mark me, he will watch your -Antoine, or I am no reader of a man’s voice. And he is -a born spy.”</p> - -<p>“Be at hand at the cedar gate at the hour you named, -and maybe I will bring them both, monsieur,” and with -that she peeped out cautiously and then sped away.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>Pascal waited a few seconds and then sauntered back -in the direction of the gate. He had learned enough and -was anxious to get away. As he crossed the courtyard -luck favoured him: Captain Bassot with another officer -came out of his quarters.</p> - -<p>“I have to report myself, captain,” said Pascal, with -a salute.</p> - -<p>“What madcap folly now?” said the captain sternly, -repressing astonishment at seeing Pascal.</p> - -<p>“Nothing serious this time, captain.”</p> - -<p>“Well, let me hear it,” and with an excuse to the -officer he turned aside with Pascal. “In the name of -the saints, why do you venture here? How is it with the -young lord Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“All well, so far. Housed safely at Malincourt yonder, -where, had we but powder, we could hold out against -the Governor’s forces for days. Can you think of any -means of getting us some?”</p> - -<p>“What, in broad daylight from here?”</p> - -<p>“Without it we are like to be in a sorry plight.”</p> - -<p>“There is no thought of his being at Malincourt. -They are searching for him in the city but believe he has -fled. Hundreds of horsemen are out on the hunt on -every road and in every direction.”</p> - -<p>“And our men?”</p> - -<p>“Are mostly here. It was held they were too new to -the place to be much good in hunting for the fugitives.”</p> - -<p>“How many men other than ours are here?” asked -Pascal eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Some two or maybe three hundred.”</p> - -<p>“God, what a chance!” cried Pascal. “See, Bassot, -couldn’t we get the men together and while the Duke’s -away seize the Castle itself? It is Dubois’ plan. While -you are getting ready here I could fetch the rest of -our fellows from Malincourt. It would be a stroke -worthy of us.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>“A firebrand scheme; but it could be done if the -Duke will only keep the men away.”</p> - -<p>“D’Alembert will be up with the troops by to-morrow -night, and we could hold the Castle till then. We’ve -every reason, too, to look for a rising in the city among -the burghers; and in that case my lord Tiger Duke would -find his claws nicely cut, and his tail trodden on at the -same time.”</p> - -<p>“There is a breach in the walls here. I had forgotten. -A hundred men would be useless there against his -thousands,” said Bassot.</p> - -<p>“There is a flaw in every plan. We should have two -hundred, not one; and besides, if they carried the walls, -there is the Castle. We will try it,” said Pascal decisively. -“Find me a horse and I’ll ride to Malincourt -and in an hour we can be back.”</p> - -<p>At this moment a mounted man rode up to the gates -at a gallop and the soldiers clustered round him for his -news. The captain went across to learn it, and came -back crestfallen.</p> - -<p>“The Governor is returning with a strong force. The -man says they have news that the fugitives have been -traced to Crevasse, a hill village away to the north, and -their capture is now looked upon as certain.”</p> - -<p>“A thousand devils!” exclaimed Pascal in his disappointment, -and then with a shrug of the shoulders he -added lightly, “Ah, well, there died a good scheme, and -we must find another. Get me out of this, Bassot, before -the Duke arrives. Just walk with me through the gates, -and I’ll manage the rest.”</p> - -<p>They passed out together, the captain appearing to be -giving him some orders, and as soon as they were clear -of the Castle, Pascal started at a quick pace to carry his -news back to Malincourt.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIII<br /> - - -<small>LUCETTE AS DECOY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE Governor returned to the Castle in a somewhat -less violent mood. The report that the fugitives -had been seen and identified at Crevasse -was so precise and definite that he was confident they -would now be recaptured, and it was in this confident -mood that he himself carried the news to his wife.</p> - -<p>Lucette was with her and had just told her that Gabrielle -was safe at Malincourt, when he arrived, gloating -at the thought of his coming triumph and brutally profuse -in threats as to the punishment he would inflict. As soon -as he had left, Lucette slipped away to put her own plan -into operation.</p> - -<p>She did not go to Antoine at once in the courtyard, -but hung about until she saw Dauban and then put herself, -as if by chance, in his way, and when she was sure -he had seen her she made a great show of surprise and -turned as if to hurry away from him. It was well acted.</p> - -<p>“So you avoid me, mademoiselle?” he said, going -after her.</p> - -<p>“How dare you speak to me?” she cried indignantly.</p> - -<p>“Fine airs for a prisoner,” he retorted.</p> - -<p>“You are a noble fellow, indeed, to taunt a poor girl, -Master Dauban. But have a care what you say. If I -am a prisoner, I am in the charge of one who won’t see -me insulted. Antoine de Cavannes is a man with a -stouter arm than Master Dauban, any day,” and she -tossed her pretty head and turned again on her heel.</p> - -<p>This had just the effect she had calculated. He had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> -been pondering over Antoine’s words, speculating who -it was in his charge who knew the whereabouts of the -runaways, and he chuckled now at his own cleverness -in making the discovery.</p> - -<p>“Not so fast, mademoiselle; I mean no harm. I am -sorry for you and would help you. On my honour, -I meant no insult,” he said, following her.</p> - -<p>She stopped, but with an air of reluctance.</p> - -<p>“Yet you did taunt me,” and she gave him a reproachful -glance, with just enough suggestion of tenderness -in it to make him uncomfortable. But with a -sudden change her eye flashed and she cried contemptuously—</p> - -<p>“You help me! Why you are too great a coward! -I thought once——” and she stopped.</p> - -<p>“I am no coward,” he answered, with none too easy -a laugh.</p> - -<p>“I would have sworn that once,” her tone was now -regret with the suspicion of a sigh, “but you let even -Denys beat you.” It was a daring reference, but she -felt very sure of her power with him.</p> - -<p>“You lured me then,” he declared, with an angry -flush. This was her cue.</p> - -<p>“Master Dauban! How can you!” and she fixed -her large dark eyes upon him with a look of pained reproach, -changing gradually to indignation as she added, -with mounting vehemence, “Did I not say you were a -coward? To blame a poor girl for what was none of -her fault, and never to have spoken a word to her since. -Oh!” and she stamped her foot now almost viciously, -“were I not a girl you should pay for the cruel slander -and—aye, and all your neglect.” Then as if the thought -of his neglect wounded her, her anger passed and she -sighed in sore distress.</p> - -<p>He was visibly disquieted, and in an indecisive, self-exculpating -manner he asked—</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>“But you did lure me, knowing he was there, didn’t -you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Master Dauban, how can you say such cruel -things! I would have thought the words would burn -your lips. Do you think I would have had you -maltreated; you?” and again with excellent inconsequence -she took fire again, using her eyes all the while with -deadly effect. “But I am glad now. Yes, I am glad, -glad, glad; do you understand? You are one of those -men who think they can play with a girl as they will; -and you shall pay for it. Aye, you shall, if I have to -go on my knees to beg some one to do me justice. You -shall fool me no more.”</p> - -<p>He was thoroughly perplexed, as well he might be, -indeed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand you. You are going to marry -Denys.”</p> - -<p>She laughed recklessly, almost wildly, stamped her -foot at him again, and flashed glances of anger at him.</p> - -<p>“Marry Denys! Yes, I will marry any man now; -any man who will avenge me with you. Look to yourself, -I warn you. Oh, my God!” and as if in passion -she hid her face in her hands and turned away.</p> - -<p>“Lucette, Lucette,” he said, laying a hand on her -shoulder. She shook it off angrily and started from -him. Other feelings were roused in him now than greed -and cunning, and he found them very flattering to his -vanity and very delightful. “Don’t do this, Lucette. -I had no idea, on my soul, I hadn’t,” he said.</p> - -<p>The words appeared to add fuel to her anger, and -uncovering her face she turned upon him, the traces of -tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“What a coward’s speech; oh, what a coward’s -speech!” she cried vehemently. “Who but a coward -would make such a plea! But I ought to have known -you better—aye, as I know you now. You spoke me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span> -gently, gave me soft speeches, led me to think I know -not what, you won my—but I will not lower myself to -say more; and then like a coward and all unlike the -man I deemed you, you fawn on me with your ‘I had -no idea.’ Shame on you, shame on you. I could hate -you for such words.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Could</i> hate me, Lucette; but you do not?” It was -plain, indeed, from both her words and agitation.</p> - -<p>“If I do not,” and she held him with an intent look -for a pause until she appeared to master her emotion, -and said quietly, “I have forgotten my resolve. I -meant not to speak to you again, Master Dauban. It -will be better so; and in time I may forgive and—forget,” -the last word died away in a sigh which went straight -to his heart.</p> - -<p>“As God is my judge, Lucette, I had no thought of -this. I wronged you. I believed you did but play with -me and took me that evening to the pine-walk that -Denys St. Jean should see us. Why, I love the very -ground you tread on.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, I won’t hear it. I won’t believe it; I -cannot.”</p> - -<p>“It’s true, it’s true, I swear it is.”</p> - -<p>Again she looked at him long and searchingly until -the lustre of her eyes seemed to daze him.</p> - -<p>“And condemned me without a word,” she said, with -a sigh of exquisitely tender reproach. “Is that how a -man trusts the girl he loves? Nay, Jacques, you may -think you love me, but you would have come to me in -candour and trust, not have flung an angry taunt at me.”</p> - -<p>“Did I not trust you? Did I not warn you against -this Gerard de Cobalt? Was I not ready to betray even -my master for your sake? Was I not telling you everything -that evening?”</p> - -<p>She continued to hold him with the magnetism of her -look, and when he stopped she answered slowly and -deliberately—</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>“I shall marry Antoine de Cavannes. He loves me, -I know, and is as true as steel in his love. He guards -me here and will see I come to no harm.”</p> - -<p>He moved uneasily under her glance, and then looking -about him lowered his voice.</p> - -<p>“He is not true to you, Lucette. He is going to -betray you.”</p> - -<p>“Jacques, Jacques, how dare you! Would you slander -him, too? Have a care lest I tell him.”</p> - -<p>“Listen to me; what I say is the truth. He thinks -you know where Mademoiselle de Malincourt can be -found and the prisoners; there is a price of a thousand -crowns on their heads, and he means to use you to find -them and win the money.”</p> - -<p>“Holy Virgin! now am I a miserable and desolate -girl,” cried Lucette in a fresh paroxysm of distress. -“Oh, it cannot be true, it cannot!”</p> - -<p>“It is true, I swear it,” he replied very earnestly, -and gave her a garbled account of what had passed between -himself and Antoine.</p> - -<p>As she listened her agitation mounted, and when he -finished she exclaimed, as if unstrung in her emotion—</p> - -<p>“I will never tell him, I will never tell him.” Then -as if realizing she had betrayed herself, she stared at -him in distress and alarm, and protested with excited, -voluble earnestness: “I did not mean that, Jacques; -I did not mean that. Do not misunderstand me. I -meant nothing,” and she clung to his arm with piteous -entreating glances. “What I meant was I know -nothing. You understand that, don’t you, don’t you? -Oh, thank Heaven, you warned me. Jacques, dear -Jacques, I thank you from my soul, I thank you. Oh, -what might I not have done in my blindness!”</p> - -<p>So she did know after all, thought Dauban; and his -selfish love being satisfied by what she had done and -said, his greed began to grow stronger again.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>Her sharp wits read him like an open book, and with -a dexterous change of tone and manner she said as if -speaking her thoughts aloud—</p> - -<p>“A thousand crowns! And for a scoundrel like this -Gerard de Cobalt!”</p> - -<p>“Miladi is infatuated with him and should be saved -from him,” said Dauban, with a cunning glance. “Else -she may be ruined.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Jacques; don’t tempt me with such -thoughts. Yet, how true, how shrewdly true! No, -no, it would be vile baseness.”</p> - -<p>“You would save her from a villain,” he urged.</p> - -<p>“And for my reward she would never look at me -again. Oh, Gabrielle, Gabrielle!”</p> - -<p>“Our reward would be a thousand crowns, Lucette. -A thousand crowns would be a fortune for us.”</p> - -<p>“A million crowns would not tempt me to such -treachery. How dare you, Jacques! I am not thinking -of money, but of Gabrielle. Oh, if she is now in his -power!”</p> - -<p>“The money is on his head, not hers,” he said. “If -he were taken, miladi could be left free—and she would -be saved from him. You know where she is?” He put -the question very gently.</p> - -<p>“Yes, no; oh, I am longing to go to her. I don’t -know what I am saying, or whom I can trust. Oh, -Jacques, if I could but trust you!” and she clung to -him again in her distress and looked wistfully into his -face.</p> - -<p>“I swear on my life I am true to you, Lucette. Let -us go to her. She is in the city?” he asked, pushing -his point a little further.</p> - -<p>“When I think what she must be suffering I am -mad. If I could but get to her with what she needs from -Malincourt, I might save her yet. I could take her -some disguise and fly with her. But I am a prisoner.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span> -A prisoner, my God, a prisoner at such a time!” Her -agony at the thought was perfectly acted.</p> - -<p>“I could go to Malincourt,” he suggested.</p> - -<p>“But there is Antoine; and even were I free from -the Castle and got what I need from Malincourt, I could -not pass the city gates. Oh, what can I do! What can -I do!”</p> - -<p>“I have a permit to leave the city when I will, and -could take you. See,” he answered in the same sleek, -smooth voice, as he took it out and showed it to her. -“Then she is not in the city?” he added, when Lucette -seemed to hesitate. “They say that all have been seen -at Crevasse.”</p> - -<p>“But they will not be found, save by those who know -where to look. If I could make sure that only he would -be taken, I should not mind then. And there is the -money, Jacques. Oh, was ever a poor girl so troubled!”</p> - -<p>“I could manage it, Lucette, and manage Antoine, -too. Listen. Go to him and pretend that you need certain -things for yourself from Malincourt; say nothing -of miladi, and we will all go together. If both Antoine -and I are with you, no questions will be asked as to -where you go. You can then get the disguise and whatever -else you need for miladi, and I’ll find a pretext to -get rid of Antoine, and you and I alone will go to -miladi.”</p> - -<p>“How cunningly you plan, Jacques; how shrewd! You -make it seem so simple,” and Lucette thanked him with -a radiant smile. Her face clouded again instantly, however, -as she added, “But Antoine is a dangerous man, -Jacques.”</p> - -<p>“I will manage that. At need, I will have him recalled -from Malincourt, or we will return to the Castle -and then I will get him away. But mind, not a syllable -about miladi.”</p> - -<p>“You give me courage, Jacques. Let us go to him.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span> -He keeps his ward of me in the courtyard, that I may -not pass. You speak of Malincourt to him. You can -hide your thoughts; and he would read mine.”</p> - -<p>They went then together and found Antoine lounging -in the courtyard chatting with a group of soldiers. He -left them at once and crossed to Lucette, looking displeased -that Dauban was with her.</p> - -<p>“You have kept me waiting,” he said.</p> - -<p>“And is that a crime, M. Gaoler?” she answered -mockingly, with a toss of the head. “Maybe I was -in better company,” and she glanced at Dauban, who -smiled self-complacently. “Perhaps you would like me -to be gyved to you by the wrist.”</p> - -<p>“Nearer the finger-tips than the wrist would suit me -better, Lucette,” he laughed.</p> - -<p>“Well, a gaoler should be a judge of fetters, but I -wear none.”</p> - -<p>“Not fetters, Lucette; a ring for the left hand,” he -answered, looking at her with a bold admiration that -was little to Dauban’s taste.</p> - -<p>“We have come to ask you a question, Antoine,” he -said.</p> - -<p>“We?” echoed Antoine, with a sharp glance at Lucette.</p> - -<p>“I said ‘we.’ Lucette has need of certain things -from Malincourt and would fain go there in quest of -them. I told her there would be no difficulty were you -and I to escort her there and back.”</p> - -<p>“It was very thoughtful of you—but she is my -prisoner.”</p> - -<p>“She will be nobody’s prisoner the moment the fugitives -are brought in from Crevasse.”</p> - -<p>“Then she will need no things from Malincourt,” -returned Antoine sharply, with a knowing smile. But -Lucette struck in at once briskly—</p> - -<p>“Do you mean I cannot go? Say so openly, if you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> -do, and I shall know what to think. It is when a poor -girl is at such a pass as I am that she can judge her -friends. Master Dauban, who knows more of these -things in one tiny corner of his brain than you do in -your whole body, said there would be no difficulty.”</p> - -<p>“Dauban hasn’t been put in charge of you and isn’t -responsible to the Governor. I am,” said Antoine -sulkily.</p> - -<p>“Master Dauban would take some risk to give a poor -girl some pleasure, wouldn’t you, Jacques?” Antoine -winced at the name thus glibly spoken.</p> - -<p>“There is no risk; but if there were I’d run it, readily -enough.”</p> - -<p>“I know you would, Jacques. I know a friend when -I see one. I don’t want to go now, monsieur,” she said -to Antoine angrily. “If I know my friends, I also know -my enemies. You are my gaoler, very well; you are -afraid to do a little thing like this, very well. You make -big promises and refuse this, again very well. Perhaps -my gaoler has some orders to give?” and she looked at -him with angry defiant eyes.</p> - -<p>“Lucette, I——”</p> - -<p>“No thank you. I don’t want to hear you. I won’t -hear a word you say,” she cried, with a stamp of the -foot. She could put a deal of meaning into that stamp -of the foot. “I suppose a prisoner can go back into -the Castle. Come, Jacques,” and she made as if to turn -away.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say you couldn’t go, Lucette. You’ve such -a fiery temper,” said Antoine, all unwilling that she -should leave like this.</p> - -<p>“Then you must find it very disagreeable to be with -me,” she rapped back. “Come, Jacques,” and laid a -hand on Dauban’s arm.</p> - -<p>But Dauban was now less set upon love-making than -seeking to gain the thousand crowns, and he would -not go.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>“Antoine did not say you should not go, Lucette; he -only said there was more risk for him than for me. -And that’s true.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t wish to go now. I know now who is -not my friend; and that knowledge is cheaply gained -by the lack of just a few things I wished. It does not -matter to him what happens to me: he has his duty to -think of and his master, the Governor. Like Tiger, like -whelp. He would like to see me stretched on the rack.”</p> - -<p>“Lucette, don’t say that, don’t,” cried Antoine.</p> - -<p>“You could listen to my groans as my joints were -stretched, and chuckle to think how well you had done -your duty. I know you now.”</p> - -<p>“For God’s sake don’t talk at random in that way,” -he protested. “If it comes to that I’d be the first to -help you to escape. I would, on my honour.”</p> - -<p>“Hear him, hear him,” exclaimed Lucette disdainfully. -“The man would not let me fetch a few tie ribbons -from Malincourt, and yet would risk his life!” -Her contempt was splendid.</p> - -<p>“I’ll go with you to Malincourt; aye, and get you -out of the city, Lucette, if you but bid me.”</p> - -<p>“You hear, Lucette, he will take you,” said Dauban, -stopping the angry tirade which was hovering on her lips.</p> - -<p>She paused a moment, and then with a smile and a -curl of the lip, said—</p> - -<p>“No, monsieur, you had better not. I am a girl and -you two are only strong men and armed, and you might -be hurt. I might kill you both with my empty hands, -and then escape. Pray be cautious.”</p> - -<p>Antoine laughed and shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“What a little devil you are, Lucette. May I be -hanged if I know whether you want to go or not. But -if you do, you can.”</p> - -<p>“Let us go,” said Dauban practically.</p> - -<p>“Are you sure you both feel safe?” asked Lucette<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span> -with mock sweetness, and then glanced at Antoine with -a smile which completed his conquest.</p> - -<p>“Come,” he answered; “you always get your way.”</p> - -<p>They crossed the courtyard at a leisurely pace and -passed slowly through the gate, the two men exchanging -words with the guards, and then turned in the direction -of Malincourt.</p> - -<p>“If the Governor asks for me while we’re away, -there’ll be trouble for me,” said Antoine somewhat -ruefully.</p> - -<p>“If he asked for me and I wasn’t away, there would -be greater trouble for me,” she retorted. “But if you -repent, we’ll go back.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t spit such fire at me, Lucette; I meant nothing.”</p> - -<p>“We’d better hasten, I think,” said Dauban, and they -quickened their steps to a rapid pace. Lucette played -the one man against the other with great adroitness -until they were near Malincourt and the cedar gate was -in sight, when she began to set them by the ears.</p> - -<p>“Jacques tells me there is a price of a thousand crowns -on Gerard de Cobalt’s head. Is that so, Antoine?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. It was announced in the Castle and has been -proclaimed in the city.”</p> - -<p>“Is it true you have a mind to earn it?”</p> - -<p>“A thousand crowns is a thousand crowns.”</p> - -<p>“And blood money is blood money, too. Is it not so, -Jacques?”</p> - -<p>“If it has to be earned by somebody, why not one as -well as another?”</p> - -<p>“I see no flaw in that reasoning either,” and Antoine -laughed.</p> - -<p>“Is that why you told Jacques you could use me to -earn it?” asked Lucette, looking at him fixedly.</p> - -<p>“Did he say that?” asked Antoine, glancing angrily -at Dauban. He bore him no good will for having forced -himself into this walk, nor for the angry words Lucette -had spoken to him, and her looks.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>“Indeed, he did. Didn’t you, Jacques?” and her sharp -eyes were on him now much to his uneasiness.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say that exactly,” he replied.</p> - -<p>“Jacques!” cried Lucette in an indignant tone.</p> - -<p>“You mistook me.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what did you say then?”</p> - -<p>“Aye, Master Dauban, let’s have that. Let’s hear what -you did say,” and Antoine frowned darkly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t remember exactly what I said. And it doesn’t -matter.”</p> - -<p>“By your leave, but it does matter.” Antoine was -growing more angry.</p> - -<p>“Now, don’t begin to quarrel,” exclaimed Lucette, -pouring oil on to the flames with a dexterous hand. -“Master Dauban only said that you meant to use me -as a decoy to find mademoiselle, and then I agreed to -help him to get the money for himself if he promised to -save mademoiselle and only capture this de Cobalt.”</p> - -<p>“A thousand devils! Is that true, Master Dauban?” -cried Antoine in a voice of rage at this proof of treachery.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what have I said!” exclaimed Lucette in distress. -“Oh, Antoine, don’t look at him like that. You frighten -me. You must not harm him.”</p> - -<p>“Why are you so zealous for him? Do you care? -By Heaven! look to yourself there, you Dauban,” and out -flashed his sword.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Antoine, Antoine, dear Antoine, you must not, -you must not,” she cried, clinging to his sword-arm. But -he shook her off and turned upon Dauban, who was -deadly white.</p> - -<p>They stood now just within the gate of Malincourt.</p> - -<p>“Come, Master Dauban, if you’ve anything to say, -say it,” said Antoine in a very threatening tone.</p> - -<p>“I—I can explain all this,” answered Dauban anxiously. -“There has been a mistake. Let me speak alone -with you.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>“None of your lies for me, thank you. Speak out -now,” and Antoine made a step toward him and raised -his weapon.</p> - -<p>As the sword flashed in the sunlight, Lucette shrank -back as if terror-stricken and gave a loud scream. At -the sound some half-dozen soldiers came running up from -among the trees.</p> - -<p>“Ah, messieurs, messieurs, help, help! Stop them, -or there will be bloodshed,” cried Lucette.</p> - -<p>“What does this mean?” asked one of the soldiers.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” said Antoine, looking at them in -surprise.</p> - -<p>“We’re guarding the place for the Governor,” was the -reply. “What’s the trouble?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing that concerns you. Go your way,” he answered -angrily.</p> - -<p>“Not so fast, my dunghill cock. Put up that weapon -and come to the house. And you, too, mistress, if you -please.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you dare to interfere with me,” protested -Antoine.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we’d better go to the house,” said Dauban, -secretly rejoicing at the interruption.</p> - -<p>“Go you on with mademoiselle, then,” said the soldier, -“and do you come with me, monsieur,” and at a sign -from him three of the men closed round Antoine, and -made it perfectly clear that they meant to use force if -necessary.</p> - -<p>At that moment Lucette turned and smiled.</p> - -<p>“You would have used me as a decoy, monsieur? -Come then to the house and we will see how it can be -best done.”</p> - -<p>With a great oath in his mortification and bewilderment, -he sheathed his sword and seeing resistance was -useless, marched on between the soldiers.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIV<br /> - - -<small>SUSPENSE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">JACQUES DAUBAN, in his pleasure at escaping -from Antoine’s very angry threats, hurried forward -to the house with Lucette, unsuspiciously, -and said little beyond a word or two of rebuke for -her disclosure of their mutual plan.</p> - -<p>“You should not have said anything. It may increase -the difficulty of getting rid of him.”</p> - -<p>“But I would not have him think he could use me -as a decoy.”</p> - -<p>“It would have been safer to have told him afterwards.”</p> - -<p>“Safer? You do not mean you are afraid of him, -Jacques,” and look and tone and gesture were alike eloquent -of indignant repudiation of the thought.</p> - -<p>“Afraid of him? Indeed, no,” he replied stoutly, but -with a timorous glance over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“If you were a coward, oh——” and her disgust was -intense.</p> - -<p>“I am no coward, but prudence is always valuable,” -and in this way she plagued him till they reached the -house, and as they entered the door they were met by -Pascal.</p> - -<p>Lucette gave a little cry of pretended alarm, and Dauban -changed colour in alarm that was very far from -pretence.</p> - -<p>“Ah, you recognize me, I see,” said Pascal, with an -ominous smile.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span>Dauban gazed at him a moment and then at Lucette, -and in that moment the truth dawned upon him. He saw -how he had been fooled, and with a cry of rage and -despair, he raised his arm and rushed at Lucette to strike -her. But Pascal caught his hand and thrust it back.</p> - -<p>“Stay, little spy, stay. If you’ve a fancy for striking -some one, strike me, not a girl.”</p> - -<p>“So you are not a coward. Is this the proof?” asked -Lucette. “Master Dauban has brought me to Malincourt, -monsieur, in order that I may get a disguise for -Mademoiselle de Malincourt, and then go with him to -Crevasse to find the fugitives there and hand over M. -Gerard and the monk to the soldiery after enabling miladi -to escape. He will be able to get me out of the city with -a permit which he has thoughtfully brought with him.”</p> - -<p>Pascal laughed.</p> - -<p>“You she-devil!” cried Dauban, white and trembling -with his passion.</p> - -<p>“Both you and Antoine had a frenzy to use me as a -decoy; well, you have had your way—and a lesson,” and -with a laugh she went away.</p> - -<p>“You seem to have made a mess of things, spy,” said -Pascal. “Give me the permit she spoke of.”</p> - -<p>“She lied, as she has lied all through. I have no -such thing.”</p> - -<p>“Come, no nonsense,” said Pascal sternly. “Hand -it over. I am in good humour as yet, and may not hurt -even you. But don’t put me in a bad one.”</p> - -<p>“What does this mean?” asked Dauban.</p> - -<p>“That you have come back to Malincourt. Will you -give me that paper or shall I have it taken from you? I -think you know whether I am safe to trifle to with,” and -he held out his hand.</p> - -<p>With trembling fingers Dauban drew it from his pocket -and handed it over; and Pascal called up a couple of men -and gave him into their charge. Antoine he did not even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span> -trouble to see, but gave orders that he should be kept in -safe custody, and then carried the permit to Gerard to -consult with him as to making use of it.</p> - -<p>Lucette first hurried to Denys, whom she found sufficiently -recovered to have been able to leave his bed, and -having told him all that had occurred at the Castle she -went to Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“How calm and strong you are, Gabrielle,” she said, -when the first greetings had been exchanged. “And I -am in a perfect fever of restlessness.”</p> - -<p>“We can do nothing yet but wait, Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“But what will happen? Can’t we do something? -Tell me everything that has happened. I am dying to -know everything—everything.”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle told her as shortly as she could what had -occurred in the cell and afterwards in the futile attempt -to escape from the city, and then the return to Malincourt.</p> - -<p>“They think you are all at Crevasse.”</p> - -<p>“So M. Pascal brought us word when he told us to -expect you. I am so glad you have escaped, and to have -you with me again. Now tell me how you managed it.”</p> - -<p>Lucette made her recital very brief indeed, saying little -or nothing of the means she had employed to cozen the -two men.</p> - -<p>“They must have been mad indeed to think you would -betray me,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“They were thinking most of the thousand crowns, -and when a man’s head is set money-wards, he is most -easily blinded to other things.”</p> - -<p>“What a philosopher you are, Lucette—about men.”</p> - -<p>“And so M. Gerard is M. Gerard still, Gabrielle, but -not de Cobalt,” said Lucette, changing the subject. -“How glad and proud you must feel.”</p> - -<p>“If only this danger were over; but the suspense is -racking,” replied Gabrielle, with a sigh. “Any hour,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> -any minute may bring the Governor to Malincourt with a -strong force.”</p> - -<p>“But are we not also strong?”</p> - -<p>“In numbers, perhaps, strong enough; but our men -are virtually without arms.”</p> - -<p>“If he comes you can hold out as long as possible -and then fly.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think he would leave us a way out?”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, Gabrielle?”</p> - -<p>“Why, that Malincourt would be surrounded, of -course, and every chance of escape stopped. We have -indeed been considering within the last hour, whether it -wouldn’t be best to risk a flight and seek concealment -in the city while there is yet time.”</p> - -<p>“Of a truth, it is well I came back,” exclaimed Lucette -excitedly, jumping up. “Where are your wits, Gabrielle? -They say love sharpens them in a woman and -blunts them in a man; but this does not look like it.”</p> - -<p>“Lucette!” cried Gabrielle, flushing partly in confusion -at the words and partly with the gathered infection -of Lucette’s excitement.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you ought to blush for your forgetfulness when -the man you love is at such a dangerous pass.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” cried Gabrielle, searching her -memory vainly for some clue. “What have I forgotten?”</p> - -<p>“Why, the passage that leads from the chapel crypt -to the old burial ground and out to the woods beyond. -Were the Duke’s soldiers swarming in thousands round -the house, that way would still be clear for every man -and woman inside to pass out in safety.”</p> - -<p>“My wits must have been dull indeed not to think of -it,” cried Gabrielle, as excited now as Lucette. “You -have saved us all, Lucette. We must tell them at once. -That it should have been left for you to remind me of it!”</p> - -<p>“I have been in it: you have only heard of it; and -it’s easy to remember what one’s actually seen. I’ll go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span> -for them,” and she was hurrying out when Gerard and -Pascal came.</p> - -<p>Gerard held the permit taken from Dauban, and greeted -Lucette with a smile and many thanks for what she had -done.</p> - -<p>“This will clear the way for us, Gabrielle,” he said -then. “We can get out of the city, and I have decided -to go at once if you are willing to run the risk.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, but Lucette has done more than bring that, -Gerard. She has reminded me of what, to my shame, I -had forgotten,” and she told him of the underground -passage. “We can wait now in confidence for the coming -of the Duke and use that permit in the last resort.”</p> - -<p>“We are never to be out of your debt, it seems, -Lucette,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Shall I go and see that the way is clear?” asked -Pascal. “Perhaps Mademoiselle Lucette will show me?”</p> - -<p>“How quick and ready-witted she is,” said Gerard, -when the two had left.</p> - -<p>“And how dull I am not to have thought of it,” replied -Gabrielle. “I feel almost humiliated. Lucette hit -me harder than she deemed with her words.”</p> - -<p>“She has a sharp tongue. What said she?”</p> - -<p>Gabrielle’s colour heightened and she smiled.</p> - -<p>“That with you in such peril my wits should have -been specially sharp; yet that very peril dulled them.”</p> - -<p>“There is no such peril. I have no doubt as to the -end. See, we have first the chance that the Governor -may not discover our presence here until it is too late -for him to force us to yield before my cousin gets up -from Cambrai. Next, we have means of resistance for -some hour or two at worst. Then we have the means to -get from Malincourt should he drive us out. Then again, -we have this permit to pass the city gates. And besides, -we have yet to see that he will dare to resist me when he -knows that I am here in Bourbon’s name. I have no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span> -fears of the issue; my distress is that you have had to -endure so much.”</p> - -<p>“But don’t you know we women like such trials, -Gerard, even if our hearts are not so stout to face them -as yours? It is for you I fear—yet not fear; I have too -much confidence in you. Besides, there is always a last -resource.”</p> - -<p>“We are very far from any last resource,” he answered -cheerily. “But what is the one you have in -mind?”</p> - -<p>“It is I who am the cause of all, Gerard; and in -the last extreme I could avert all ill even from you.”</p> - -<p>“We would die here in Malincourt one by one before -that sacrifice could even be thought of, Gabrielle,” he -answered earnestly. “Do you think there is a man of -us Bourbons who would purchase his life at such a -price?”</p> - -<p>“I would let no harm come to you,” she answered, -her tone as resolute as his.</p> - -<p>“How you must love me,” he whispered tenderly, -taking her in his arms and kissing her. “You would -suffer worse than death for me; but you shall do better -than that, dearest, you shall live for me.”</p> - -<p>“Pray God it may be so; but this Governor is a hard -enemy.”</p> - -<p>“And we Bourbons are no easy ones. But how sweet -to me this thought of your infinite love.” She smiled up -to him and whispered with rueful self-reproach—</p> - -<p>“Yet it could not spur my wits to remember what -Lucette thought of on the instant.”</p> - -<p>“Lucette is not as my Gabrielle. Her heart is under -the discipline of her judgment.”</p> - -<p>“And mine is all in all to me—all I have to live for; -or so it seems almost. I cannot understand this sweet -wild change in me. I am as one in a dream when I think -of you, Gerard; self-centred, absorbed, self-lost. I had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span> -not thought it possible—for me. And yet that great -blank past, when you were not in my life, is but a few -hours ago. I seem to have stepped out of the wilderness -with a single stride into a world all rich and lovely with -delight. And it is real.”</p> - -<p>“It shall always be real to us, dearest.”</p> - -<p>“When these other shadows are past,” she sighed. -“But they will pass I know. If I have my moods of -doubt it is only the dread lest the dream shall be broken -and I shall lose you.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing shall part us, Gabrielle, not even death,” -he declared earnestly.</p> - -<p>“No. Not even death. For if I lost you, I should -die. I should wish to die, indeed. And it is that which -fills me with courage and energy to fight out with fight -and conquer.”</p> - -<p>“Spoken as I would have my Gabrielle speak and -think,” he said.</p> - -<p>Some one came then saying that Babillon was asking -for Gabrielle, and he was brought in to them.</p> - -<p>“You have some news, Babillon?” asked Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“I have not been idle, miladi. The news of your -trouble has roused the burghers of the city, and at a word -from you they will rise in your defence.”</p> - -<p>“Have you said aught that mademoiselle is here?” -asked Gerard quickly.</p> - -<p>“No, my lord. The tale has spread from the Castle -that you have all escaped from the city and are hiding -in the hills to the north. That miladi should be thus -driven to such extremities to avoid the persecutions of -the Governor has caused the present tumult, and I am -supposed to be able to communicate with her. Miladi -has many adherents even among the troops of the Governor, -and from them has gone abroad the story of -her wrongs. The burghers have long had their bitter -grievances and have been arming themselves; and now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span> -this last news is like to act as tinder to dry shavings and -kindle the flame.”</p> - -<p>“I would that we had but some of their arms here -in Malincourt,” exclaimed Gerard. “It would save all -other anxieties. Could you get us muskets and powder -and ball, Babillon, think you?”</p> - -<p>“Alone, I am helpless. A word from miladi would -do all; but that might involve the disclosure of her presence -here.”</p> - -<p>“It is worth any risk,” said Gerard decisively. “If -there is to be fighting, it can best be done from behind -these walls.”</p> - -<p>“There must be no rising in the city, Babillon,” said -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Indignation, on the top of wrongs so long endured, -burns very strong, and is spreading like a forest fire, -miladi.”</p> - -<p>“It will be useless and worse, far worse than useless. -Men untrained to fighting, lacking in leaders, and ill -armed, cannot prevail against the Duke’s soldiers. The -citizens would be massacred and their houses sacked. It -must not be,” she declared.</p> - -<p>“It need not be, if Babillon can but get the arms we -want to Malincourt. How soon could you do this?” -asked Gerard anxiously.</p> - -<p>“We could get all in readiness, and as soon as night -falls to give the cover of darkness they could be brought -here.”</p> - -<p>“By nightfall,” exclaimed Gerard in a tone of disappointment.</p> - -<p>“My lord, it would be hopeless to make such an -attempt in daylight with the city overrun as it is by -troops.”</p> - -<p>“Stay, let me suggest,” said Gabrielle. “Push on -the preparations, Babillon, to do my lord’s wish, and if -aught should occur to spoil the venture and we should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span> -have to abandon Malincourt, have prepared some place -where we can lie hid, safely protected by the men of the -city, until the danger has passed.”</p> - -<p>“A shrewd thought,” said Gerard readily. “And -now come with me, and we will perfect the plan for -getting the arms. I will speak with Dubois and Pascal,” -he added to Gabrielle, and led Babillon away.</p> - -<p>Dubois was found and a long conference followed, to -which Pascal, who had been strenuously engaged in -clearing the secret passage, was presently called.</p> - -<p>Both Pascal and Dubois agreed in urging that the -citizens should be encouraged to rise, but Gerard, in -deference to the wish Gabrielle had expressed, would not -agree, and the utmost he would yield was that Dubois -should go with Babillon, taking with him written authority -from Gabrielle to consult with the chief burghers on -the whole position, to judge the chances of success, and -to offer himself as a leader of any movement. But he -was to sanction no revolt without first communicating -with Gerard; and his chief efforts in the meantime were -to be bent upon getting the arms and ammunition so -sorely needed.</p> - -<p>The gruff old soldier protested that it was no more -than a one-handed scheme.</p> - -<p>“We cannot fight a man like this Governor with one -hand in irons, and that the sword-hand,” he said. “A -rising to-night in the city would mean everything to us -here. There might be bloodshed it is true; but blood has -been shed before and will be shed again in many a worse -cause. Nor could anything really serious happen before -d’Alembert reaches the city.”</p> - -<p>“We will fight if we are forced in self-defence, Dubois, -but we will not force the fighting from our side,” -was Gerard’s reply. “This is Mademoiselle de Malincourt’s -matter more than ours, and her will must prevail.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>“It will fail, my lord,” was the answer bluntly spoken.</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll try something else that will succeed. I -am quite resolved. Let it be as I say.”</p> - -<p>“So much for a woman’s leadership,” growled Dubois -to Pascal as he was starting with Babillon.</p> - -<p>“He might take another view if he’d had as much -married experience as you,” laughed Pascal.</p> - -<p>“If he lives to marry her,” was the gloomy response. -“To think he should sacrifice a chance like this for the -sake of a squeamish girl.”</p> - -<p>“Get those arms, man, and we may have yet a tough -bout or two here,” but Dubois shook his head discontentedly. -Pascal looked after him and shrugged his shoulders, -as he muttered to himself: “Your husband never -sees the same light in a pair of bright eyes as your lover. -Save me from marrying, say I, Pascal de la Tour.”</p> - -<p>A soft laugh broke in on his soliloquy, and he turned to -find Lucette looking at him, her face severely demure -but her eyes dancing with quizzical light.</p> - -<p>“Are you then in danger, monsieur?” she asked in a -tone of deep solicitude.</p> - -<p>“Any man might well be at such short range as this,” -he answered, meeting her gaze and laughing. “So you -heard me?”</p> - -<p>“I heard you calling on some one else to save you from -some dreadful fate, and the thought of any one in deep -trouble appeals to me.”</p> - -<p>“Danger it might be and yet not deep trouble. I can -well imagine there would be compensations—when I look -at you. You’re a born coquette, I fear, Lucette. I shall -have to read you a lecture or two.”</p> - -<p>“The experience of professors in any art is always to -be welcomed, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Do Dauban and de Cavannes agree in that? They’ve -had a pretty fair taste of the experience, at any rate,” -he laughed.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>“Do you rate yourself on the same footing with -them?”</p> - -<p>“In your eyes, do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“They are canaille, Monsieur Pascal.”</p> - -<p>“Some fishermen are so keen at the sport that when -they can’t hook the trout they are glad to take the -minnows.”</p> - -<p>“And some minnows are so self-ignorant they do not -know they are not salmon,” she retorted, with a flash of -the eyes.</p> - -<p>“A fair hit, mademoiselle. Shall we cry a truce?”</p> - -<p>“I came to ask what has been decided?”</p> - -<p>“Babillon has been here”—and he told her what had -passed.</p> - -<p>“Ah, you soldiers always want to be killing something -or somebody,” she answered. “Gabrielle is right. She -is always right. She will be able to escape to this hiding -place at any moment and can lie hid in safety till the -storm passes. Men never think a woman can be right -except when she says ditto to what they may decide.”</p> - -<p>“Until I met you I may have held to some such heresy. -But did we not cry a truce? I am waving the white flag -of surrender.”</p> - -<p>“You are very provoking, Monsieur Pascal.”</p> - -<p>“And you are very charming, Mademoiselle Lucette.”</p> - -<p>At this moment a soldier came hurrying to them.</p> - -<p>“Another messenger has arrived from the Castle, -Lieutenant. We managed to mislead him long enough -to get him to deliver his message. He reports that the -hunt for the fugitives at Crevasse has proved fruitless; -the men have returned from there to the Castle empty-handed -and he was despatched at once to ascertain -whether anything had been seen of them here.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“We were sending him back with a message that all -was quiet here when his suspicions were aroused and we -had to detain him like the rest.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span>“Did you question him?” asked Pascal, looking very -grave.</p> - -<p>“Yes, monsieur. He would say but little; he made a -dash to escape and when we stopped him, declared that -there would be plenty of his comrades here to know why -he had not returned.”</p> - -<p>“Keep him safe. That is all,” said Pascal; and when -the man had gone he turned to Lucette. “The beginning -of the end, mademoiselle. We shall soon know -now which plan is right, the soldier’s or the woman’s?”</p> - -<p>They carried the ominous news to Gerard, who was -with Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“It had to come some time,” said Gerard. “Thank -God it hasn’t come earlier. Have all in readiness, Pascal, -to close the house the moment there is any sign of -the Duke’s approach.”</p> - -<p>And when all had been made ready against a surprise, -they waited, all filled with anxiety for what was to -follow.</p> - -<p>They had not long to wait. In less than a hour the -men on the look-out reported the approach of a strong -party of troops, and Gerard and Pascal hurried away to -decide upon the next step.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXV<br /> - - -<small>A RUSE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THERE was unfortunately no reason to doubt the -correctness of the ominous news, and for a -moment Gerard looked very grave when he -learnt that the approaching force numbered between fifty -and a hundred troops.</p> - -<p>“Are there likely to be any of our own men?” he -asked Pascal.</p> - -<p>“I fear not. Bassot told me that they were not held -of much use in this search work owing to their ignorance -of the place.”</p> - -<p>“Yet we might venture it. It would be a stroke. -What say you, Pascal? Shall we let them all enter and -risk a struggle to capture them? We should get some -of the arms we want so badly. They are all carrying -muskets.”</p> - -<p>“That is more like you, Gerard,” cried Pascal enthusiastically. -“A stroke worth making, indeed, and if well -planned easy enough.”</p> - -<p>“Quick, then. Here is the plan. Post men to command -the great hall; it is there we may take the main -body of them, and dispose the rest as secretly as you can -in the upper floors. Let no one but men of the household -be about when they come to the door. Let them -show fear and surprise, and, delaying as long as they -can in safety, admit at last that we are in the house. -The soldiers will not all enter at once, but if a search has -to be made for us, most of them will have to be brought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span> -in for it. Let the search go on, and when the soldiers -are straggled in parties over the house, we can deal with -them. Mademoiselle de Malincourt and Lucette must -go to the chapel crypt to be ready to fly should the -plan fail.”</p> - -<p>“One suggestion I have,” said Pascal quickly. “The -shrewdest tongue in Malincourt is between Mademoiselle -Lucette’s white teeth, and if she would meet the men on -their entry she would be best for the purpose.”</p> - -<p>“I will sound her. Go you and post the men,” and -Gerard hurried back to Gabrielle and Lucette and explained -his scheme. Lucette gladly agreed to play the -part asked, and listened carefully as Gerard gave her all -the necessary instructions.</p> - -<p>“Delay them all you can,” he said. “Every minute is -precious. There are but some two hours now to dark, -and if we can hold the place through the night the delay -may save everything.”</p> - -<p>He led Gabrielle to the chapel crypt while Lucette -ran down to the great hall to wait for the coming of the -troops. Their own men were hurrying to their hiding -places under the directions of Pascal and the officers, all -laughing gleefully enough at the prospect of the coming -tussle. But the dispositions were made very rapidly, and -Lucette had been alone some minutes before the tramp -of the men outside was heard, followed by a loud summons -for admission.</p> - -<p>Lucette told one of the servants to open the door, and -he was pushed brusquely to one side as an officer with -some dozen men filed into the house.</p> - -<p>Lucette gave a cry of surprise and alarm.</p> - -<p>“What is the meaning of this, monsieur?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry if I disturb you, mademoiselle,” said the -officer, saluting her, “but my orders are imperative.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to shoot us all, monsieur?” He was -young and good-looking she found, as she brought the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span> -battery of her eyes into action, and he answered her smile -with another.</p> - -<p>“Not quite that, mademoiselle; pray be reassured. But -some strange things have happened——”</p> - -<p>“This is surely one of them, monsieur,” she interposed, -with a shrug of her pretty shoulders and a little -grimace of dismay.</p> - -<p>“You know that we are looking for some prisoners -who escaped last night from the Castle and——”</p> - -<p>“Prisoners! And you look for them in Malincourt. -Monsieur!” Admirably assumed indignation it was, -and every interruption meant a gain of time. “Do you -think we harbour thieves and malefactors here?”</p> - -<p>“These are no ordinary prisoners, mademoiselle,” he -replied with another smile. He found Lucette’s eyes -very pleasing to gaze into.</p> - -<p>“And you are no ordinary thief-catcher, monsieur. A -gallant captain like yourself must find such work little -to your taste.”</p> - -<p>“We have to obey orders, mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>“And frighten poor girls out of their wits, it seems. -I thought all soldiers were as gallant as most of them -are handsome,” and she pointed this with a very telling -glance.</p> - -<p>“You need be in no fear, mademoiselle, if you will but -let us do our duty.”</p> - -<p>“Then you are not going to arrest me?” and she -laughed, and added as she made more havoc with her -eyes: “I think I could trust myself to you, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Is Mademoiselle de Malincourt here?”</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle de Malincourt!” This in a tone of -intense astonishment. “What will you ask me next? Is -she one of your escaped prisoners?” and Lucette burst -into a peal of merry laughter.</p> - -<p>“His Excellency the Governor is anxious to see her -at the Castle, and we are to escort her there.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>“You speak in riddles, monsieur. Do you mean that -the Duke de Rochelle invites guests to the Castle with a -file of soldiers to see that they accept the invitation? -Surely I am dreaming.”</p> - -<p>“One of the prisoners who escaped was a friend of -mademoiselle, and she is asked for at the Castle in regard -to the matter.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you mean you would make her a prisoner. -Then, if she were here, I would refuse to tell you.”</p> - -<p>“It will be better to answer me directly,” said the -officer.</p> - -<p>“Did you ever know a woman who could, monsieur?”</p> - -<p>“By your leave I must press for a decided reply to -my question.”</p> - -<p>“And by your leave I deny your right to question me -and expect any reply.”</p> - -<p>“As you please, of course,” he answered courteously. -“There is another matter. A guard of men was left here -this morning when the house had been searched——”</p> - -<p>“Searched?” broke in Lucette. “Searched? Malincourt -searched! There has been no search of Malincourt -while I have been here. True, I was absent in -attendance upon the Duchess de Rochelle this morning, -but Malincourt searched! Surely you are misinformed.”</p> - -<p>“It is as I say. The house was searched in the belief -that the prisoners were here, or Mademoiselle de Malincourt -herself, and a guard was left in case they should -seek refuge here.”</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle de Malincourt seek refuge in her own -house! Monsieur!”</p> - -<p>“I think you must know of this,” he answered smiling.</p> - -<p>“I am sure you are too frank to deceive me. I would -trust you.”</p> - -<p>“You are very good. I do not like this errand, it is -true, but I have no option save to perform it.”</p> - -<p>“I can understand that, monsieur,” she said, with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span> -glance that made him wish any one else had been chosen -for the task. “You have too good a heart to wish to -frighten a poor girl like myself, or to persecute a noble -innocent girl like Mademoiselle de Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“Several messengers have been sent here during the -day and none of them have returned. I have come -therefore to learn the reason.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, monsieur. It is very strange,” and Lucette -looked at him, almost sympathetically. “What do -you wish me to do?”</p> - -<p>“I must see the guard for myself, mademoiselle.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, monsieur. Where are they?”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me. You are either keeping matters from -me—which I assure you will be useless—or you are -strangely ignorant of what has occurred here.”</p> - -<p>“I think it must be both, monsieur, don’t you?” and -they laughed together at the reply.</p> - -<p>“I beg you tell me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, am I the guard? Very well. What shall I -tell you?”</p> - -<p>He made a gesture of impatience.</p> - -<p>“Where are the soldiers? My orders are to use all -despatch.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, then I am not the guard,” she cried with a laugh, -and then seriously: “I give you my word, monsieur, I -have been in the house some hours and have seen neither -the guard nor the messengers.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen the prisoners, mademoiselle?”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur. That question is almost an insult!”</p> - -<p>“I mean no insult to so charming a lady, I assure you; -but you leave me no option save to search the house.”</p> - -<p>“What, again?” she cried in a merry bantering tone. -“I did not know the great Duke was organizing a game -of hide and go seek. But, seriously, monsieur, do you -think your party is strong enough? We have a number -of very savage old men among the Malincourt retainers, -and some younger girls than I.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>“There will be none prettier, mademoiselle, and none -with more biting tongues. I should wish to do it with -the least inconvenience.”</p> - -<p>“Then I beg you have in all your men and search all -the wings at once,” said Lucette quickly. “I shall see -you again when it is over,” a true saying with another -meaning than the young officer understood, and she went -away, having successfully used up an invaluable half-hour.</p> - -<p>Pascal and Gerard had heard it all from their post -above stairs and were ready with their plans. The -officer lost no time now in bringing in all but a dozen -of his party, and he despatched them through the house -with orders to search every room closely from roof to -cellars, thus falling straight into the trap laid for him -and them.</p> - -<p>He himself remained below by the door until he heard -the scuffling sound of a struggle somewhere on an upper -floor. A voice called to him: “They are here, lieutenant,” -and at that he dashed up the stairs, the rest -of his men close at his heels.</p> - -<p>It was but a ruse to draw him away, and the moment -he had gone, Gerard sent a man to the door who beckoned -excitedly to the troops outside to enter, and as they -dashed in, mistaking the man for one of their comrades, -they were seized, disarmed and hurried away in custody—the -blow being cleverly, quickly, and almost silently -struck.</p> - -<p>Another false alarm was now raised in a different wing -of the house, and those soldiers who rushed to follow -the sound were caught in the same way. Other false -alarms followed in various directions, until the searchers, -utterly bewildered and confused, ran first one way and -then another, only to be caught in the net so warily and -cleverly spread.</p> - -<p>At length the young officer with the remainder came<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span> -down to the central hall, and with a ringing shout called -his men to him. At this Pascal stepped toward him.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry, monsieur, but I have found it necessary -to detain your men for a time.”</p> - -<p>At a word from the officer every musket was levelled -point blank at him, but he remained perfectly cool.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” demanded the officer. “But whoever -you are, you are my prisoner, and if you move my -men will fire.”</p> - -<p>“Your men can fire if you order, monsieur,” answered -Pascal calmly, “but it will be quite useless. You are -covered by forty muskets,” and he waved his hand round -the place where his soldiers now showed themselves. -“For your own sake I urge you to avoid bloodshed.”</p> - -<p>“By God, I’ll not be trapped like this,” cried the officer -furiously, and drawing his sword he rushed to cut Pascal -down.</p> - -<p>“I am unarmed and you are too brave a man to strike -me,” said Pascal very quietly, as with folded arms he -awaited the attack, looking him steadily in the face.</p> - -<p>His daring had its effect, and his opponent’s arm -dropped even as he was in the act of striking, and the -next moment he and his men were surrounded by three -times their number.</p> - -<p>“I owe you an explanation, monsieur,” said Pascal. -“Those you seek are here in Malincourt, and it was impossible -to allow you to obey your orders. We are in -strong force and, save for this ruse, we should have -resisted to the death. As it is, no harm will come either -to you or your men. On that you have my word as a -soldier. But for the present at least we cannot let you -carry news back to the Castle. You will give me your -word not to resist or try to escape, and I will not ask -you for your sword. Your men’s muskets we have had -to take, as we are short of arms.”</p> - -<p>The officer made a great effort to imitate Pascal’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> -coolness, but he was very young, and this humiliation -before his men was unendurable. He had to struggle -for self-control and well nigh broke down.</p> - -<p>“I give no parole,” he said, his lips trembling.</p> - -<p>“I respect your courage,” said Pascal, with both dignity -and feeling, “and I beg you to spare me the distress -of resorting to the only alternative.”</p> - -<p>“Not the only alternative, by God,” cried the officer -desperately, and turning suddenly he hurled himself at -the soldiers who stood between him and the door.</p> - -<p>But they were tough campaigners, much too wary to -be caught by surprise, and in an instant his sword was -knocked out of his hand by a blow from a clubbed -musket which disabled his arm and he found himself -in the grip of those who knew how to hold him.</p> - -<p>“I am very sorry, monsieur, but the fault is with you,” -said Pascal, and with a sign to the men he was led away. -As he passed, Lucette met him, but he would not look at -her, and hung his head that she might not see the traces -of mortification in his face.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry, monsieur,” she said gently, “but I was -fighting for those dearer to me than life.”</p> - -<p>“I do not fight with women, mademoiselle, and pardon -your deceit.”</p> - -<p>“But you are hurt; let me bind your arm,” she said -solicitously, seeing that it dangled at his side.</p> - -<p>He drew himself up and looked at her steadily as he -replied—</p> - -<p>“Thank you, mademoiselle; the wound to my arm is -nothing, but you have killed my trust in the word of a -beautiful woman,” and he signed to the men in charge -of him to take him on.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry for him,” she said to Pascal.</p> - -<p>“He brought it on himself, the hot-headed young -fool,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“How brave you are, monsieur! I saw him rush at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span> -you and believed he would have killed you. And you -were so cool.”</p> - -<p>“We had to avoid bloodshed, somehow, and thank -God we did so. And now, what will be the next move -from the Castle when this party like the rest don’t return? -How shrewdly you held him in talk, mademoiselle. -You wasted half an hour at least, and now -another is gone. It will be dark before the Duke gets -here after all.”</p> - -<p>“I am almost ashamed of my part,” murmured -Lucette.</p> - -<p>“Nay, ’tis all fair in war, and—some other things. -But I am getting more afraid of you than ever,” answered -Pascal, laughing and turning to meet Gerard, -who had been to tell Gabrielle the news, and now came -up with her. She congratulated Pascal on the success.</p> - -<p>“We are strong enough now to hold the place throughout -the night,” said Pascal to Gerard.</p> - -<p>“Strong enough, too, to speak with force behind us. -If the Governor comes, I shall declare myself to him.”</p> - -<p>“He will come after this,” said Pascal drily. “And -while the light remains with us we can best use it by -settling the plan of defence.”</p> - -<p>They were engaged in this when, as the dusk was -falling, the approach of more troops was announced. -The house was soon found to be surrounded and the -Governor himself was seen, with de Proballe at his side, -giving orders to the troops.</p> - -<p>After some anxious minutes a demand that the door -should be opened was made in a loud voice. No answer -was returned, and a second demand followed, accompanied -with the threat that it would be forced.</p> - -<p>Then Pascal showed himself at an upper window.</p> - -<p>“By what right do you threaten force?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“I threaten it,” cried the Duke, “as Governor of -Morvaix.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>“You have no right, my lord Duke. I am holding it -by command of the Lord Gerard de Bourbon under the -authority of your Suzerain, the Duke de Bourbon, whose -officer I am.”</p> - -<p>“Where is this Lord Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“I am here,” said Gerard, stepping forward.</p> - -<p>The Governor laughed contemptuously, and de Proballe -joined him.</p> - -<p>“Come out to me, then, that I may pay my homage,” -he sneered. “Why didn’t you announce yourself before, -that I might have rendered it when you were a prisoner -in the Castle?”</p> - -<p>“I shall receive your homage in my own time, and -when I come for it it will be with sufficient force at my -back to exact it.”</p> - -<p>“Your noble lordship’s caution is timely, yet a little -suspicious, considering all things. If you will not come -out to me, open the door of Malincourt that I may come -in to you. I am more than wishful to render you your -due. I am anxious, I promise you.”</p> - -<p>“I am the bearer of a despatch to your lordship from -my father, which will prove the commission I hold from -him.”</p> - -<p>“By all means bring it me.”</p> - -<p>“I am sending it that you may see great Bourbon’s -seal and signature,” and as he spoke a young lieutenant -who had left the house secretly made his way toward the -Governor and handed him the paper.</p> - -<p>The Governor took it with a scowl and glanced at it.</p> - -<p>“Have you any other forgeries?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I await your answer and submission.”</p> - -<p>“Submission, in God’s name! And pray what are -your noble lordship’s commands for me?”</p> - -<p>“That you at once dismiss the force that you have -wrongfully brought against this house and leave me and -all here in peace.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span>“Hell’s peace!” roared the Governor. “Here is my -answer,” and he tore the paper in two and flung it into -the messenger’s face, bidding two of the soldiers seize -him. “I have a further answer yet. If you do not surrender -yourself and all in the house within an hour, I -will order my troops to take it by force and burn it as -the refuge of a murderer.”</p> - -<p>“We are in great strength, and shall resist you. You -will refuse my demands at your peril.”</p> - -<p>The Governor’s reply was a threat, emphasized with -an oath as he wheeled his horse round and rode off.</p> - -<p>“There goes the last chance of avoiding a conflict,” -said Pascal, as he and Gerard watched him.</p> - -<p>“I am not so sure,” answered Gerard thoughtfully. -“We have taken him by surprise and set him a problem, -and he is not so dull-witted as to think the solution can -be found with just a threat and a curse.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVI<br /> - - -<small>AT THE CITY GATES</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">GERARD’S judgment that the unexpected position -at Malincourt would be found much too formidable -to be dismissed with a curse and a threat -was quite correct.</p> - -<p>The Governor was furiously angry, and as sternly resolved -as ever to carry his purpose through; nothing -should be suffered to come between him and it; but the -last few hours had revealed certain obstacles to the importance -of which even his selfish rage could not blind -him.</p> - -<p>He had had convincing proof that in threatening -Gabrielle he would provoke far greater and more dangerous -antagonism than any he had yet encountered at any -time of his government.</p> - -<p>The first sign of this had come from the Duchess -herself. She had sent for him soon after Lucette had -left the Castle, and after avowing her share in procuring -Gerard’s escape, had met his storm of invective with a -stubborn resistance culminating in a solemn declaration -that if harm was done to a hair of Gabrielle’s head, she -would have herself carried in her bed out into the streets -of Morvaix and denounce him and his acts to the citizens, -and if that did not avail she would take the matter, if it -cost her her life, to the King of France himself.</p> - -<p>He had laughed at her threats, but they had gone -home, none the less, and had rendered him ill at ease.</p> - -<p>More was to come, however. Babillon was right in -saying the city was roused by the news that Gabrielle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span> -was a fugitive from the Castle troops. She was beloved -in Morvaix by people of every class, rich and poor alike; -and hundreds of them were ready to spend their lives in -her defence.</p> - -<p>Those who had not had personal experience of her -innumerable acts of charity and kindness were bound to -the House of Malincourt by ties of allegiance which had -stood the test of many years of turbulence and crisis. -In former troubles their attitude had been decided by -that of the Maison, and when Malincourt had stood -aloof in any quarrel, they had been neutral. And now -every member of every family was stirred to the depths -by the report of her danger.</p> - -<p>The Governor’s agents in the city had brought him -word of this, and the citizens themselves had been to -the Castle to seek assurances of her safety from the -Governor. Hot words had passed on both sides, but the -Governor had found it discreet to appease them by giving -the assurances of her safety and explaining that the -object of the pursuit was merely a prisoner, a murderer, -who had escaped from the Castle.</p> - -<p>Hints had been given him, too, discreetly and almost -timorously, by some of his officers that the concern on -Gabrielle’s account was not confined to the city, but had -also spread to such of the troops as were Morvaix men, -and that reliance upon them in any attack upon her could -not be fully placed.</p> - -<p>Considerations of this disquieting character could not -but produce an effect even upon the iron of his will, but -he still saw a way to gain his end without open conflict -with the forces supporting the Malincourt influence. He -could coerce Gabrielle through her lover. If Gerard -could be recaptured he would have once more the means -of secretly compelling the consent which it might be -dangerous to force from her by open violence. She -would consent to be his wife to save Gerard.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>And here it was that he found the position at Malincourt -so disconcerting. He did not doubt that Gabrielle -was in the Maison with Gerard and he had gone -there anticipating no more opposition to his entry than -the presence of a large body of troops could at once -remove. But instead of that, he found the maison -barred against him and held by a force which his soldier’s -eye showed him was both powerful and ably disposed -for purposes of defence.</p> - -<p>That he could carry the place with the resources at -his command was not, of course, open to question; -although there would be a stout resistance involving -bloodshed and the loss of many lives on both sides. It -was not this which made him hesitate. But to batter the -maison to pieces and burn it while Gabrielle was inside -with the defenders, was at once to subject her to imminent -personal danger and to rouse every one of her supporters -in the city to active interference.</p> - -<p>There was another course open, however: to starve -those in Malincourt to surrender. It involved delay, -always distasteful to his impetuous overbearing will, but -it was less dangerous and in the end would be equally -effective. Thus he decided to adopt it, and at the same -time to keep up a sufficient show of force to intimidate -those in Malincourt. He could easily surround the house -so that not a soul could leave it, and by an occasional -feint could harry those defending it and thus hasten their -submission.</p> - -<p>First, however, he would make sure that Gabrielle was -really in Malincourt, and at the end of the hour of grace -he had allowed, he caused another summons for admission -to be made, and when as before Pascal appeared in -answer to it, he demanded to speak with Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>She came at once, with Gerard at her side, and very -proud and defiant she looked.</p> - -<p>“I wish you to understand the nature of the resistance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span> -you are offering to me, mademoiselle, and the consequences,” -began the Governor.</p> - -<p>“I understand it perfectly, my lord,” she answered -resolutely.</p> - -<p>“You are harbouring at Malincourt a prisoner of -mine, and this neither the laws of France nor I myself -can permit.”</p> - -<p>“There is no one in Malincourt, my lord, who can -rightly be termed your prisoner. Whom do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“The man who stands at your side, at whose escape -from my prison you connived.”</p> - -<p>“You mean the Lord Gerard de Bourbon. It is by -his commands that the doors of Malincourt are closed -against you. And they will remain closed, my lord.”</p> - -<p>“They cannot remain closed against the forces at my -disposal.”</p> - -<p>“If you as Governor of Morvaix think you dare to use -violence against the son of your Suzerain, the great Duke -de Bourbon, you must act as you will.”</p> - -<p>“I demand that that man be given up to me.”</p> - -<p>“And I decline to listen to a demand I deem infamous.”</p> - -<p>“I wish no harm to come to you, mademoiselle, and -if you will give him up, I will at once withdraw my -troops from Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“No harm can come to me, my lord Duke. I am with -those who know how to protect me.”</p> - -<p>“The blood of those who may suffer if you drive me -to use force will be upon your head. I have told you -you can go free.”</p> - -<p>“The blood of the Bourbon soldiers here will be shed -freely in defence of their master, and for the rest the -responsibility is yours, my lord, not mine.”</p> - -<p>“I give you this last chance to avoid a conflict.”</p> - -<p>Gerard whispered to her before she answered.</p> - -<p>“You ask me to surrender, and I am authorized by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span> -my Lord Gerard de Bourbon to answer you thus. Cry -a truce for forty-eight hours and we will come to you -voluntarily to the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“I will not give you forty-eight seconds,” was the -angry reply, and with that the Governor turned away.</p> - -<p>He rapidly completed his dispositions for the feinted -attack which commenced almost immediately. It was -delivered with much show of force from four different -points round the house, and was accompanied by a great -deal of musketry firing on both sides. But this, owing -to the darkness, did little or no harm to either party.</p> - -<p>The result satisfied the Governor that there really was -a considerable body of men opposed to him, and he drew -off his troops and surrounded the maison, and left instructions -with the officer in command to keep up the -pretence of an attack and to make one or two demonstrations -during the night. Then he rode back to the -Castle, carrying with him the conviction that in a day -or two at most Gerard would be again in his hands.</p> - -<p>Inside Malincourt a very different view of the position -was taken. The attack was regarded as the proof of the -Governor’s intention to make good his threat to storm -the maison and burn it; while the ease with which it was -beaten off only served to rouse the suspicion that it was -no more than the preface to a much more serious effort.</p> - -<p>“His object is to test our strength,” said Gerard to -Pascal, “and to see whether we really are in any force. -We may look for the real fighting later. If we had -known, we would have saved our powder.”</p> - -<p>“We could ill spare it. Slight as the thing was, it -has made grievous inroads on our supply.”</p> - -<p>“We need not be anxious. It will last out till morning, -and then we shall go. They are likely to try and -harry us through the night, so that we must be on our -guard, but the real attack will be delivered in daylight, -and before it comes we must be out of the house. We<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span> -have gained our end, the delay of a night, and for to-morrow -we can safely trust ourselves to the burghers.”</p> - -<p>“I would rather have trusted to these walls if only -Babillon could have got up with the arms.”</p> - -<p>“But he cannot, in the face of the soldiery round the -house.”</p> - -<p>“There is the secret passage. I could go and find -him and guide him by that way.”</p> - -<p>“But the risk, man. If a suspicion were roused we -should have the one chance of escape stopped. Not for -an armoury full of guns and powder would I have that -way discovered.”</p> - -<p>“True enough; it is perhaps too great a risk,” agreed -Pascal.</p> - -<p>“My plan is this,” explained Gerard. “We will hold -the maison through the night—unless I am wrong and -we are to be driven from it by force—and in the morning -we will slip away secretly, Lucette and you accompanying -us, and make first for the gates to leave the city -with the pass we took from the spy, and if we fail we -shall place ourselves in the hands of the burghers.”</p> - -<p>“And the men here?”</p> - -<p>“Must remain until the last possible moment as a ruse. -D’Artois will stay in command, and every show of continued -resistance must be maintained. You’ll see my -thought. The Governor knows we are here and thinks -he has us safely caged. In that belief the restrictions -about passing in and out of the city will probably be relaxed; -the search parties will be recalled from the city, -and I am mistaken if a bold front and a slight disguise -will not be all that is necessary for us to get away. Then -by nightfall we shall be back with the troops to read this -Governor a lesson.”</p> - -<p>“D’Artois had better continue the resistance here?”</p> - -<p>“Only in form, of course. No lives need be thrown -away. The only need is to blind the Castle people. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span> -when the attack grows serious he can either surrender or -escape by the same means we shall use, the men scattering -and resuming the monkish disguise. Even if they -are captured and taken to the Castle nothing will be done -to them before we are back with d’Alembert.”</p> - -<p>They were still discussing their plans when the second -feint was made by the Castle troops, and the ease with -which this was also repulsed confirmed Gerard in his -belief that the night would see no serious attack, and -when matters had quieted down and the last shot had -been fired, he prevailed upon Gabrielle and Lucette to -attempt to get some sleep. They should be roused at -the first sign of any real danger, but what they had to -do during the coming day made it imperative that they -should at least lie down, even if sleep were impossible.</p> - -<p>And impossible it was for all in the maison. A most -vigilant watch had to be kept, and Gerard and Pascal -were constantly moving from point to point, that no -single precaution should be slackened and not a movement -of the troops outside pass unobserved.</p> - -<p>So matters remained until the dawn. When the light -broke at length, the great strength of the Castle force -was immediately apparent, spreading as it did all round -the maison in imposing numbers that filled Gabrielle -and Lucette with consternation.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle was for instant flight, indeed, but Gerard decided -for some further delay.</p> - -<p>“We have to wait until the Governor shall have had -time to give fresh instructions to the captains of the city -gates, or we cannot get through.”</p> - -<p>Then Lucette suggested a serious objection.</p> - -<p>“Gabrielle is so well known that she will be recognized -at the gates, and although she might pass, any one -with her would be at once suspected and stopped.”</p> - -<p>“I am hoping that the gates will be open to all,” replied -Gerard, “and that no one will be stopped. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span> -she will be disguised. We shall all be, in fact—Pascal -and I as monks.”</p> - -<p>“But if they are not open?”</p> - -<p>“Then we have this pass of Dauban’s and the disguises.”</p> - -<p>“Monks do not act as cavaliers to ladies, monsieur,” -objected Lucette, and despite the gravity of the situation -they smiled.</p> - -<p>“There is M. de Proballe’s wardrobe,” suggested -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Aye, we might pass for rogues, Gerard,” laughed -Pascal. “But for my part, I’d rather take the risk and -play monk.”</p> - -<p>“May I suggest?” asked Lucette. “A plain burgher’s -or merchant’s dress would be safest, with the monks’ -gabardines carried for use in case of need. And these -could easily be furnished here in the maison.”</p> - -<p>“We must have weapons, Lucette,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“They could be covered with wrappings to look like -staves or some part of your merchandise. There is no -difficulty there, surely. The real difficulty is Gabrielle’s -face, I fear.”</p> - -<p>“I like the plan,” was Pascal’s emphatic verdict. -“But I would have a change in it. Let Mademoiselle -Lucette and myself, if she will trust herself to me, try -to leave the city first. If we are turned back, or even -held by the guard, it will be no grievous matter; and you -and mademoiselle can see how it fares with us. If we -have to show the pass to get through, we can go a short -distance and I can return on the plea that something -has been forgotten, and can hand it to you.”</p> - -<p>This scheme was discussed at length to be finally -adopted, and Gabrielle and Lucette were left to settle the -best device they could fashion to conceal what Lucette -had termed the real difficulty—Gabrielle’s face.</p> - -<p>Lucette solved the problem by means of a large hooded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span> -cloak, such as was not uncommonly worn by the burghers’ -and merchants’ wives in travelling. Drawn over the -head and low down over the brow, it fastened under the -chin, but a little alteration by Lucette’s deft fingers so -arranged it that much of the lower part of the face was -also hidden, and when she was ready to start, both -Gerard and Pascal smiled at the little device.</p> - -<p>“A burgher’s spouse to the life,” exclaimed Pascal, -whose irrepressible spirits were as high as if they were -all bent on a picnic. “And on the pillion no one will -know miladi of Malincourt!”</p> - -<p>“If Babillon can get us the horses, that is,” said -Gerard, for they were first to make for Babillon’s house.</p> - -<p>“Crowns are crowns in Morvaix, Gerard, and speak -the same language as everywhere else; and if he cannot, -I will. Shall we start?”</p> - -<p>“We have told d’Artois everything?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. I supplemented what you said with an -hour’s lecture.”</p> - -<p>“Pray God we get away and do not find the Castle -men have spread out too far.”</p> - -<p>“I have made sure of that,” answered Pascal. “I’ve -been out to look for myself.”</p> - -<p>“Come then,” and they started.</p> - -<p>“I would poor Denys could be with us,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“I have seen him and told him all,” replied Lucette. -“He is much better, but knows he has not strength -enough for this.”</p> - -<p>Gerard was very grave and anxious in his concern for -Gabrielle, and as they passed through the chapel, down -into the crypt and along the dark, mouldy, gloomy passage, -scarce a word was spoken. But as soon as they -emerged into the fresh air, Pascal, who had gone on first -to make sure no one was about, began to talk. He -walked with Lucette, Gerard and Gabrielle being ahead.</p> - -<p>“We mustn’t look like a funeral procession, mademoiselle.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>“If you were as anxious for me as M. Gerard is for -Gabrielle, you too might be solemn, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>He glanced at her and smiled.</p> - -<p>“Hadn’t we better settle the parts we mean to play?”</p> - -<p>“What are they?”</p> - -<p>“Well, to begin with, we’d better stop this ‘monsieur’ -and ‘mademoiselle’ to each other. My name, as you -know, is Pascal, and yours is Lucette, and they are -neither of them names to be ashamed of. What say -you—Lucette?”</p> - -<p>“Just as you wish—Pascal,” and she copied his pause -and tone, and laughed.</p> - -<p>“Good. Now we must be something to each other, -because we may be asked. Strangers don’t go riding -about together as we have to; and we’re not strangers -either.”</p> - -<p>“I am beginning to know something of you, at any -rate.”</p> - -<p>“And an excellent education I hope you find it. Now, -what do you say to brother and sister?”</p> - -<p>“We might have to quarrel with one another in that -case, or at least be discourteous. Is that what you wish—Pascal?”</p> - -<p>“That’s an excellent imitation of a sister’s manner—Lucette. -But as we don’t want to quarrel, and I am -plain burgher and you Madame Burgher, we might be -husband and wife.”</p> - -<p>“It would be a loveless marriage, wouldn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve heard of them before,” he laughed drily. “But -it would certainly be a marriage of convenience.”</p> - -<p>“And many of those are but little more acting than -this. But I think in such a case I should be a scold.”</p> - -<p>“I am afraid you would, but as my back will be to -you when you’re on the pillion, I don’t know that that -will matter. How clear the roads are,” he said, breaking -into earnestness for a moment. His eyes had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span> -cast sharply in all directions, despite his laughing manner -and words.</p> - -<p>“Do you think we shall get through? Poor Gabrielle -is so anxious.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, that’s one of the troubles. She’s too anxious -to play her part well, I fear. She’s not like—Madame -Burgher.”</p> - -<p>“Nor is M. Gerard like—Monsieur Burgher.”</p> - -<p>“Well, let us hope the husband and wife will get their -two charges safely through. We shall reach Babillon’s, -at any rate,” he said soon afterwards, as they came in -sight of the house. “I pray we shall find better luck -than last time.”</p> - -<p>But they did not. The house was closed, and when -they knocked and Babillon’s wife admitted them, it was -to say that her husband had not been home all night.</p> - -<p>“It’s not a serious matter,” said Pascal, making light -of it, as he did of all difficulties. “Wait here, and I’ll -go and find a couple of horses somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“But Babillon could have given us news of how matters -stand at the gates and a hundred other things,” replied -Gerard uneasily.</p> - -<p>“All of which we shall now have to find out for ourselves -instead,” and learning where he was likely to procure -horses, Pascal went off on his search. He was soon -back, riding one horse and leading another.</p> - -<p>“The city is much quieter this morning. I had a talk -with the man where I got these,” he reported, “and he -says all the soldiers who were searching the city have -been recalled to the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“And about the gates?”</p> - -<p>“He knew nothing, and I could ask no more than a -general question, or I might have stirred suspicion. Now, -Madame Burgher,” he said to Lucette, and there was -some laughing between them over settling her in the -pillion. But Gerard was in no mood to see any objects<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span> -for jesting, and Gabrielle was so pale and anxious that -Lucette declared it was a good thing indeed no more of -her features could be seen.</p> - -<p>“Now for a bold face on things and a laugh if you -can, Lucette,” cried Pascal, “and we’ll soon see whether -an honest burgher and his wife cannot ride abroad together -in this uncomfortable fashion on a fine July morning.”</p> - -<p>They rode slowly toward the city gate, Gerard and -Gabrielle following some distance behind. Pascal -laughed and gestured over his shoulder to Lucette, until -coming in sight of the gate he said exultantly—</p> - -<p>“God be thanked, it’s open, Lucette. We shan’t be -husband and wife much longer, if all goes well.”</p> - -<p>“A thought which seems to give you consummate -relief,” she answered.</p> - -<p>“Aye, the responsibilities of a husband weigh heavily -on me, good wife—as heavily, maybe, as the double -burden on this good patient beast. Good morning, monsieur,” -he broke off, as a soldier stepped in the way and -held up his hand. But Pascal made no effort to check -the horse, and was passing on with a nod and a smile -when the man laid a hand on the bridle and brought the -horse to a stop.</p> - -<p>“What is it, monsieur?” asked Pascal. “Cannot an -honest man and his wife pass on his business?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, monsieur. All those who are known to us can -pass. Dismount, if you please, and come to the officer -of the gate.”</p> - -<p>Pascal mumbled something in a discontented tone and -then dismounted.</p> - -<p>He gave Lucette one glance with an ominous lift of -the eyebrows. She understood the look—that the check -was a very ugly one—but with an admirably feigned air -of extreme vexation, she exclaimed—</p> - -<p>“How you bungle things, Pascal. To bring me out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span> -like this! One might as well have a wooden head for -a husband.”</p> - -<p>“Peace, scold, peace. It is no fault of mine,” he -answered crossly.</p> - -<p>And the soldier smiled.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVII<br /> - - -<small>HUNTED</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">PASCAL was agreeably surprised when the officer -to whom he was conducted, a man of some thirty -years of age with a frank face, commenced with -a quasi apology.</p> - -<p>“This is not a very pleasant duty of mine, monsieur, -but you’ll understand it is a duty. I am here in place -of Captain Boutelle, and my instructions are not to allow -any one to pass the gate who is not known. But as I -know scarcely any one while he knows many, it is rather -a hardship for the citizens. Your name, please?”</p> - -<p>“Pascal Tourelle.” The officer wrote it down, saying -the while—</p> - -<p>“I am sorry I do not recognize you, M. Tourelle. -Your occupation?”</p> - -<p>“Merchant—chiefly in steel wares.”</p> - -<p>“You are not of Morvaix; your accent tells me that.”</p> - -<p>“I am of Paris; my master’s affairs have brought me -to this district.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, Paris!” exclaimed the officer. “I envy you, -monsieur. Married?”</p> - -<p>“My wife rides with me,” said Pascal.</p> - -<p>“Her name?”</p> - -<p>“Lucette.” The officer looked up with a quick smile.</p> - -<p>“Pardon the smile,” he said, “but the name is unusual -and recalls associations for me.”</p> - -<p>“The devil it does! Can she have been flirting here -as well!” was Pascal’s thought, but he looked stolidly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span> -at the questioner as he replied, producing Dauban’s -pass—</p> - -<p>“I can save your time, monsieur, I think. I have a -pass.”</p> - -<p>“The date is yesterday’s,” and the officer shook his -head. “Did you mean to start yesterday? I am afraid -it is no use to me. But I need not trouble you further -except in one very simple thing. There will be plenty -of citizens who know you, and I will send a man with -you to any one who will identify you. I don’t distrust -your word, of course, but I am compelled to do this work. -And the Governor of Morvaix, as you may have heard, -is somewhat exacting. I am really sorry,” he said, rising. -“Perhaps Madame Tourelle will await you here.”</p> - -<p>It was most courteously suggested, but none the less -embarrassing on that account.</p> - -<p>“I think not, monsieur. She has some matters to -see to, I believe, which our earlier departure caused her -to put off until our return this evening, and will no -doubt prefer to see to them now while I fetch a citizen -to vouch for me. For the present, monsieur, good morning. -Accept my thanks for your courteous discharge of -an unpleasant duty.”</p> - -<p>But the officer was not to be shaken off.</p> - -<p>“I should have been glad to speak with her of Paris. -It is some years since I was there. Ah, Paris!” and -he sighed as if in pity for himself.</p> - -<p>“When I return, monsieur, it will give me pleasure to -see you again. I will not trouble you to send a man -with me, but will bring back some one who will satisfy -you as to me.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, monsieur, it is no more than a form. I will -send a man,” and while he turned away to give the -necessary instructions, Pascal hurried out to Lucette.</p> - -<p>“Go back to Gerard, and tell him the way is blocked. -I’ll find you at Babillon’s. Go at once, for God’s sake.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span> -The officer here pricked up his ears at your name and -may know you.”</p> - -<p>Lucette drew the end of the shawl which wrapped her -neck and shoulders across the lower part of her face as -the officer came out and looked curiously at her.</p> - -<p>“I know him, indeed,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Ah, these flirtings of yours, Lucette!” whispered -Pascal, as she wheeled the horse around. “Yes, in an -hour, here,” he added aloud, “and don’t keep me waiting. -It is as I thought, monsieur, my wife will return -to meet me here,” he said lightly, turning to the officer, -who was looking very intently indeed after Lucette.</p> - -<p>“Umph! Curious! A strange resemblance!” The -words were muttered in a low whisper, but not so low -as to escape Pascal’s sharp ears, and the officer gave him -a quick suspicious glance. Pascal’s easy indifference -appeared to reassure him, however. “Here’s the man, -monsieur,” he said.</p> - -<p>And again Pascal cursed his luck. It was the soldier -with whom he had made friends in going to the Castle -the preceding day. But he put his usual bold face on -the matter and with a salutation to the officer went off, -leaving the man to follow him.</p> - -<p>The officer looked after him thoughtfully, re-entered -the guard-house, read over the replies to his question, -and pondered them.</p> - -<p>“I must be wrong,” he mused. “But if so no harm -can be done in having her followed. ‘Pascal Tourelle -of Paris—and Lucette!’ I’ll send the names to Boutelle -at the Castle too, and be prepared against their -returning—if they do return. No, there might be trouble -that I didn’t detain them. But I’ll have the wife followed.” -He gave directions for this at once, and thus -laid a train that was to lead to serious consequences.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Pascal was cudgelling his wits how to get -rid of his companion, and felt none too easy under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span> -sharp glances which the man kept casting at him, as -they walked side by side.</p> - -<p>“Did I hear your name was Pascal Tourelle, monsieur?” -asked the soldier suspiciously.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what you heard, my man, but it is my -name. Pascal the First, that is.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve been a soldier, monsieur, haven’t you? I -judge by your bearing.”</p> - -<p>“In the Paris train bands. But one twin was as much -as my father could spare to the army.”</p> - -<p>“Twin?” questioned the man doubtingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, twin. Pascal the Second,” laughed Pascal. “A -good soldier he is too; and, like a good soldier, with a -palate for good wine and an eye for a pretty face. Lately -come to Morvaix. His presence brought me here. -He’s at the Castle.”</p> - -<p>“I know him,” was the reply, with a smile and a nod -and a knowing wink.</p> - -<p>“What! You know Pascal the Second!” and he -stopped and held out his hand. “Any comrade of his -is my friend, and I can do what he very frequently can’t, -pledge the friendship in a flask of good wine.”</p> - -<p>“You’re wonderfully like him, and to bear the same -name is curious too.” He spoke as if still suspicious.</p> - -<p>“Ah, if you knew the devils of messes he’s got me into -in Paris with this same name which my father’s whim -gave us, and this strange likeness! But come, where -shall we have the wine?”</p> - -<p>The soldier soon found a wine shop, and Pascal plied -him freely with liquor, a second flask quickly following -the first. When the second was still half full he rose -and said—</p> - -<p>“We’ve no time to finish it, I fear. We must find M. -Grimaud, the leather merchant, who will vouch for me -at the gate.” He coined the name at a venture.</p> - -<p>“’Tis a pity to leave it,” said the soldier, eyeing the -flask wistfully. “I don’t get such liquor every day.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>“It’s a good reason for your staying to finish it, while -I fetch M. Grimaud.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll come back?”</p> - -<p>“Nay, if you wish it, I’ll stay,” and he threw himself -back on to his seat with an air of impatience. “Be -quick, my good friend.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better go. It’s too good stuff to swallow in -gulps,” and the soldier winked appreciatively, as he emptied -his glass leisurely in sips and re-filled it.</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll have a third reason in, then. Luck waits -on odd numbers,” and he ordered the third flask, paid -the reckoning, and took half a glassful.</p> - -<p>The “third reason” carried conviction, and when Pascal -next rose to leave, the soldier no longer raised any -objection.</p> - -<p>What step to take next was a question of some difficulty. -The experience at the city gate had shown that -Pascal could only hope to leave if some burgher of -importance could be found to vouch for him, and the first -thought was to try and find some one who would do -this. But where to go? He could not tell who were for -the Castle and who for Malincourt, and to look for -Babillon was pretty much like looking for a bullet that -had missed its mark and buried itself somewhere in the -ground.</p> - -<p>He was standing in the market place gazing about him -vaguely and debating the thing when a stroke of fortune -came his way. He caught sight of Dubois and hurried -after him.</p> - -<p>The old soldier was in a gruff mood.</p> - -<p>“These burghers are fools: you know the sort, Pascal. -Babblers, gabblers, brawlers, windbags, with never an -ounce of resolution in the lot,” he said in reply to Pascal’s -question as to how he had fared with them. “A -cataract of talk and nothing else.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I want one of them to come and talk now,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span> -and Pascal told him what had occurred and what was -needed.</p> - -<p>“They’ll come and make you a speech, a round hundred -of ’em,” said Dubois, with a gesture of contempt. -“But I would not trust to one of them to act like a -sensible man.”</p> - -<p>“But can you find one to identify Gerard and get him -away?”</p> - -<p>“No. They’d think I had some underhand plan and -waste half the day in talking about it, and another half -in making up their minds and——”</p> - -<p>“Stay, man, don’t take example by them or you’ll split -my ear drums with your growling. Can it be done?”</p> - -<p>“Babillon might do it.”</p> - -<p>“Where is he?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you going?”</p> - -<p>“Anywhere out of the reach of their cackling. They’re -going to meet again at mid-day for some more babble—babble. -Why did you all leave Malincourt?”</p> - -<p>“The Governor surrounded it and made two attempts -to get it in the night.”</p> - -<p>“These wise men say they waited on him after the -firing and he assured them there was to be nothing more -done, and that he intended simply to sit down before -the maison and wait for you all to come out. To starve -you out, that meant. He’s recalled all the search parties; -you can see that for yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’re out now, and want to leave the city.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you to be found?”</p> - -<p>“At Babillon’s house. You know that?”</p> - -<p>“You’d have been safer in the maison. I’ll do this. -I’ll try and find Babillon, and if I succeed in getting -some one to vouch for you, will come to this house. -You had better go there and explain things, and what -mouthing numskulls these precious burghers are.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>“You’d better arrange some place of safety in case we -have to leave Babillon’s and can’t get from the city.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll be safe enough where you are, if what they -say is true, that the Governor thinks you are all still in -the maison and means to keep you there.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll lose no time?”</p> - -<p>“Am I a burgher?” and with this last growl he went -away, while Pascal, with a laugh, hurried to Babillon’s, -and reported how matters had gone, and that there was -nothing to do but to wait.</p> - -<p>When a chance offered he spoke to Lucette alone.</p> - -<p>“I have said nothing yet, but I am not quite easy -about that officer, Lucette. He was very curious about—Madame -Burgher; do you think he can have recognized -you? Does he know you well?”</p> - -<p>“Is it M. Burgher questioning now?” she asked, with -a glance.</p> - -<p>“No. We’ve dropped that; and we’re waiting to -see what next. Just now it’s some one a good deal in -earnest.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, he used to know me very well.”</p> - -<p>“Is he another of them?” He could not resist the -jest, and she laughed back with a toss of the head.</p> - -<p>“I don’t of course understand that. I won’t, I mean.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think he can have sent any one after you -to make sure you were Madame Burgher?”</p> - -<p>“Do <i>you</i> think so?” She was serious now. “I don’t -know.”</p> - -<p>“How did you get rid of the horses?”</p> - -<p>“M. Gerard did that.”</p> - -<p>“I must speak to him then. A very little slip may -have very big results to-day.” He called Gerard aside -and told him his doubts.</p> - -<p>“I took the horses back to where you hired them. I -dared not leave them standing here. I passed a couple -of soldiers, but they took no notice of me; and of course -I made sure that no one followed me here.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>“It may be nothing, but when that soldier gets back -and this tale gets carried to the Castle about the two Pascals -and the one Lucette, it may be something—especially -if de Proballe’s cunning ears get wind of it. I -wish you were away.”</p> - -<p>They were very soon to have proof that Pascal’s uneasiness -had only too solid grounds. They waited with -much impatience for Dubois’ coming, and when he came, -about an hour after noon, he brought a grave face and -very serious news.</p> - -<p>The city gates had been shut again and the Governor’s -troops were once more searching the city; this -time systematically from house to house, and the efforts -of the search parties were being in the first place concentrated -on that part of the city in which Babillon’s -house stood.</p> - -<p>“I passed them at their work,” he said, “and only -wonder I was not stopped. You cannot stay here, or -you will be trapped.”</p> - -<p>“There is but one course then,” decided Gerard. -“We must get back to Malincourt.”</p> - -<p>“There is a better plan,” said Gabrielle. “Do you -go alone, Gerard, in your monk’s gabardine. He has -passed the soldiers, and you will do so. I will wait for -their coming. We know from what Babillon told us -yesterday and what Captain Dubois has heard from the -burghers, that no harm can come to me. Please.”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Gerard firmly. “One thing I will -not do. I will not leave you within that madman’s -reach.”</p> - -<p>“But it is you he seeks. Would it not be safer, Captain -Dubois, for him to go alone? And you, M. Pascal, -what say you?”</p> - -<p>“It would be safer,” agreed the captain.</p> - -<p>“Dubois!” exclaimed Gerard.</p> - -<p>“I speak but my opinion, my lord. I should take -miladi’s advice. I will answer for her safety.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>“I cannot consent.”</p> - -<p>“It will be too late to do anything if we dally in -talking,” said Dubois.</p> - -<p>“We will go together, but I will change my burgher’s -dress for a monk’s,” and he hurried from the room.</p> - -<p>“I am only a monk outwardly, and it may be well to -have an officer among the party,” said Dubois, slipping -off his gabardine and revealing his uniform under it.</p> - -<p>“It’s too late,” said Pascal, who was at the window as -Gerard re-entered. “The soldiers are already in the -street. The chance is gone.”</p> - -<p>Gerard looked very grave and Dubois smothered an -oath in his moustache.</p> - -<p>“We are going to pay a heavy price for our mistake -in leaving Malincourt,” exclaimed Gerard. “Still, we -can but make the attempt. Come, Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“Monsieur, may I suggest?” put in Lucette hurriedly. -“There is a chance that these searchers may not know -Gabrielle. Let M. Pascal and me remain here to wait -for them, playing your parts, while you hide somewhere -in the house. When they find us, they may be satisfied -to search no further than this room, and you will be -free to leave when they have gone. If M. Pascal will?”</p> - -<p>“It is well suggested,” declared Pascal. “If they will -not know you, mademoiselle,” he added, with a quizzing -glance.</p> - -<p>“I do not know all the officers, monsieur,” she retorted.</p> - -<p>Gerard and Gabrielle both protested against the plan -on the ground of its danger to Lucette; but this was -overborne, and the two were left alone, while Gerard, -Gabrielle and Dubois went with Madame Babillon to an -upper part of the house.</p> - -<p>“Rather reversing the due order, this, Lucette,” said -Pascal lightly.</p> - -<p>“Due order?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span>“Man and wife an hour or two back, and now we’re -only betrothed, you see.”</p> - -<p>“M. Pascal!” she cried, laughing and blushing.</p> - -<p>“By your leave, not Pascal, but Gerard—Gabrielle.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder what we ought to be doing when they -come. I fear my heart is beating rather wildly.”</p> - -<p>“Fitting its beats to the occasion, that’s all. As to -what we should do, can’t you find a suggestion out of -your experience?”</p> - -<p>“Cannot you?”</p> - -<p>“I think we ought to be making love—Gabrielle. -That’s what Gerard would be doing, I expect.”</p> - -<p>“We’re doing one thing that’s right, at any rate. -We’re talking nonsense—Gerard.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I think we ought to play our parts thoroughly.”</p> - -<p>“Do you treat everything as a jest?”</p> - -<p>“Not when I’m Gerard to your Gabrielle. It’s a part -I could play in real earnest.”</p> - -<p>“I think Gerard is an extremely ridiculous person.”</p> - -<p>“And I think Gabrielle a very charming—coquette.”</p> - -<p>“I wish they would come, and get it over. I’m a sad -coward, and am getting more frightened every minute.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, you’re anxious to break the engagement. You’ll -break your Gerard’s heart.” He was listening intently -for the coming of the soldiers, and jested merely that -he might distract her thoughts and keep up her spirits. -“It will be awkward, by the way, if the officer in charge -happens to be—another of them.”</p> - -<p>“You seem to think the list a long one,” she retorted -with a shrug.</p> - -<p>“Let me see. To begin with”—and he made as if to -tell them off on his fingers.</p> - -<p>“Never mind, thank you. I can count for myself.”</p> - -<p>“Your eyes make me almost wish I could count -myself,” he laughed.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>“If my eyes were speaking my thoughts——”</p> - -<p>“Well?” he asked, for she stopped.</p> - -<p>“They would be asking how many hands would be -needed to count—my Gerard’s.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my hands have long been full. Wait. I hear -them,” he broke off, in the midst of a laugh. “You had -better be in my arms and, when the door opens, break -away and utter my name—I mean Gerard; and then act -as though it was what it will be—a mistake.”</p> - -<p>The tramp of men entering the house was heard, and -he put his arm round her.</p> - -<p>“Look sad,” he whispered hurriedly. “For God’s -sake, don’t smile like that.”</p> - -<p>“Oughtn’t I to like to have your arm round me? You -are very clumsy about it, you know—Gerard. One -might think you had had no practice.”</p> - -<p>“You seem to know how things should be done,” he -laughed.</p> - -<p>“My heart is beating like a wild thing.”</p> - -<p>At this moment a heavy hand was thrust against the -door, which was flung open, and the soldiers entered.</p> - -<p>“Gerard!” cried Lucette, “look, look, the soldiers,” -and then staring wildly at the men, she clapped her hand -to her lips and with a cry of fear fell into a seat.</p> - -<p>“Courage, Gabrielle, it is nothing,” he whispered, in -a tone loud enough to be heard, and bent for a moment -over her as if in deep concern. Then he turned to the -men. “What does this mean?” he demanded angrily. -With intense satisfaction he recognized two of his own -men among the five who were in charge of a sergeant, -and he shot at them a warning look.</p> - -<p>“It means that we’re in luck, monsieur, I think. You -must come with us.”</p> - -<p>“Come with you? Why? Cannot an honest merchant -be about his business without you soldiers hunting -him?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span>“Your name, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Tourelle. Leave me in peace.”</p> - -<p>“Christian name, please?”</p> - -<p>“Pascal. You are an insolent fellow.”</p> - -<p>“And mademoiselle’s name?”</p> - -<p>“It is no concern of yours.”</p> - -<p>“I heard it, monsieur, and yours too. Gerard the one -and Gabrielle the other. That is enough for me. You -must come with me.”</p> - -<p>“I will not. Don’t you dare to lay a finger on me,” -and he made as if to offer a resistance.</p> - -<p>“You can explain to those at the Castle, monsieur. -I can only obey orders.”</p> - -<p>“You touch me at your peril. I am an honest -burgher.”</p> - -<p>“It’s no use, monsieur. You can see that,” and at a -sign from him two of the men stepped forward.</p> - -<p>“You shall pay dearly for this outrage, and if I had -a weapon——”</p> - -<p>“Ah, but you haven’t,” was the blunt reply; and the -two soldiers laid their hands on him.</p> - -<p>“And you also, mademoiselle, please.”</p> - -<p>The little comedy was well acted to the end, and Pascal, -full of protests, and Lucette in tears, were led away; the -sergeant unable to repress a smile of intense satisfaction -at the capture.</p> - -<p>They had not been gone long before the others came -back to the room.</p> - -<p>“The ruse has answered, then,” said Gerard.</p> - -<p>“How brave of Lucette,” exclaimed Gabrielle. “I -trust no harm will come to her for this.”</p> - -<p>“It cannot. It is but a few hours now before we shall -be in command of the town and the Castle itself. And -those hours will be consumed by this search. Can we -go, Dubois?”</p> - -<p>“I should wait a while.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span>“I am in a fever to reach Malincourt,” replied Gerard -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“I should not counsel our going so far. Could you -not find shelter in some house already searched? Indeed, -why not remain here?”</p> - -<p>“I could find shelter anywhere in Morvaix,” declared -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Then think of some place, mademoiselle. They have -been working from east to west, so that all east of this -is safe. There were two of our men in the party just -now,” said Dubois, turning to Gerard. “They must be -using them to make up the number necessary.”</p> - -<p>“Good. I decide for Malincourt and should like an -escort of them to take us there,” he answered, and then -asked again whether they could start.</p> - -<p>Dubois went to the window.</p> - -<p>“A thousand hells!” he exclaimed. “They are coming -back here. They must have found out the mistake. -Quick, my lord, to your hiding place again! No, no, by -Heaven! what fortune. Four out of five of the men are -ours. I see a way. Hide, but close at hand.”</p> - -<p>He threw himself into a chair while Gerard and Gabrielle -left the room.</p> - -<p>The soldiers came hurrying in.</p> - -<p>“Well, what is it?” he asked coolly.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?”</p> - -<p>“I think that’s a question I should put to you.”</p> - -<p>“I am the officer in charge of the search party. We -are looking for the escaped prisoners, and my sergeant -has just been fooled in this house. Now, monsieur, who -are you? And do you know of this?”</p> - -<p>“I am Captain Dubois, comrade of Captain Bassot, in -charge of the recently arrived troops. These are some -of my men, I see.”</p> - -<p>The men saluted.</p> - -<p>“Do you know anything of this trick?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>“Monsieur!” exclaimed Dubois angrily. “Of what -do you accuse me?”</p> - -<p>“I make no accusation, captain. But I have to search -the house.”</p> - -<p>“Well, send your men to search it,” and Dubois got up -and stood by the door, thus barring the way out of the -house. If the officer sent the Bourbon men they would -find nothing, he knew; if he went himself, he would find -more than he would be allowed to take away.</p> - -<p>The officer hesitated a moment and then decided—</p> - -<p>“I’ll search for myself and trust my own eyes this -time.”</p> - -<p>“It’s all one to me,” answered Dubois with a shrug.</p> - -<p>Three men were called on to accompany the officer, -and all four were leaving the room, when Gerard, who -had heard what had passed, met him at the door.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” was the officer’s significant exclamation at -sight of him, “as I thought,” and he turned with a smile -of triumph to Dubois.</p> - -<p>But the smile died away instantly.</p> - -<p>Dubois was standing before the door with his drawn -sword in his hand.</p> - -<p>It was he who smiled now, and a grim, significant, -dangerous smile it was.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVIII<br /> - - -<small>A RISING AND ITS SEQUEL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE officer stared with growing anger, first at -Dubois, then back at Gerard, and lastly at the -four of his men who had moved away and left -him and the one Castle soldier alone in the middle of -the room.</p> - -<p>“Is this mutiny?” he cried furiously, drawing his -sword.</p> - -<p>“I’ll answer that,” said Dubois. “It would be a -mutiny if they were to turn against their own officer. -And they will not. This is my doing, and the responsibility -is mine. I will not let you take your prisoners -away.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll see to that. Jean, if that man does not stand -from the door, you will fire at him.” The musket was -levelled. “Now, monsieur, if you please, stand from the -door,” he cried sternly.</p> - -<p>But the musket was not fired. Gerard stepped swiftly -behind the man, seized his weapon and dragged it from -him.</p> - -<p>“We can have no firing here,” he said quietly.</p> - -<p>“You will resist capture at your peril;” and the officer -turned on him.</p> - -<p>“I am quite prepared for that, captain,” interposed -Dubois; “but it is you who are in peril, not we. You -will give me your sword.”</p> - -<p>The officer appealed almost fiercely to the four men.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to stand by and witness this? You will -pay for it if you do with your lives.”</p> - -<p>“My soldiers are not trained to man-hunting, monsieur,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span> -said Dubois. “Come, we have wasted enough -time. Will you surrender to us?”</p> - -<p>The answer was a swift rush and an attack, which -Dubois parried with the coolness of a wary and practised -fencer. The four soldiers looked on stolidly, and the -one who had been disarmed watched the duel with the -staring gaze of bewilderment and alarm.</p> - -<p>It lasted but a minute or two, when Dubois, forcing -the fight with irresistible vigour, drove his antagonist -back till, stepping on the fallen musket, he tripped and -fell, and his sword went clattering out of his hand over -the boards.</p> - -<p>Dubois picked it up, and sheathed his own weapon. -At that moment the Castle soldier made a dash for the -door to escape, only to be stopped by two of the Bourbon -men.</p> - -<p>“You should not have driven me to this, monsieur,” -said Dubois in a tone of quiet authority. The officer -had risen and stood with folded arms, his face flushed -with anger and his brow sullen with the chagrin and -humiliation of his ignominious failure. “You must -accompany me. No harm will come to you if you obey. -But we are resolute men, and our lives may be at stake.” -He signed to his own soldiers to bring the prisoner -along, and all left the room.</p> - -<p>“What is he going to do, Gerard?” asked Gabrielle. -“How terrible he looked in that fight.”</p> - -<p>“He’s a strenuous antagonist to face at such a time; -but he meant only to disarm the other. He could have -killed him half a dozen times had he been so minded. -He has done splendidly.”</p> - -<p>“But what next? We cannot stay here now.”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed, for we shall have more of the Castle -men here soon to learn the cause of the delay.”</p> - -<p>“What can have happened to Lucette? Dear, brave -Lucette.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>“We are fast nearing the end of our troubles, Gabrielle. -D’Alembert should be up by nightfall at latest if -all has gone well with our couriers, and we ought to be -in Malincourt within an hour, where we can wait for -him in safety.”</p> - -<p>Dubois and the four soldiers returned then, Dubois -dressed in the uniform of a Castle man; and Gabrielle -could not restrain a little cry of astonishment at recognizing -him, while Gerard smiled as he divined his intention.</p> - -<p>“My plan is, my lord, that we use our men and play -the guard to escort you and mademoiselle as prisoners -through the streets. We have secured the captain and -his man, so that they can give us no trouble.”</p> - -<p>“And a good plan it is, Dubois,” agreed Gerard. “We -are well through an ugly business, thanks to you. The -sooner we start the better.”</p> - -<p>It was about two hours after noon when they left -Babillon’s house; but while they had been sheltered there -events had occurred which had set the whole of the little -city in a ferment.</p> - -<p>The first cause had been slight: a very trifle; no -more than the young lieutenant’s curiosity at Lucette’s -name at the attempt to pass the gate. He had, in the -first place, sent men to follow her; and although she had -reached Gerard and Gabrielle and got well away undiscovered, -the pursuit had been far from fruitless. Two -of the men loitering about had seen Gerard when he -returned with the horses.</p> - -<p>They were making their report of this when the soldier -whom Pascal had tricked returned without him, and in -a semi-intoxicated muddle had told the story of two -Pascals. Alarmed by this, the lieutenant had sent at -once to the Castle, with the result that instant and most -vigorous measures were taken to trace the fugitives. -The fact that the horses had been obtained at no great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span> -distance from Babillon’s house caused that district to be -searched first, while large numbers of patrol parties were -sent through the city.</p> - -<p>This step roused the citizens again, and despite -Dubois’ opinion as to the indecision of the burgher leaders, -they had resolved to take active measures; while -the bulk of the citizens, inflamed by their long-standing -wrongs, were quickly on fire when the soldiers turned -out and the news spread that they were hunting for -Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>All the elements for a collision were thus present, and -the streets were thronged with the people, who eyed the -soldiers with lowering looks of deadly hate, and needed -but a little provocation to drive them to open and violent -revolt.</p> - -<p>And that provocation the Governor himself afforded -at the very time when Gerard and his little party were -endeavouring to escort Gabrielle to Malincourt.</p> - -<p>The Governor, hearing of the danger of trouble in the -city, hurried from the Castle with the intention of conferring -with the chief burghers and renewing the assurances -already given that no harm threatened Gabrielle; -and he chanced to reach the market place just when the -crowd was in its most dangerous temper.</p> - -<p>In the centre of the market place the officers who were -conducting the search had taken up a position, guarded -by a number of troops, and to them all the prisoners captured -by the patrols and search parties were brought for -purposes of identification. The crowd, constantly swelling -in numbers, watched the proceedings with intense -indignation. Jeers and groans greeted the arrival of -every prisoner, and loud flouting laughter went up whenever -a prisoner was identified and released, accompanied -by threatening murmurs of discontent and anger.</p> - -<p>At length stones began to be thrown, and when one -struck the officer in command in the face the crowd<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span> -raised a wild shout of delight. Smarting under the -blow, he ordered the crowd to be charged. Several were -wounded, and the sight so enraged the rest that volleys -of stones came from other directions just as the Governor -rode up.</p> - -<p>His first command was for the market place to be -cleared. This was done, for the crowd broke and fled -before the weapons of the troops; and a great number -of the citizens were caught, stones in hand, and brought -back to the Governor. His temper was up now, and -threatening them with heavy punishment, he ordered -the whole of them to be marched to the Castle by the -troops.</p> - -<p>The fear of a rescue necessitated the escort being very -heavy, and this step left the troops round him comparatively -weak in numbers. When the crowd began to -return, some one was quick to perceive this weakness, -and called on the rest, who came surging back in great -strength. A very ugly rush followed almost immediately, -which the troops found great difficulty in resisting, -as the crowd had now armed themselves with staves -and bars and such crude weapons as they had been able -to snatch up in the hurry. Some very hot fighting ensued, -in which fierce blows were given and taken on -both sides, and the soldiers seemed likely to be overpowered.</p> - -<p>It was at this juncture, just as messengers had been -sent to bring up more troops, that Gerard’s little party -reached the market place close to the point near the -statue, where the Governor stood watching the fray with -very anxious eyes as he saw his soldiers being beaten -down one by one. The crowd seemed to grow in numbers -and fierceness every moment, until after a last desperate -rush the soldiers turned and scattered in all directions -to be hustled, struck down and lost in the surging -mass of the people, whose leaders had possessed themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span> -of the soldiers’ weapons, and now threatened the -Governor himself and the handful of men who were -clustered round him.</p> - -<p>“Long live Malincourt! Long live Malincourt! -Down with the Tyrant! Remember our wrongs!” -were the cries in hundreds of strenuous voices on all -sides; and after a hot exchange of words between the -leaders and the Governor, one of those near him was -struck, and the blow was the signal for an attack on the -rest, who were beaten back helpless against the resistless -anger of the populace. It appeared certain that the next -moment would see the Governor himself in the hands of -the crowd, whose passions, nurtured on their long endured -wrongs and whetted now by their victory, were -roused to such a pitch of fury that they would have torn -him to pieces.</p> - -<p>The Governor, now fear-filled and terror-cowed, stood -shrinking against the statue from the sea of angry -menacing faces which glared round him when Gerard, -who had forced his way through the throng, sprang -between the cowering figure and the mob, and with -uplifted hand cried in a commanding voice that rose -above the din—</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle de Malincourt is safe. She is here.”</p> - -<p>He pointed to where, on the fringe of the crowd, -Gabrielle stood with Dubois; and for a moment there -was a lull in the storm as the crowd craned their necks -for a glimpse of her.</p> - -<p>But the sense of wrong, the thirst for vengeance, the -hate of the Tyrant and the sight of him now almost -within touch of the hands outstretched to seize him, soon -re-kindled the flame, and the clamour broke out again, -and now was directed also against this daring monk -who stood between them and their prey.</p> - -<p>“Down with the monk! Death to the Tyrant!”</p> - -<p>The cry began near at hand, and was caught up by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span> -those round until it swelled into a loud roar, vehement, -menacing and perilous.</p> - -<p>“Save me, save me,” said the Governor, cowering now -between the statue and Gerard, who, undaunted by the -angry faces and clenched and threatening hands, faced -the mob, and again sent his voice ringing like a clarion -among them.</p> - -<p>“Peace! Are ye men that would do this violence? -Miladi of Malincourt is safe.”</p> - -<p>Once more his commanding presence and fearless -calm stilled them for a pause; and before the storm -could break out again a strange change came.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle had seen Gerard’s peril, and believing that -he would be the next victim of the mob, had made herself -known to the people around her, who broke out into -shouts of joy, and amid a storm of cries and cheers she -passed through the ranks, mounted the steps of the -statue and took her stand by Gerard’s side.</p> - -<p>A thunder of cheers greeted her appearance, and the -air was rent with cries of “Long live Malincourt!”</p> - -<p>But the danger was not over yet, for when the Governor, -gathering some courage from the changed temper -of the mob, showed himself for a moment at Gabrielle’s -side, the cheers changed with ominous suddenness to -shouts and execrations and groans in the same deafening -clamour.</p> - -<p>“For God’s sake, save me from them,” he said, shrinking -again behind Gerard. “They will tear me to -pieces.”</p> - -<p>“May we promise them an end to their sufferings?” -asked Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, anything. I will do anything. My God, -anything!”</p> - -<p>“Down with the Tyrant. Give him to us. Death -to the Tiger of Morvaix!” came the cries, with even -fiercer vehemence.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>Again Gerard stood with uplifted hand.</p> - -<p>“Peace!” he called. “Miladi of Malincourt will -speak to you.”</p> - -<p>At this the cheers came again as Gabrielle, with -heightened colour, waited for silence.</p> - -<p>“I beg you listen to me. I bring you peace, and in -the name of the Governor I promise you an end to your -wrongs and sufferings.”</p> - -<p>The cheers rang out again, and as they died down -some voices called: “We are starving. What of the -tax on our food?”</p> - -<p>“It shall be repealed,” said the Governor.</p> - -<p>“The Governor pledges his word it shall be repealed,” -cried Gabrielle. A deafening storm of wild joyous -shouts burst out with mighty cries of “God bless Malincourt! -Long live Miladi of Malincourt!”</p> - -<p>“Will he keep his promise?” cried a stentorian voice.</p> - -<p>“I pledge my honour.”</p> - -<p>Gerard repeated this in his ringing tone.</p> - -<p>“The Governor pledges his honour as a noble of -France to repeal the tax—a pledge no man dare break.”</p> - -<p>“You have saved my life, mademoiselle, you and this -monk,” said the Governor, not recognizing Gerard, who -had kept his face carefully averted, and now drew his -cowl closer.</p> - -<p>“We have saved the people,” answered Gabrielle, -whose eyes were shining with the excitement of the -scene.</p> - -<p>“Get me away if you can,” said the Governor next. -“Oh, thank God, thank God, at last!” he cried with a -sudden change of tone, as a volley of musketry was -heard, and a large body of mounted troops dashed -through the crowd and mustered in force round the -statue, on the base of which the three stood.</p> - -<p>With the troops round him, the Governor’s courage -returned, and as his fears vanished his true nature reasserted -itself. He scowled at the crowd.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>“Charge them, charge them, the canaille!” he cried -passionately. “Cut them down, the dogs. To threaten -me! Give them the steel!”</p> - -<p>“My lord, is this keeping your pledge?” asked Gerard -indignantly.</p> - -<p>“You did well, sir monk, you saved my life, and shall -have fitting reward; but this is my business.”</p> - -<p>“You pledged your honour as a noble of France, my -lord Duke,” protested Gerard.</p> - -<p>At this moment de Proballe broke through the troops -and came hurrying to the Governor.</p> - -<p>“You are not hurt, my lord, I trust,” he cried.</p> - -<p>“It is not your fault that I was not torn to pieces by -the mob. But for mademoiselle, your niece, and this -good monk, who stopped the mob in the moment of -frenzy, I should have been.”</p> - -<p>“My God!” exclaimed de Proballe, recognizing -Gerard. “Do you know who that monk is? The villain -de Cobalt!”</p> - -<p>The Governor, who stood close to Gerard, stepped -back hastily, as if in fear of some treachery, and when -at a safe distance scowled at him with eyes of hate.</p> - -<p>“It is well,” he said between his teeth. “I promised -you a fitting reward. You shall have it.” He smiled, -and turning to the soldiers near him, he ordered: -“Arrest him.”</p> - -<p>“You will not do this, my lord. You cannot be so -cowardly,” cried Gabrielle, putting herself before Gerard. -But this act only served to infuriate him.</p> - -<p>“Arrest him, I say,” he repeated. “It is I rule here, -mademoiselle, not you. You shall not protect him and -cannot save him from the fate he merits. You have -done enough ill for the people already.”</p> - -<p>“This injustice shall not be done,” declared Gabrielle -indignantly.</p> - -<p>“You will answer for this to me, my lord Duke, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span> -the son of your Suzerain,” said Gerard, stepping forward.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I will answer to you and for you; and answer -now, in this way.”</p> - -<p>He signed to the soldiers, who then laid hands on -Gerard.</p> - -<p>“I will appeal to the people,” cried Gabrielle vehemently.</p> - -<p>“There shall be substance for your appeal, too,” he -replied. He was like a man beside himself with passion. -“He shall not escape me again. Have a space cleared -there,” he thundered to his men. “Bring up a file of -men. This man is a spy and the ringleader of all the -tumults to-day. He is condemned to death, and shall -die now.”</p> - -<p>Even his officers stood aghast at this.</p> - -<p>“I demand, at least, the appearance of a trial,” said -Gerard calmly.</p> - -<p>“You have been tried already. I know your crimes, -and have tried and condemned you. Do as I say,” he -thundered to the officers, “or by the God of Heaven I -shall know how to deal with those who mutiny against -me.”</p> - -<p>“I am the son of the Duke of Bourbon, and in his -name I command you to disregard the Governor’s order,” -said Gerard in a loud, firm tone.</p> - -<p>“It is a lie, a lie. Disobey me at your peril.”</p> - -<p>Two of the officers approached and were venturing -upon a remonstrance, when the Governor, mad with his -rage, struck one of them a violent blow on the face and -himself called up a file of the soldiers.</p> - -<p>“Bring that villain here,” he said to the men who held -Gerard. They were too frightened to disobey him.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle watched with bated breath, and was springing -forward to again interfere when de Proballe put -himself in her way.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>“My lord, my lord,” she cried in an agony of distress -and fear. “I urge you, I beg you not to do this thing.”</p> - -<p>But the Governor was deaf to her entreaty, and having -drawn up the file of men, stood by them, and himself -gave the command in a voice thick with rage.</p> - -<p>Gerard faced the men without a tremor.</p> - -<p>“There will be a heavy reckoning for all concerned -in this,” he said; and his voice was as calm and steady -as before.</p> - -<p>The Governor’s command rang out stern and sharp, -and the guns went up to the men’s shoulders.</p> - -<p>Then, with a scream, Gabrielle tore herself from de -Proballe, and snatching a sword from an officer as she -passed, rushed in front of Gerard and held it to her -heart.</p> - -<p>“If he dies, I will plunge this to my heart, and my -blood, with his, shall cry for vengeance upon you.”</p> - -<p>The Governor listened, his angry eyes fixed on Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“And if he lives?”</p> - -<p>“I will do all you have asked.”</p> - -<p>“No,” cried Gerard loudly. “I will not take my life -on such a condition.”</p> - -<p>A moment’s pause of acute suspense followed. Then -the Governor nodded and said curtly—</p> - -<p>“It is enough. You have saved his life, mademoiselle. -He shall go free. But first take him to the Castle.”</p> - -<p>And in a few minutes the troops were on their way -to the Castle, with Gerard in their midst, once more a -prisoner.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIX<br /> - - -<small>IN THE HALL OF AUDIENCE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SOME three or four hours after the rioting in -the market place, Pascal and Lucette, who had -been hurried to the Castle from Babillon’s house, -were led to the Great Hall of Audience and placed in -the midst of the large crowd of townsfolk who had been -taken prisoners by the troops.</p> - -<p>They were all herded together in a space about mid-way -down the southern side of the Great Hall, in a -space set apart by strong barriers and guarded by a ring -of soldiers. Two other companies of soldiers were present, -each about fifty in number, and they were drawn up -one on each side of the daïs at the eastern end, where -stood the Governor’s seat of audience and judgment.</p> - -<p>Nearly all the prisoners had been injured in the conflict, -and carried some grim evidences of the strife. -Those whose wounds were serious wore such blood-stained -bandages, dressings and slings as they had been -able to improvise; but for the most part the wounds were -undressed, and the men appeared just as they had been -taken, with hair and faces grimed with blood and dirt, -and clothes torn and jagged by the soldiers’ weapons, -making a gruesome sight, which moved Lucette alternately -to shrinking repulsion and tender pity.</p> - -<p>“There must have been terrible fighting,” she said -to Pascal, for they knew nothing of what had passed, -and had been told merely that they were to be tried -immediately, with the rest of the prisoners, for their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span> -share in the day’s work. “I wonder what has happened.”</p> - -<p>“We can find that out; I will question some of the -men,” he replied. “But I would rather know what is -going to happen.”</p> - -<p>“I am afraid we shall find that out too quite as quickly -as we wish;” and Lucette glanced nervously about her -at the men who were guarding the prisoners. She gave -a little shiver of fear as her eyes fell on the Governor’s -seat, and speculated anxiously what the ceremonious and -somewhat terrifying preparations boded to them all. -From that her gaze passed to the soldiers gathered about -the daïs, whom she scrutinized closely; and just as Pascal -returned from questioning their fellow-prisoners, she -uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure.</p> - -<p>“Monsieur Pascal,” she whispered eagerly, “there -is Captain Dubois.”</p> - -<p>“Dubois? Where?”</p> - -<p>“There, among the soldiers on the right of the Governor’s -seat: thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth—yes, fifteenth -in the second row, counting from the daïs to the -right. I am sure it’s he. Do you see him?”</p> - -<p>“See him? I see more than him. Every man in the -ranks there is ours, and Bassot himself is in command. -We shall see something before we are many hours -older, or I am no Bourbon.”</p> - -<p>“Where can Gabrielle be? And M. Gerard?”</p> - -<p>“So far as I gather, he is a prisoner; but the men -here know little. There has been a riot in the market place; -and these are some of the rioters. They have -been told only that they are to be tried now.”</p> - -<p>“Then they cannot have reached Malincourt. Oh, I -wonder what they will do to us,” cried Lucette.</p> - -<p>“I know how I would punish you were I the judge.”</p> - -<p>“I would trust you,” she smiled.</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t like the punishment any more than I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span> -like the results of your act.” His tone was half earnest -half jest; and she looked up puzzled.</p> - -<p>“What is my crime?”</p> - -<p>“You have given us splendid help in many ways; -but I’m sadly out if our last mischances are not to be -traced to that habit of yours—of making fools of us -men.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Sadly</i> out! I’m sadly out if you did not say that -with a rare spice of relish. Sadly, indeed! Is this one -of M. Burgher’s curtain lectures?”</p> - -<p>“If you were still Madame Burgher, it might be,” -he laughed.</p> - -<p>“But I’ve gone back to Lucette, thank you, monsieur.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, the Lucette whom the officer at the gate recognized.”</p> - -<p>She understood him then. “You don’t think——?” -she said eagerly.</p> - -<p>“What I don’t think is not of much account. But I -do think that any man who has once been under fire -from your dark eyes would not readily forget them. -He had not forgotten them, and they set him thinking -too.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how cruel you are! To blame me in this way.”</p> - -<p>“Blame you? It is the fortune of things. But if you -think there’s a lesson in the thing, that good fellow of -yours, Denys St. Jean, mightn’t be sorry if you learnt -it. A thing of that sort is pretty much like a forest fire: -you can start it easily, but you never know what may be -burnt or how far it may spread before it’s put out.”</p> - -<p>“I ought to be grateful to you for first frightening -and then lecturing me at a time like this,” cried Lucette -angrily.</p> - -<p>“My punishment to you would be to sentence you to -stop it for the future. That’s all. And now I’ve said -my say,” he answered; and then, with a reassuring laugh, -added: “As for this, it will be nothing. Have no fear.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span> -We may have a farce of a trial and a sentence after this -Tiger’s manner; but before he can do anything, the -tables will be turned on him, and he is not unlikely to -find himself where we are. Have no fear, and don’t be -surprised at anything that happens.”</p> - -<p>Lucette was silent for a while, her manner a mixture -of vexation and regret.</p> - -<p>“Shall I say I have learnt my lesson, monsieur?” she -asked with a look half mocking, half serious. “Your -words have hurt me.”</p> - -<p>“I fear you’ve but a poor memory for lessons, -Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, you are unendurable! I don’t like this lecturer’s -mood of yours.”</p> - -<p>“Then it’s fortunate I don’t wear it often. You are -too brave and true a girl at heart, Lucette,” he said -earnestly, “not to make your good will worth having -for any man. And now I’ll be serious no more.”</p> - -<p>But Lucette looked serious then, and twice turned to -him as if to say something; although in the end she -shrugged her shoulders and remained silent.</p> - -<p>“Something is going to happen now,” said Pascal -after a minute, as a number of the Governor’s suite -entered and ranged themselves near the daïs. Both were -watching them when Lucette cried suddenly—</p> - -<p>“There is Gabrielle. Oh, how sad and pale she -looks!”</p> - -<p>“She takes it all very seriously,” replied Pascal; and -pushing through the prisoners, he forced a way for -Lucette and himself to the front. Gabrielle saw, and -hurried to speak to them, when one of the guards stopped -her.</p> - -<p>“You cannot speak to the prisoners, mademoiselle,” -he said.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense, fellow,” exclaimed Pascal angrily.</p> - -<p>“Silence, prisoner.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_336.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption">GERARD BORE HIMSELF WITH GREAT DIGNITY</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>“Not at your command, I promise you;” but Gabrielle -making a hasty gesture to them, fell back, and at -the moment there came a blast of trumpets heralding -the approach, as they thought, of the Governor.</p> - -<p>But to their amazement, it was Gerard, dressed in -Bourbon uniform and preceded by two courtiers, who -backed before him, bowing deeply as if in profound -respect. One of them was d’Estelle, whose sallow sardonic -face wore a smile of mockery; and as they entered, -a herald called in loud tones—</p> - -<p>“Place, there, place, for the most noble Lord Gerard -de Bourbon.”</p> - -<p>At the announcement the men about the Governor’s -seat made a profound obeisance, and formed a lane to -the steps leading to the daïs.</p> - -<p>Gabrielle trembled, and showed such agitation and -pain that Lucette was full of concern for her, while -Pascal smiled and muttered to himself: “In the name -of the devil, what can this mean?”</p> - -<p>Gerard bore himself with great dignity, though understanding -the thing little better than Pascal. He saw -the smiles of derision which the Governor’s favourites -exchanged one with another, but paid no heed to them, -and acted as though the scene were no mockery, but -earnest.</p> - -<p>He was bowed to the Governor’s chair, and as he took -his seat the Bourbon colours were suddenly unfurled, -one on either side.</p> - -<p>“His Grace the Duke de Rochelle entreats your lordship -to be seated here, and will wait upon you to make -his homage to your lordship as the representative of the -illustrious Duke de Bourbon, the gracious Suzerain of -Morvaix.” It was d’Estelle who said this, and his -cynical smile was answered by the sneers of every courtier -near.</p> - -<p>“I shall be glad to receive his homage,” said Gerard<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span> -as he stood by the Great Seat and looked about him. -In his surprise he had not noticed Gabrielle when entering; -but in a moment he saw her and went to her.</p> - -<p>“What can this mockery portend, Gerard?” she asked -nervously.</p> - -<p>“Nay, I know not. The Governor seeks to amuse -himself, I gather; but I care not so long as he does but -waste enough time over it.”</p> - -<p>“It has some sinister meaning.”</p> - -<p>“So he will find, if he will but mock long enough,” -he answered drily. “Meanwhile, we will play up to him -in a way he will find little to his liking. Come. I will -have a seat placed for you by my side.”</p> - -<p>“No, no. Let us not anger him further,” she said, -shrinking. “It is not prudent.”</p> - -<p>“His anger is nothing to us. In an hour or two at -most he will be on his knees to us, in no mocking mood, -I promise you. Come;” and he took her hand, and -leading her to the daïs he ordered d’Estelle to place a -chair for her by him.</p> - -<p>“I have no commands of the kind, most noble lord,” -he sneered.</p> - -<p>“I command here now. Do as I bid you,” answered -Gerard sternly; and after a second’s hesitation it was -done.</p> - -<p>The moment after Gabrielle had taken her seat the -soldier next Dubois let his musket drop, and at the -clanging noise Gerard looked round and saw Dubois. -It was a device to attract his attention to the fact that -the whole of Bassot’s company were present.</p> - -<p>Dubois, with a meaning glance, looked across to the -prisoners, and Gerard, following the direction of his -eyes, saw Pascal and Lucette. His face maintained its -grave set expression; but his eyes were full of meaning -as he met Pascal’s and glanced first at the prisoners and -then at the men guarding them.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>“We are well prepared, indeed, Gabrielle,” he whispered -to her. “Dubois has conceived a plan daring -even for him. Pascal is among the prisoners.”</p> - -<p>“I have seen him, and Lucette too; but they would -not let me speak to her.”</p> - -<p>“It needs no speech. He understands. He will lead -the prisoners when the moment comes, and they will -overpower the men in charge of them.”</p> - -<p>“But the soldiers here.”</p> - -<p>“Are Bourbons to a man and Dubois is among them—eating -out his heart, I will wager, for the moment when -he can strike. Ah! here comes the Governor.”</p> - -<p>“I have seen the Duchess, Gerard, and she is coming -hither,” whispered Gabrielle quickly.</p> - -<p>“Good; it will all help to waste time.”</p> - -<p>The Governor, with de Proballe and others in attendance, -entered then, and he gave a start of anger at seeing -Gabrielle by Gerard’s side. He suppressed it quickly, -however, and made his way with an affectation of respect -toward Gerard. De Proballe, save for an occasional -smirk, was preternaturally grave as he followed close -to the Governor, bowing at every step with a grotesque, -exaggerated obsequiousness that drew smiles from all.</p> - -<p>Not an act or gesture of all this escaped Gerard, who -saw through the childish contemptible burlesque by -which it was designed to insult and humiliate him; but -he continued to act precisely as he would have acted had -the ceremony been genuine. He remained seated while -the Governor approached the daïs and said, with a last -low bow—</p> - -<p>“I desire to offer my most humble greetings to my -lord Gerard de Bourbon, and to bid you welcome to -Morvaix.”</p> - -<p>“Your recognition of my right and rank as the son -of Morvaix’ Suzerain comes somewhat late, my lord -Duke, and my previous reception at your hands was but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span> -an indifferent preface to this more fitting sequel. That -preface yet remains to be explained.”</p> - -<p>“I had not then convinced myself that you were indeed -Great Bourbon’s son.”</p> - -<p>“You are, then, now convinced?”</p> - -<p>“Should I be here and you where you sit were it not -so, most noble lord?”</p> - -<p>“What, then, has convinced you? Your answer does -not satisfy me.”</p> - -<p>“That is a matter to be more conveniently discussed -between us in private. All is well with our illustrious -Suzerain?”</p> - -<p>“My purpose in Morvaix is not concerned with the -passing of mere idle compliments, and I bear no other -greeting to your lordship than that you have already -received and destroyed—an act you may now be anxious -to explain.”</p> - -<p>“Your noble lordship’s—condescension amazes me,” -said the Governor, with a pause before the word, easy -for all to understand. “You speak of a purpose. Will -you be good enough to explain it?”</p> - -<p>“I am indeed glad to do so to all present,” answered -Gerard readily, rising. He welcomed the chance of letting -the prisoners hear it. “My father, the Duke de -Bourbon, the Suzerain of Morvaix, had heard ill reports -of your government here: that your rule was harsh; -that the people were oppressed by your soldiers; that -justice was denied to the citizens, who were crushed and -ruined by the imposition of iniquitous taxation; and -further, that many dark and evil practices prevailed. -He has sent me here, therefore, bearing full powers to -inquire into the methods of your government and to -redress the grievances of the suffering people.”</p> - -<p>The Governor and those round him sneered and -laughed; but the prisoners listened intently to every -word, and not understanding that the scene was no more -than burlesque, one of them cried in a loud voice—</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span>“God save your lordship! Long live Bourbon!” and -the cry was caught up by the whole body of prisoners -and of Bourbon troops swelling into loud shouts, which, -for the moment, the guards tried in vain to silence.</p> - -<p>The Governor paled with anger.</p> - -<p>“Your lordship knows how to appeal to the passions -of such canaille,” he said, when silence had been partly -restored.</p> - -<p>“The passions have first been provoked by your misrule, -my lord Duke,” answered Gerard in his stern ringing -tone, to the delight of every one of the prisoners, -who believed that justice was indeed at last to be meted -out to the ruler they detested. Gerard observed the -change in them, and saw, with intense satisfaction, that -their mood was now such as would make them ready -helpers in the scene to follow. “Who are these prisoners?” -he asked the Governor.</p> - -<p>“Their presence here is in accord with half my present -purpose, most noble lord. I have deemed it best -that they should be tried before you, illustrious Bourbon’s -son, that you should know their crimes and yourself -decree their punishment, you being, as I know you -to be, the essence of justice and purity itself.”</p> - -<p>At this de Proballe laughed audibly; and the sneer -passed round the courtiers. It was he who had suggested -to the Governor this mocking masquerade and -the burlesque treatment of Gerard, and the irony of the -scene delighted him.</p> - -<p>But Gerard gave not a sign that he even saw the sneer.</p> - -<p>“It was well arranged, my lord,” he said gravely. -“And the other part in your purpose?”</p> - -<p>“Is a personal affair, personal to the lady at your -side and myself.” His look conveyed his meaning, and -Gabrielle flinched.</p> - -<p>“I think I know your meaning,” answered Gerard -with unmoved composure, “and shall be glad to assist<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span> -in furthering such a matter. But first, the prisoners. -What is the charge and the evidence?”</p> - -<p>De Proballe stepped forward here.</p> - -<p>“Most noble and puissant lord Gerard of Bourbon,” -he began with an insolent air, when Gerard interrupted -him.</p> - -<p>“Stay,” he said, with an imperious gesture. “I will -not hear the Baron de Proballe. I know him to be -incapable of telling the truth.”</p> - -<p>De Proballe fell back at this insult, and in a voice -vibrating with passion exclaimed—</p> - -<p>“Will your lordship endure this insolence longer?”</p> - -<p>But the Governor was rarely troubled when any one -other than himself was humiliated. He was now, in -truth, rather inclined to rejoice at de Proballe’s discomfiture, -and replied with more than a dash of contempt—</p> - -<p>“We must not forget, monsieur, that the lord Gerard -comes from Paris with special knowledge we do not -possess in Morvaix;” and the favourites round, taking -their cue from this tone, sneered one to another with significant -shrugs and glances.</p> - -<p>“The evidence, my lord?” said Gerard with a show -of impatience.</p> - -<p>The Governor called up one of his officers then, who -spoke of the affray in the market place; and Gerard, -under cover of a desire to get at the truth, questioned -him at considerable length, and so consumed much invaluable -time. Two other officers followed, and some of -the soldiers who had been injured by the crowd.</p> - -<p>Having prolonged the matter as long as practicable, -Gerald said—</p> - -<p>“There is one point on which none of the witnesses -have spoken. The provocation which drove the people -to revolt? I would hear that.”</p> - -<p>“There was none,” answered the Governor, who was -now wearying of the farce. “And, moreover, these proceedings -have lasted long enough.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>“We will, then, hear the prisoners themselves.”</p> - -<p>“That is not the law in Morvaix,” was the curt reply. -“They were caught red-handed, and can make no defence.”</p> - -<p>“Is that your Morvaix justice, my lord? I am not -surprised there is discontent, therefore. I will consider -the matter I have heard, and give my judgment on the -morrow. Meanwhile the prisoners will be released.”</p> - -<p>They broke out into joyous shouts at this, and again -the cries of “Long live Bourbon!” rent the air, to the -intense mortification and anger of the Governor.</p> - -<p>“This is too much,” he said with a scowl. “Your -lordship will not be here on the morrow. I am sending -you to-night on your way with an escort.”</p> - -<p>But Gerard having his own end in view, affected not -to hear him.</p> - -<p>“And now the second matter you mentioned, my -lord?” he asked; “affecting Mademoiselle de Malincourt -here and yourself.”</p> - -<p>“It is one that will doubtless please you,” answered -the Governor. The burlesque so far had brought him -far less pleasure than mortification; but he was now sure -of his ground. He intended to make Gerard the medium -of announcing his betrothal to Gabrielle, and the thought -of this triumph of ingenuity appealed to him. “Mademoiselle -de Malincourt has been pleased to consent to -betroth herself to me, most noble lord; and your gracious -presence makes this a fitting opportunity for the fact to -be announced. You will be good enough to announce it.”</p> - -<p>His tone was a threat, and as such Gerard understood -it.</p> - -<p>“Betrothal?” he repeated, with an excellent simulation -of surprise, as if ignorant of the whole matter. -“But is there not already one Duchess de Rochelle?”</p> - -<p>“You know the facts well,” answered the Governor, -dropping all form in his anger. “Do what I say, or -there may be bitter reasons to regret it.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>But Gerard was a far better actor than he, and replied -in a very loud tone, as if more surprised than ever—</p> - -<p>“Do you wish me to announce to all present that, -having already one wife, you propose to take a second? -This is against the laws of France, my lord. I cannot -make such an announcement.”</p> - -<p>The Governor bit his lip and frowned, and said, in a -threatening undertone—</p> - -<p>“If you wish to leave Morvaix to-night with your -head on your shoulders, you will announce it.”</p> - -<p>“You are tearing off the mask, then, at last,” said -Gerard, as calmly as before, with a smile.</p> - -<p>“The Duchess herself has agreed to a divorce, so that -this marriage may take place.”</p> - -<p>“It is a union I cannot and will not sanction,” declared -Gerard in a loud firm voice. “In the name of the Suzerain -of Morvaix I forbid it. It must and shall not be.”</p> - -<p>“We will see to that and have an end to this mockery,” -cried the Governor, turning to give an order to -his officers. But before he could deliver it an interruption -came. The Duchess de Rochelle was borne into -the hall on a litter.</p> - -<p>Dead silence fell on all as her litter was set down at -the foot of the steps.</p> - -<p>“Here is the Duchess to speak for herself,” said -Gerard.</p> - -<p>She was pale and fragile, but her eyes were burning, -and her soft voice thrilled all as she spoke.</p> - -<p>“I have heard what has passed, my lord,” she said -to Gerard; “and I have come here to protest against -this contemplated wrong—the last of many I have endured -at my husband’s hands. I will not have that -innocent girl sacrificed. I protest solemnly against this -infamy, in the name of God, the Holy Church, and of -the laws of France.”</p> - -<p>The effort seemed to exhaust her strength, and as she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span> -fell back faint and white, Gabrielle ran and knelt beside -her.</p> - -<p>Gerard paused for the Governor to speak, but rage -deprived him of words.</p> - -<p>“What say you now, my lord?” asked Gerard.</p> - -<p>“This is a plot against me—a damnable scheme to try -and put me to shame here,” cried the infuriated Governor. -“You shall have an answer, never fear; and one -little to your liking. Seize that man,” he cried to his -officers, pointing to Gerard with a hand that shook with -rage.</p> - -<p>“Should not the hall be cleared?” said de Proballe, -roused to great alarm for himself now at the fiasco of -his plans.</p> - -<p>The answer came from Gerard in a loud tone that -resounded through the vast hall.</p> - -<p>“No,” he cried; “not until the infamy of this thing -has been made public.”</p> - -<p>A profound hush of expectancy fell upon the great -throng, each man holding his breath in wonderment and -suspense; and before it was broken, an officer entered -hurriedly and approached the Governor—</p> - -<p>“My lord, my lord,” he said excitedly; “I crave your -lordship’s pardon. Captain Boutelle has sent me to report -that a large force of troops are approaching the -city.”</p> - -<p>“At last,” whispered Gerard under his breath, with a -deep sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>The Governor turned to two of his captains near him—</p> - -<p>“Go at once, Des Moulins, and you, Courvoir, and -see what this means. Close the gates against them, and -hold them in parley till I come.”</p> - -<p>The men hurried out in company with the officer who -had brought the news.</p> - -<p>“Clear the hall, Captain Fourtier; drive these canaille -back to the prisons until I can deal with them.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>“Stop,” cried Gerard, springing to his feet. “No one -leaves the hall except at my orders. The force you hear -of is a Bourbon army coming here under my command. -Your power is broken, my lord Duke. Who disobeys -me now will answer to the Suzerain Duke, Great Bourbon, -for his disobedience. Bear the Duchess away. -Gabrielle, you had better leave with her.”</p> - -<p>“By God, you shall rue this insolent presumption! -Let the hall be cleared, I say. It is I, the Governor, who -order it.”</p> - -<p>The Great Hall became now the scene of intense excitement -and commotion.</p> - -<p>The guards commenced to obey the Governor’s command -to drive the prisoners back to the cells. Groans -and hooting broke out, and in the confusion Lucette contrived -to slip past the soldiers and hasten to Gabrielle, -and with her left by the side of the Duchess’ litter.</p> - -<p>“Pascal, now,” called Gerard. “Captain Dubois, post -your men at the doors, and see that no one enters.”</p> - -<p>“To me, those who are for Bourbon,” shouted Pascal. -“Down with the guards!” and he flung himself upon -the soldier nearest to him, and wrenching his musket -from him, began to use it vigorously. This was the signal -for a fierce conflict between the prisoners and the -guards; and in the meanwhile Dubois, sending half his -men to guard the entrance to the hall, drew up the remainder -as a bodyguard to protect Gerard, who had left -the daïs and was now threatened by the officers and -courtiers of the Governor.</p> - -<p>The two bodies faced each other with fierce menacing -looks: the Governor heading his courtiers, and Gerard -his men, Dubois close at his side; while the din and -clamour of the fight between prisoners and soldiers rendered -it impossible for a word to be heard.</p> - -<p>The struggle was not long. The prisoners outnumbered -their opponents by three or four to one, and fought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span> -with the courage of men fighting for their freedom. -They had Pascal to lead them, moreover; and he had -clubbed his musket and laid about him with an energy -and strength which none could resist wherever he went. -And he was everywhere where the fight was thickest; -and the stronger men, inspired by his example, seized -the soldiers’ weapons and fought shoulder to shoulder -with him with terrible effect.</p> - -<p>The tables were soon turned, and the guards were -beaten and overthrown or held prisoners by the men who -a few minutes before had been cowering before them.</p> - -<p>Before it ended, however, another struggle commenced. -The Governor, mad with rage, called upon -those with him, and drawing his sword, rushed at Gerard -to cut him down, unarmed as he was. But Dubois had -anticipated this, and his sword met that of the Duke, who -sought with all his skill and trick of fence to break -through the other’s guard.</p> - -<p>The two were soon left fighting almost alone, for the -Bourbon soldiers, maddened by the treacherous attempt -upon Gerard’s life, attacked the courtiers with a right -good will, and drove them back speedily to the wall with -the fury of their onslaught. There they were speedily -disarmed, but not until several of them had been -wounded.</p> - -<p>As the din of the conflict within the hall died down at -the ignominious defeat of the Governor’s supporters, -there came from outside the sound of heavy firing and -the loud shouts of many men engaged in desperate fighting.</p> - -<p>“It is d’Alembert; I hear the Bourbon cry,” shouted -Pascal, hurrying to one of the entrances.</p> - -<p>Gerard called to the Governor to yield; and Dubois, -hearing this, changed his defensive tactics for those of -vigorous attack, and as he was driving the Governor -before him, he stepped back suddenly, and so brought -the duel to an end.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span>“Now, my lord, you must see the uselessness of further -resistance,” said Gerard. “You will give me your -sword.”</p> - -<p>“To a treacherous dog like you? Never!” was the -fierce answer.</p> - -<p>“Do you speak of treachery? I saved your life to-day -in the market place, thinking that some spark of -honour might remain to you to be roused by the act—and -your reward was an order that I should be shot. -And but now you sought to drive your sword into my -heart, unarmed though I was. I will have no mercy -for you: nothing but justice. Come, your sword. You -are powerless.”</p> - -<p>The Governor had a curse on his lips, but checked it, -as a great shout came from Pascal and the Bourbons -with him.</p> - -<p>“The Castle is ours, my lord. D’Alembert is here,” -cried Pascal; and the Bourbon soldiers came streaming -into the hall, with d’Alembert at their head.</p> - -<p>The Governor glanced round him with the look of a -hunted beast, and then said sullenly—</p> - -<p>“I have no option, it seems.” He held out his sword -as if about to give it up; but, with a sudden change, he -uttered a cry of rage, and lunged forward swiftly at -Gerard’s heart.</p> - -<p>Only just did the thrust miss as Gerard, fortunately -suspicious, had noted the change of look and leapt aside.</p> - -<p>With a curse at himself for his failure, the Governor -sprang from the men who rushed up, and plunged the -sword into his own heart.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXX<br /> - - -<small>THE TROOPS MARCH</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE week that followed was a wild one indeed -for Morvaix, and the citizens, freed suddenly -from the blighting curse of the Tiger’s rule, -gave themselves up, all classes alike, to a carnival of -revelry and rejoicing.</p> - -<p>The news of the strange occurrences which had culminated -in the Governor’s death was carried far and -wide through the city the same night by the liberated -prisoners, who streamed out of the Castle in a gay -throng, laughing and jesting, straining their throats with -shouts and cheers for Gerard and Gabrielle, Bourbon -and Malincourt, and jostling and shouldering one -another in the mad race to be first to tell the glad tidings.</p> - -<p>A garbled and distorted tale it was they told in describing -the scene, the true meaning of which, although -they had witnessed it, they could but imperfectly understand. -But the main fact spoke for itself. The Tyrant -was dead—had died by his own hand, rather than face -the anger of the Great Bourbon who had brought an -army to punish him and save the city.</p> - -<p>They had seen this with their own eyes, and with their -own ears had heard the words with which Gerard had -afterwards dismissed them, promising solemnly good -government for the future, relief from the grinding taxation -and redress for their long suffered wrongs. And -the whole livelong night was spent in rejoicing.</p> - -<p>The morrow found the great news confirmed. A -proclamation was issued from the Castle announcing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span> -that the Duc de Rochelle was dead, and that Gerard de -Bourbon would act for the time as Governor, and this -was followed by Gerard’s first decree as Governor, repealing -some of the Tyrant’s ordinances, and detailing a -number of measures to be taken immediately for the -relief of the poorer citizens.</p> - -<p>Nor was this all. The leading burghers were summoned -to the Castle and informed of the forthcoming -alliance between the Houses of Bourbon and Malincourt -through the marriage of Gerard and Gabrielle; and told -that Gerard hoped to remain permanently in Morvaix -as the Governor of the Province. The burghers were -also requested to take urgent counsel together as to the -best means to be adopted to restore the impaired trade -and fortunes of the city; and were thus sent on their way -rejoicing with lighter hearts than they had known for -many a long year.</p> - -<p>A few days wrought wonders in changing the look -of the little city and the demeanour of the people, who -had many a substantial proof of the spirit of the new -rule; and before the week was out it was known that -couriers had passed between Morvaix and the Duke de -Bourbon and that they had brought back from the Suzerain -confirmation of Gerard’s appointment as the new -Governor.</p> - -<p>A crowd of smiling men and women were gathered in -the market place cheering and rejoicing over this fresh -good news, when two horsemen came riding from the -Castle toward the south gate. They were de Proballe -and Jacques Dauban; and of all the great throng their -faces alone were dark and gloomy. Gerard had held -de Proballe a close prisoner, intending to punish him -severely; but at Gabrielle’s intercession had released him, -on condition that he and Dauban left the city never to -return to it.</p> - -<p>“We are so happy, let us forgive,” she had pleaded;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span> -and herself had provided her uncle with a sum of money. -But Pascal had not forgiven Dauban, and learning when -he and his master were to be released, had whispered a -word to Babillon which had results.</p> - -<p>As the two men reached the farther end of the market place, -where it narrowed into the street leading to the -city gate, they found the press of people so great that -no more than a walking pace was possible; and just at -that moment they were recognized. Cries and hooting, -coarse jests and gibes, took the place of smiles and -cheers; clenched fists were raised in menace, as the people -closed round the horses, rough hands being laid on -the bridles.</p> - -<p>De Proballe scowled in anger, and when one man -seized the bridle of his horse and jeered at him to his -face, he was foolhardy enough in his rage to raise his -whip and strike the man across the mouth.</p> - -<p>It was the spark to the tinder, and the flame burst out -directly. In a moment he and Dauban were torn from -their horses and jostled and shouldered and thrust from -hand to hand, in the midst of a rough but not over ill-tempered -crowd.</p> - -<p>Babillon was close at hand, and himself raised the cry -of “No violence on such a day as this. No violence.” -And the cry was caught up by the people, and followed -by bursts of thunderous jeering laughter at the sour -looks and angry faces of the two men. It was rough -jesting, however; and just when the people were tiring -of it and the pair were getting back to their horses, a -cry was raised by some one of “The pond, the pond;” -and this, too, swelled into a roar.</p> - -<p>Dauban was seized first by half a dozen stalwart fellows, -and, writhing, struggling and kicking in futile resistance, -was borne along and tossed into the middle of -the pond which was near. He emerged a minute later, -a shivering, soaked, half-drowned and all-bedraggled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span> -figure to be greeted, as he shook himself and stood -squeezing the dirty water from his clothes, with such a -roar of raucous laughter as might have been heard -through half the city.</p> - -<p>De Proballe’s turn came next; and despite his angry, -vehement protests, he was seized in the same manner, -and carried, fighting and screaming out impotent threats -and curses, in the direction of the pond.</p> - -<p>But before his ruthless captors reached the pond, an -interruption came. Gerard and Gabrielle, with some -others in attendance, had been riding, and were returning, -when their attention was attracted by the sounds of -the disturbance, and they came in full view of the proceedings -just when Dauban stood shivering after his -ducking and the crowd had seized upon de Proballe.</p> - -<p>Gerard was for letting the thing be settled by the people, -but Gabrielle would not, and with a touch of the -spur, put her horse in the way.</p> - -<p>Her appearance was the signal for a rousing cheer, -and as soon as she could be heard, she said to those about -her—</p> - -<p>“You do not best show yourselves my friends in this. -If you will please me, you will let M. de Proballe free. -If I have forgiven him, cannot you?”</p> - -<p>A shout of assent was the answer; and in a moment -he was set at liberty; the two horses were brought up, -and he and Dauban mounted, a wild burst of laughter -at the figure which Dauban made being mingled in the -cheers for Gabrielle and Malincourt.</p> - -<p>De Proballe said not a word of thanks, and would not -even look at Gabrielle; and as he passed close to Gerard -it was with a scowl and an oath. Then he dug his heels -into his horse’s flanks and rode out of the city and into -the open country, closely followed by Dauban, who kept -glancing timorously over his shoulder in fear of yet -further trouble.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span>“I would not have had either of them hurt,” said -Gabrielle, when Gerard joined her and they resumed the -ride to the maison.</p> - -<p>“A kindliness worthy of your gentle heart, Gabrielle. -But I am differently cast, I fear. It would not have -hurt him. He has stirred much dirty water in Morvaix, -and if he had had to carry away a little of a different -kind in his mouth and on his clothes it would have served -him right. But he has had a good fright, and that’s -something; and if you are glad no worse has chanced -to him, why I am glad also. I would rather he had a -dry skin than you be displeased.”</p> - -<p>“It is best as it is, Gerard, although—it would have -served him right;” and she laughed and added: “I -could almost have wished we had not ridden up in time.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, it gave the people a chance of seeing more evidence -of your sweet nature, Gabrielle. How they -cheered you! ’Twas a good-humoured crowd, too.”</p> - -<p>“You have changed the temper of the people almost -as if by the wave of a wizard’s wand.”</p> - -<p>“Not I. ’Twas you they cheered. They know whom -to thank. Your popularity is so great that you set me -a difficult task to rival it.”</p> - -<p>“How different from that angry sullen mob that faced -the soldiers when we first met—and but little more than -a week ago.” And in this easy happy fashion they chatted -until Malincourt was reached.</p> - -<p>On the terrace they found Lucette and Denys, now -fast on the road to recovery, in converse with Dubois.</p> - -<p>“I was chiding Captain Dubois for leaving us, Gabrielle,” -cried Lucette smiling. “But he has an iron will—shot-proof -against any arguments.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you could persuade him to remain, Lucette,” -said Gerard. “I have tried to bribe him with the offer -of the command of the troops here, but he is, as you say, -iron, and insists on leaving to-morrow with d’Alembert.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span>“I am a soldier, mademoiselle,” answered Dubois, “and -there is news of some fighting yet to be done. My place -is with Bourbon’s army.”</p> - -<p>“Ours will be a Bourbon army, too, friend.”</p> - -<p>“I beg you, my lord, urge me no more. I have arranged -the matters on which we spoke. The mercenaries -who were in the late Governor’s troops have for -the most part been enrolled in the companies that march -to-morrow, and so many of the Bourbon men as you -desired have taken their places. But your force will be -chiefly Morvaix men—a sort of citizens’ army; and to -command such a force is no more to my liking than it -is fitted to my powers. I should but cause you infinite -trouble by being constantly at loggerheads with your -burghers.”</p> - -<p>“You take them too seriously, captain. They are -worthy men,” said Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“As men most worthy, doubtless, mademoiselle; as -talkers, unsurpassed in France, I think; but I am a plain -soldier.”</p> - -<p>“I should like details of your arrangements now they -are completed, Dubois. Come into the house and give -them to me. Denys may well assist at the conference, for -he will now be high in my esteem and confidence. Come, -Denys—if Lucette will spare you to me.”</p> - -<p>Denys flushed with pleasure, and Lucette smiled.</p> - -<p>“What a wonderful change in everything, Gabrielle,” -she exclaimed when the three men had left them. “How -happy you look. And what a little cheat you were.”</p> - -<p>“I? When?”</p> - -<p>“Innocent! Why the day after M. Gerard met you -in the market place. When you said that if for a moment -you had swerved from thoughts of duty, a night’s -reflection had sobered you. Sobered you! Intoxicated -you, you should have said.”</p> - -<p>“I did not know that Gerard was——” Lucette broke -in with a merry laugh, and Gabrielle blushed.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span>“Was Gerard de Cobalt? Nor was he. But do you -remember my words, when you were such a philosopher -about the plagues of love? I told you you would learn -to know it all some day. Oh, Gabrielle, what a lecture -I might read you now! You cannot find him near you -without a dozen tremors and a fleeting tide of colour in -your face and light in your eyes; and when he is not by -your side, how restless is Gabrielle, with glances here -and glances there, listening for his footstep or his voice, -and impatience, oh, such impatience, at all that keeps -him from you.”</p> - -<p>“If I plead guilty, has the court no mercy for me?”</p> - -<p>“My dearest, I love you for it. But I told you how -it would be; and God knows neither you nor I would -have it otherwise. Ah, here is M. Pascal,” she said as -he came round the house.</p> - -<p>“Mademoiselle, I have hastened from the city to crave -your pardon,” he said to Gabrielle.</p> - -<p>“You are already assured of it, monsieur, for I know -the offence will be but a trifle.”</p> - -<p>“You must not trust all men, Gabrielle,” put in Lucette -briskly.</p> - -<p>“Yet unwittingly I may have offended. It was I who -instigated the baiting of M. de Proballe and the scurvy -knave he calls his secretary. I knew when he would -leave, and set on Babillon to frighten him. I have heard -it was against your wish, and would not have you blame -your citizens for the act of a rough Bourbon soldier.”</p> - -<p>“What happened to them?” asked Lucette. And -when Pascal told her of Dauban’s treatment, she laughed -and clapped her hands.</p> - -<p>“May I tack a condition to my pardon, monsieur?” -asked Gabrielle, smiling.</p> - -<p>“Were I one of your cautious burghers, I would urge -that the condition be first specified.”</p> - -<p>“It is that you do not leave with the Bourbon forces -to-morrow, but remain to be a friend and help to us all.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span>“Then I pray you undo the tacking. Remember how -sad a place Morvaix must ever be in my memory.”</p> - -<p>“Sad?” exclaimed Lucette. “Monsieur!”</p> - -<p>“I mean because of my many bereavements here.”</p> - -<p>“Bereavements, monsieur?” said Gabrielle, with a -frown of perplexity.</p> - -<p>“Bereavements truly; what else? ’Twas here in Morvaix -I lost my wife, after a union of but a few minutes; -and after that my newly betrothed was snatched from -me by inexorable fate.”</p> - -<p>They both laughed, and Lucette said—</p> - -<p>“Then you are desolate?”</p> - -<p>“In truth could I be otherwise? I am always, and -in earnest what Gerard was in masquerade for a few -hours—a courier of fortune; and without the hope that -the fortune I chased may prove as charming and delightful.”</p> - -<p>“I would you could have stayed, monsieur; and I -thank you for your pretty compliments,” said Gabrielle, -smiling and blushing.</p> - -<p>“You go to Paris, monsieur, I understand,” said -Lucette. “Doubtless there you will find consolation.”</p> - -<p>“In Paris there may be distractions, even if not consolation,” -he answered gaily.</p> - -<p>“Try to persuade him to remain, Lucette,” said Gabrielle, -going into the house.</p> - -<p>“Why will you not remain, M. Pascal?” asked Lucette -half nervously and more seriously than usual with -her.</p> - -<p>“Is not the answer there, with her, Lucette, and here -perhaps with you?” He spoke lightly, but his eyes -were serious.</p> - -<p>“I am not sure that I understand you.”</p> - -<p>“And I am sure there is no need that you should. -They will be a happy pair, I hope with all my heart; as -I hope indeed that you will be happy with M. St. Jean—a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span> -prince of worthy fellows—even if a trifle disposed to -jealousy. I have had much talk with him in the last -few days.”</p> - -<p>She was silent a moment turning over a ring on her -finger.</p> - -<p>“I hope you will be happy also.” Her voice was soft -and low and trembled slightly.</p> - -<p>“I am a soldier and love my colours. I have health -and strength, a sound body and a modicum of wits, trust -in myself and strong hope, and kindly memories to carry -with me from Morvaix. Why should I not be happy?”</p> - -<p>“Despite your bereavements?” And she smiled.</p> - -<p>“Or perhaps because of them, Lucette.”</p> - -<p>“A double-edged sentence that, surely.”</p> - -<p>“And therefore best suited to the thought behind it.”</p> - -<p>She lifted her eyes and looked at him searchingly, and -he met the look with an easy smile.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what you mean?” she said, so earnestly -that her tone was almost sad.</p> - -<p>“Your wonder is not greater than my own,” he -laughed.</p> - -<p>“In our worst troubles recently you laughed. You -have a laugh for everything.”</p> - -<p>“The finest mask with which Nature ever fitted man -or woman is a laugh, Lucette. Yes, I can laugh at my -own follies and wishes and troubles and—aye, even at -my own bereavements.”</p> - -<p>The gaiety of his tone was just as bright and free; -and he continued to smile when Lucette again looked -at him earnestly.</p> - -<p>“Is that smile a mask, too? I would gladly know -what is behind it,” she said.</p> - -<p>“I think I myself shall know better when, say, there -are twenty leagues between Morvaix and me.”</p> - -<p>They stood looking one at the other a moment, and -then Denys came out and joined them.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span>“Come to my rescue, Denys,” cried Pascal gaily. -“Here is Madame Burgher trying to cross-examine me.”</p> - -<p>“Aye, come and take a lesson in word fencing, -Denys,” said Lucette.</p> - -<p>“You may need many lessons when you fence with -Lucette, my good friend.”</p> - -<p>“I know it,” replied Denys with a smile, as he slipped -his arm into hers and glanced at her.</p> - -<p>“They would keep me in Morvaix,” laughed Pascal.</p> - -<p>“And not they alone, Pascal. Do you know, Lucette, -I have tried by the hour to persuade him to stay. But -he tells me there are—shall I say it?” and he looked at -Pascal, who shrugged his shoulders. “There are a -woman’s eyes calling him away.”</p> - -<p>“Warning me away, was what I said, friend.”</p> - -<p>“’Tis the same thing,” declared Denys.</p> - -<p>“Maybe; but ’twas the term I used. I think I have -learnt to read more warnings than beckonings in -women’s eyes. But ’tis the same in the end.”</p> - -<p>Lucette watched him steadily as he spoke, and then -surprised Denys by saying very seriously, and with something -very much like a sigh—</p> - -<p>“If that be the reason, it is well that you go, Pascal.”</p> - -<p>“What, have you changed sides, Lucette?” cried -Denys, rallying her.</p> - -<p>“’Tis a woman’s way, Denys, and ever will be,” -laughed Pascal.</p> - -<p>“Wherever you go, Pascal, I wish you Godspeed with -all my heart,” said Lucette in the same earnest, almost -strenuous tone; and gave him her hand, which he carried -to his lips.</p> - -<p>“Denys will not mind that, at any rate,” he said.</p> - -<p>Lucette shivered.</p> - -<p>“Take me in, Denys, I am chilled,” she said; and without -saying more or looking again at Pascal, she hurried -in.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span>“’Tis a woman’s way, Denys, only and always a -woman’s way,” he said, as Denys lingered a moment -and then hurried after her.</p> - -<p>Pascal watched them with a smile until they had gone, -and then turned grave, nodded once or twice, smiled -again, and again was grave, until, with a shrug of the -shoulders, he turned and swung away.</p> - -<p>The next morning all was bustle and commotion at -the Castle, for the Bourbon troops were marching out. -Gerard and Gabrielle and all from Malincourt were there -to bid them farewell. They stood together, the centre -of a large group, watching them start, and Lucette and -Denys were a little apart from the rest.</p> - -<p>Dubois, taciturn and quiet as usual, was busy seeing -that everything was in due order; and Pascal, activity -itself, moved gaily here, there and everywhere in the -ranks, with eyes for everything and everybody, laughing -and jesting in uncontrollable spirits.</p> - -<p>His company was the last to start, and all his soldiers, -although many of them were leaving behind friends in -Morvaix and breaking pleasant associations, seemed to -take the infection of their leader’s gaiety, and faced the -parting with laughs and jokes and pleasantry.</p> - -<p>The merriest and most cheerful of all the companies -was Pascal’s, and he himself the merriest and most cheerful -of them, as they saluted Gerard and cheered Gabrielle -and then marched away with sturdy, stalwart stride.</p> - -<p>Pascal waited to mount his horse until almost the last -ranks were on the move.</p> - -<p>“What spirits he has,” exclaimed Denys to Lucette as -they stood watching the men. “I am sorry he is going.”</p> - -<p>But Lucette was silent.</p> - -<p>The last rank passed, and then Pascal, turning in the -saddle, waved his hand and smiled. His eyes rested for -a moment on Lucette’s, at least so it seemed to her; and -she raised her kerchief and waved back to him just as he -touched his horse and moved after his men.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>She continued to wave and to stare after him, but he -did not look back until, quite in the distance, he turned -and again, as she thought, looked at her; and again she -answered, waving to him.</p> - -<p>He did not look back any more, and when, the last sign -of the troops having disappeared and she was still staring -after them, Denys touched her arm, she started -almost as one awakened from a dream.</p> - -<p>“I am glad he has gone,” she said, sighing; and then -Denys saw that her eyes were dimmed with tears.</p> - -<p>“Tears? Lucette?” he cried.</p> - -<p>“It strains one’s eyes to stare so long. Give me your -arm, Denys dear, and be patient with me to-day. I—I—oh, -Denys dearest, I am so glad you are well again,” and -she walked away clinging closely to his side.</p> - -<p>And Denys, not understanding this mood of hers, was -almost as much perplexed by her humour as he was delighted -by her tenderness.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph3">Popular Copyright Books</p> - - -<p class="ph1">At Moderate Prices</p> - -<p class="center">Any of the following titles can be bought of your Bookseller -at the price you paid for this volume</p> -</div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td><b>NANCY STAIR</b></td><td class="tdr"> Elinor Macartney Lane</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>MY LADY OF THE NORTH</b></td><td class="tdr"> Randall Parrish</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH</b></td><td class="tdr"> Charles D. Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>VASHTI</b></td><td class="tdr"> Augusta Evans Wilson</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>FOR LOVE OR CROWN</b></td><td class="tdr"> Arthur W. Marchmont</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>UP FROM SLAVERY</b></td><td class="tdr"> Booker T. Washington</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY</b></td><td class="tdr"> Gilbert Parker</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>CAP’N ERI</b></td><td class="tdr"> Joseph C. Lincoln</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>WHEN WILDERNESS WAS KING</b></td><td class="tdr"> Randall Parrish</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>THE LEAVENWORTH CASE</b></td><td class="tdr"> Anna Katharine Green</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>MYSTERY TALES</b></td><td class="tdr"> Edgar Allan Poe</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>A COURIER OF FORTUNE</b></td><td class="tdr"> Arthur W. Marchmont</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>THE QUICKENING</b></td><td class="tdr"> Francis Lynde</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>DOUBLE TROUBLE</b></td><td class="tdr"> Herbert Quick</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>SIR RICHARD CALMADY</b></td><td class="tdr"> Lucas Malet</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE</b> </td><td class="tdr"> Frank R. Stockton</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>A SPECKLED BIRD</b></td><td class="tdr"> Augusta Evans Wilson</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>ORDER NO. II</b></td><td class="tdr"> Caroline Abbot Stanley</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN</b></td><td class="tdr"> Amelia E. Barr</td></tr> -<tr><td><b>SARITA THE CARLIST</b></td><td class="tdr"> Arthur W. Marchmont</td></tr> -</table> - - -<p class="ph1">A. L. BURT CO., Publishers, 52-58 Duane St., New York</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph3"><span class="u">Good Fiction Worth Reading.</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the field -of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and diplomacy -that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>GUY FAWKES.</b> A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. Harrison -Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. -Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>The “Gunpowder Plot” was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, -the King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, -was weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of -extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. In -their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spirits concluded -to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters were arrested, -and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other prisoners with -royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through the entire romance.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER.</b> A Romance of the Early Settlers in the -Ohio Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth. 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>A book rather out of the ordinary is this “Spirit of the Border.” The -main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian missionaries -in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given details of the -frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke the wilderness for the planting -of this great nation. Chief among these, as a matter of course, is -Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and at the same time the most -admirable of all the brave men who spent their lives battling with the -savage foe, that others might dwell in comparative security.</p> - -<p>Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian “Village -of Peace” are given at some length, and with minute description. The -efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never have been -before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leaders of the -several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will be of interest to -the student.</p> - -<p>By no means least among the charms of the story are the vivid word-pictures -of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings of the beauties -of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests.</p> - -<p>It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by it, -perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly braved -every privation and danger that the westward progress of the star of empire -might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, simple and tender, -runs through the book.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>RICHELIEU.</b> A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By G. P. -R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, “Richelieu,” and was -recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft.</p> - -<p>In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great cardinal’s -life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while it was -yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic outbursts which -overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost wave of prosperity. -One of the most striking portions of the story is that of Cinq Mar’s conspiracy: -the method of conducting criminal cases, and the political trickery -resorted to by royal favorites, affording a better insight into the state-craft -of that day than can be had even by an exhaustive study of history. -It is a powerful romance of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling -and absorbing interest has never been excelled.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>DARNLEY.</b> A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. -By G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. -Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>In point of publication, “Darnley” Is that work by Mr. James which -follows “Richelieu,” and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to the advice -and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we are indebted -primarily for the story, the young author questioning whether he could -properly paint the difference in the characters of the two great cardinals. -And it is not surprising that James should have hesitated; he had been -eminently successful in giving to the world the portrait of Richelieu as a -man, and by attempting a similar task with Wolsey as the theme, was -much like tempting fortune. Irving insisted that “Darnley” came naturally -in sequence, and this opinion being supported by Sir Walter Scott, -the author set about the work.</p> - -<p>As a historical romance “Darnley” is a book that can be taken up -pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm which -those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have claimed was -only to be imparted by Dumas.</p> - -<p>If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial attention, -the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic “field of the cloth of -gold” would entitle the story to the most favorable consideration of every -reader.</p> - -<p>There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author has -taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom history has -credited with having entertained the tender passion one for another, and -he succeeds in making such lovers as all the world must love.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE.</b> By Lieut. -Henry A. Wise, U.S.N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations -by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarns -who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come through -the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea and those -“who go down in ships” been written by one more familiar with the scenes -depicted.</p> - -<p>The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and which -will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is “Captain Brand,” -who, as the author states on his title page, was a “pirate of eminence in -the West Indies.” As a sea story pure and simple, “Captain Brand” has -never been excelled, and as a story of piratical life, told without the usual -embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no equal.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>NICK OF THE WOODS.</b> A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By -Robert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life in -Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long out of -print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic presentation of -Indian and frontier life in the early days of settlement in the South, narrated -in the tale with all the art of a practiced writer. A very charming -love romance runs through the story. This new and tasteful edition of -“Nick of the Woods” will be certain to make many new admirers for -this enchanting story from Dr. Bird’s clever and versatile pen.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE.</b> A story of American Colonial Times. By -Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary -scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the true -American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter, until -the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The love story is a -singularly charming idyl.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>THE TOWER OF LONDON.</b> A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady -Jane Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with -four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>This romance of the “Tower of London” depicts the Tower as palace, -prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is the -middle of the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p>The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, -and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable characters -of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of the reader -in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerably over a -half a century.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING.</b> A Romance of the American Revolution. -By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, -and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit of the -Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves taking a -part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is so absorbing -that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a love romance -it is charming.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>GARTHOWEN.</b> A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>“This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare before -us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some strong points of -Welsh character—the pride, the hasty temper, the quick dying out of wrath.... -We call this a well-written story, interesting alike through its -romance and its glimpses into another life than ours. A delightful and -clever picture of Welsh village life. The result is excellent.”—Detroit Free -Press.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>MIFANWY.</b> The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>“This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to -read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, it is apparent -at once, are as true to life as though the author had known them -all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story is worked up in that -touching and quaint strain which never grows wearisome, no matter how -often the lights and shadows of love are introduced. It rings true, and -does not tax the imagination.”—Boston Herald.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>WINDSOR CASTLE.</b> A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., -Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>“Windsor Castle” is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne -Boleyn. “Bluff King Hal,” although a well-loved monarch, was none too -good a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable acts, -none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, and his marriage -to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King’s love was as brief as it -was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, attracted him, -and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make room for her successor. -This romance is one of extreme interest to all readers.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>HORSESHOE ROBINSON.</b> A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina -in 1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historical fiction -there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans than -Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story which depicts -with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonists in South Carolina -to defend their homes against the brutal oppression of the British -under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton.</p> - -<p>The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread -of the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning those -times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, is never overdrawn, -but painted faithfully and honestly by one who spared neither -time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming love story all that -price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid as their share in the -winning of the republic.</p> - -<p>Take it all in all, “Horseshoe Robinson” is a work which should be -found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining -story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning the -colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once more, well -illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to thousands who have -long desired an opportunity to read the story again, and to the many who -have tried vainly in these latter days to procure a copy that they might -read it for the first time.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>THE PEARL OF ORR’S ISLAND.</b> A story of the Coast of Maine. By -Harriet Beecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00.</p> - - - -<p>Written prior to 1862, the “Pearl of Orr’s Island” is ever new; a book -filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves anew each -time one reads them. One sees the “sea like an unbroken mirror all -around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr’s Island,” and straightway -comes “the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, like the wild -angry howl of some savage animal.”</p> - -<p>Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which -came into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel’s wings, -without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud blossomed? -Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the character -of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid the -angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother’s breast.</p> - -<p>There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that -which Mrs. Stowe gives in “The Pearl of Orr’s Island.”</p> - - - -<p class="center">For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers,<br /> -<b>A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York.</b></p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph3"><span class="u">POPULAR LITERATURE FOR THE MASSES,<br /> -COMPRISING CHOICE SELECTIONS FROM THE<br /> -TREASURES OF THE WORLD’S KNOWLEDGE,<br /> -ISSUED IN A SUBSTANTIAL AND ATTRACTIVE<br /> -CLOTH BINDING, AT A POPULAR PRICE</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="figright"><img src="images/i_ad.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p> </p> - -<p><b>BURT’S HOME LIBRARY</b> is a series which -includes the standard works of the world’s best literature, -bound in uniform cloth binding, gilt tops, embracing -chiefly selections from writers of the most notable -English, American and Foreign Fiction, together with -many important works in the domains -of History, Biography, Philosophy, -Travel, Poetry and the Essays.</p> - -<p>A glance at the following annexed -list of titles and authors will endorse -the claim that the publishers make -for it—that it is the most comprehensive, -choice, interesting, and by -far the most carefully selected series -of standard authors for world-wide -reading that has been produced by -any publishing house in any country, and that at prices -so cheap, and in a style so substantial and pleasing, as to -win for it millions of readers and the approval and -commendation, not only of the book trade throughout -the American continent, but of hundreds of thousands of -librarians, clergymen, educators and men of letters -interested in the dissemination of instructive, entertaining -and thoroughly wholesome reading matter for the masses.</p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1"><span class="u">BURT’S HOME LIBRARY. Cloth. Gilt Tops. Price, $1.00</span></p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - -<p><b>Abbe Constantin.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ludovic -Halevy.</span></p> - -<p><b>Abbott.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Adam Bede.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Addison’s Essays.</b> <span class="smcap">Edited by John -Richard Green.</span></p> - -<p><b>Aeneid of Virgil.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by -John Connington.</span></p> - -<p><b>Aesop’s Fables.</b></p> - -<p><b>Alexander, the Great, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -John Williams.</span></p> - -<p><b>Alfred, the Great, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas -Hughes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Alhambra.</b> <span class="smcap">By Washington Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Alice in Wonderland, and Through the -Looking-Glass.</b> <span class="smcap">By Lewis Carroll.</span></p> - -<p><b>Alice Lorraine.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. D. Blackmore.</span></p> - -<p><b>All Sorts and Conditions of Men.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Walter Besant.</span></p> - -<p><b>Alton Locke.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Amiel’s Journal.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by -Mrs. Humphrey Ward.</span></p> - -<p><b>Andersen’s Fairy Tales.</b></p> - -<p><b>Anne of Geirstein.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Antiquary.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.</b></p> - -<p><b>Ardath.</b> <span class="smcap">By Marie Corelli.</span></p> - -<p><b>Arnold, Benedict, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By George -Canning Hill.</span></p> - -<p><b>Arnold’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Matthew -Arnold.</span></p> - -<p><b>Around the World in the Yacht Sunbeam.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Mrs. Brassey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Arundel Motto.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary Cecil -Hay.</span></p> - -<p><b>At the Back of the North Wind.</b> <span class="smcap">By -George Macdonald.</span></p> - -<p><b>Attic Philosopher.</b> <span class="smcap">By Emile Souvestre.</span></p> - -<p><b>Auld Licht Idylls.</b> <span class="smcap">By James M. -Barrie.</span></p> - -<p><b>Aunt Diana.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.</b></p> - -<p><b>Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.</b> <span class="smcap">By -O. W. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Averil.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bacon’s Essays.</b> <span class="smcap">By Francis Bacon.</span></p> - -<p><b>Barbara Heathcote’s Trial.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa -N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Barnaby Rudge.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Barrack Room Ballads.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard -Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Betrothed.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Beulah.</b> <span class="smcap">By Augusta J. Evans.</span></p> - -<p><b>Black Beauty.</b> <span class="smcap">By Anna Sewell.</span></p> - -<p><b>Black Dwarf.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Black Rock.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ralph Connor.</span></p> - -<p><b>Black Tulip.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bleak House.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Blithedale Romance.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel -Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bondman.</b> <span class="smcap">By Hall Caine.</span></p> - -<p><b>Book of Golden Deeds.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte -M. Yonge.</span></p> - -<p><b>Boone, Daniel, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Cecil B. -Hartley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bride of Lammermoor.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir -Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bride of the Nile.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Ebers.</span></p> - -<p><b>Browning’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Elizabeth -Barrett Browning.</span></p> - -<p><b>Browning’s Poems.</b> (<span class="allsmcap">SELECTIONS.</span>) -<span class="smcap">By Robert Browning.</span></p> - -<p><b>Bryant’s Poems.</b> (<span class="allsmcap">EARLY.</span>) <span class="smcap">By William -Cullen Bryant.</span></p> - -<p><b>Burgomaster’s Wife.</b> <span class="smcap">By George -Ebers.</span></p> - -<p><b>Burn’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Robert Burns.</span></p> - -<p><b>By Order of the King.</b> <span class="smcap">By Victor -Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>Byron’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Lord Byron.</span></p> - -<p><b>Caesar, Julius, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By James -Anthony Froude.</span></p> - -<p><b>Carson, Kit, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Burdett.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cary’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alice and Phoebe -Cary.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cast Up by the Sea.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Samuel -Baker.</span></p> - -<p><b>Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Life -of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Hodgkin,</span> D. C. L.</p> - -<p><b>Charles Auchester.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Berger.</span></p> - -<p><b>Character.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Smiles.</span></p> - -<p><b>Charles O’Malley.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Lever.</span></p> - -<p><b>Chesterfield’s Letters.</b> <span class="smcap">By Lord Chesterfield.</span></p> - -<p><b>Chevalier de Maison Rouge.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Chicot the Jester.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Children of the Abbey.</b> <span class="smcap">By Regina -Maria Roche.</span></p> - -<p><b>Child’s History of England.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Christmas Stories.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cloister and the Hearth.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Coleridge’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Taylor -Coleridge.</span></p> - -<p><b>Columbus, Christopher, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Washington Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Companions of Jehu.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Complete Angler.</b> <span class="smcap">By Walton and -Cotton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Conduct of Life.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ralph Waldo -Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Confessions of an Opium Eater.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Thomas de Quincey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Conquest of Granada.</b> <span class="smcap">By Washington -Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Conscript.</b> <span class="smcap">By Erckmann-Chatrian.</span></p> - -<p><b>Conspiracy of Pontiac.</b> <span class="smcap">By Francis -Parkman, Jr.</span></p> - -<p><b>Conspirators.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Consuelo.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Sand.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cook’s Voyages.</b> <span class="smcap">By Captain James -Cook.</span></p> - -<p><b>Corinne.</b> <span class="smcap">By Madame de Stael.</span></p> - -<p><b>Countess de Charney.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Countess Gisela.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Countess of Rudolstadt.</b> <span class="smcap">By George -Sand.</span></p> - -<p><b>Count Robert of Paris.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir -Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Country Doctor.</b> <span class="smcap">By Honore de -Balzac.</span></p> - -<p><b>Courtship of Miles Standish.</b> <span class="smcap">By H. W. -Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cousin Maude.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cranford.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Gaskell.</span></p> - -<p><b>Crockett, David, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">An Autobiography.</span></p> - -<p><b>Cromwell, Oliver, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edwin -Paxton Hood.</span></p> - -<p><b>Crown of Wild Olive.</b> <span class="smcap">By John -Ruskin.</span></p> - -<p><b>Crusades.</b> <span class="smcap">By Geo. W. Cox</span>, M. A.</p> - -<p><b>Daniel Deronda.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Darkness and Daylight.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Data of Ethics.</b> <span class="smcap">By Herbert Spencer.</span></p> - -<p><b>Daughter of an Empress, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Louisa Muhlbach.</span></p> - -<p><b>David Copperfield.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Days of Bruce.</b> <span class="smcap">By Grace Aguilar.</span></p> - -<p><b>Deemster, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By Hall Caine.</span></p> - -<p><b>Deerslayer, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore -Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Descent of Man.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Darwin.</span></p> - -<p><b>Discourses of Epictetus.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated -by George Long.</span></p> - -<p><b>Divine Comedy.</b> (<span class="smcap">Dante.</span>) <span class="smcap">Translated -by Rev. H. F. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Dombey & Son.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Donal Grant.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Macdonald.</span></p> - -<p><b>Donovan.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>Dora Deane.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Dove in the Eagle’s Nest.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte M. Yonge.</span></p> - -<p><b>Dream Life.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ik Marvel.</span></p> - -<p><b>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. L. -Stevenson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Duty.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Smiles.</span></p> - -<p><b>Early Days of Christianity.</b> <span class="smcap">By F. W. -Farrar.</span></p> - -<p><b>East Lynne.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Henry Wood.</span></p> - -<p><b>Edith Lyle’s Secret.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Education.</b> <span class="smcap">By Herbert Spencer.</span></p> - -<p><b>Egoist.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Meredith.</span></p> - -<p><b>Egyptian Princess.</b> <span class="smcap">By Georg -Ebers.</span>.</p> - -<p><b>Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Eliot’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Elizabeth and her German Garden.</b></p> - -<p><b>Elizabeth (Queen of England), Life of.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Edward Spencer Beesly</span>, M.A.</p> - -<p><b>Elsie Venner.</b> <span class="smcap">By Oliver Wendell -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Emerson’s Essays.</b> (<span class="allsmcap">COMPLETE.</span>) <span class="smcap">By -Ralph Waldo Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Emerson’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ralph Waldo -Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>English Orphans.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>English Traits.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. W. Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Essays in Criticism.</b> (<span class="smcap">First and -Second Series.</span>) <span class="smcap">By Matthew -Arnold.</span></p> - -<p><b>Essays of Elia.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Lamb.</span></p> - -<p><b>Esther.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ethelyn’s Mistake.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Evangeline.</b> (<span class="allsmcap">WITH NOTES.</span>) <span class="smcap">By H. -W. Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Evelina.</b> <span class="smcap">By Frances Burney.</span></p> - -<p><b>Fair Maid of Perth.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Fairy Land of Science.</b> <span class="smcap">By Arabella -B. Buckley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Faust.</b> (<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span>) <span class="smcap">Translated by -Anna Swanwick.</span></p> - -<p><b>Felix Holt.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.</b> -<span class="smcap">By E. S. Creasy.</span></p> - -<p><b>File No. 113.</b> <span class="smcap">By Emile Gaboriau.</span></p> - -<p><b>Firm of Girdlestone.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Conan -Doyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>First Principles.</b> <span class="smcap">By Herbert Spencer.</span></p> - -<p><b>First Violin.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jessie Fothergill.</span></p> - -<p><b>For Lilias.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Fortunes of Nigel.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Forty-Five Guardsmen.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Foul Play.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Fragments of Science.</b> <span class="smcap">By John -Tyndall.</span></p> - -<p><b>Frederick, the Great, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Francis Kugler.</span></p> - -<p><b>Frederick the Great and His Court.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Louisa Muhlbach.</span></p> - -<p><b>French Revolution.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Carlyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>From the Earth to the Moon.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Garibaldi, General, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Theodore -Dwight.</span></p> - -<p><b>Gil Blas, Adventures of.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. R. Le -Sage.</span></p> - -<p><b>Gold Bug and Other Tales.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Edgar A. Poe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Gold Elsie.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Golden Treasury.</b> <span class="smcap">By Francis T. -Palgrave.</span></p> - -<p><b>Goldsmith’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Oliver -Goldsmith.</span></p> - -<p><b>Grandfather’s Chair.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel -Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Grant, Ulysses S., Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By J. T. -Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Gray’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Gray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Great Expectations.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Greek Heroes, Fairy Tales for My -Children.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Green Mountain Boys, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By D. P. -Thompson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Grimm’s Household Tales.</b> <span class="smcap">By the -Brothers Grimm.</span></p> - -<p><b>Grimm’s Popular Tales.</b> <span class="smcap">By the -Brothers Grimm.</span></p> - -<p><b>Gulliver’s Travels.</b> <span class="smcap">By Dean Swift.</span></p> - -<p><b>Guy Mannering.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hale, Nathan, the Martyr Spy.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Charlotte Molyneux Holloway.</span></p> - -<p><b>Handy Andy.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Lover.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hans of Iceland.</b> <span class="smcap">By Victor Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hannibal, the Carthaginian, Life of.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Thomas Arnold, M. A.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hardy Norseman, A.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>Harold.</b> <span class="smcap">By Bulwer-Lytton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Harry Lorrequer.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Lever.</span></p> - -<p><b>Heart of Midlothian.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Heir of Redclyffe.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte M. -Yonge.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hemans’ Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Felicia -Hemans.</span></p> - -<p><b>Henry Esmond.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wm. M. Thackeray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Henry, Patrick, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By William -Wirt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Her Dearest Foe.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Alexander.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hereward.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Heriot’s Choice.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Heroes and Hero-Worship.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Thomas Carlyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hiawatha.</b> <span class="smcap">(with notes.) By H. W. -Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hidden Hand, The.</b> <span class="smcap">(complete.) By -Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth.</span></p> - -<p><b>History of a Crime.</b> <span class="smcap">By Victor -Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>History of Civilization in Europe.</b> <span class="smcap">By -M. Guizot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Holmes’ Poems.</b> (<span class="smcap">early) By Oliver -Wendell Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Holy Roman Empire.</b> <span class="smcap">By James -Bryce.</span></p> - -<p><b>Homestead on the Hillside.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary -J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hood’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Hood.</span></p> - -<p><b>House of the Seven Gables.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Nathaniel Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hunchback of Notre Dame.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Victor Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hypatia.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Hyperion.</b> <span class="smcap">By Henry Wadsworth -Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Iceland Fisherman.</b> <span class="smcap">By Pierre Loti.</span></p> - -<p><b>Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Jerome K. Jerome.</span></p> - -<p><b>Iliad</b>, <span class="smcap">Pope’s Translation.</span></p> - -<p><b>Inez.</b> <span class="smcap">By Augusta J. Evans.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ingelow’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jean Ingelow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Initials.</b> <span class="smcap">By the Baroness Tautphoeus.</span></p> - -<p><b>Intellectual Life.</b> <span class="smcap">By Philip G. -Hamerton.</span></p> - -<p><b>In the Counsellor’s House.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. -Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>In the Golden Days.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna -Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>In the Heart of the Storm.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Maxwell Gray.</span></p> - -<p><b>In the Schillingscourt.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ishmael.</b> <span class="smcap">(complete.) By Mrs. E. -D. E. N. Southworth.</span></p> - -<p><b>It Is Never Too Late to Mend.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Charles Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ivanhoe.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Jane Eyre.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte Bronte.</span></p> - -<p><b>Jefferson, Thomas, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Samuel M. Schmucker, LL.D.</span></p> - -<p><b>Joan of Arc, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jules -Michelet.</span></p> - -<p><b>John Halifax, Gentleman.</b> <span class="smcap">By Miss -Mulock.</span></p> - -<p><b>Jones, John Paul, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By James -Otis.</span></p> - -<p><b>Joseph Balsamo.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Josephine, Empress of France, Life of.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Frederick A. Ober.</span></p> - -<p><b>Keats’ Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By John Keats.</span></p> - -<p><b>Kenilworth.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Kidnapped.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. L. Stevenson.</span></p> - -<p><b>King Arthur and His Noble Knights.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Mary Maclrod.</span></p> - -<p><b>Knickerbocker’s History of New York.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Washington Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Knight Errant.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>Koran.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by George -Sale.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lady of the Lake.</b> <span class="smcap">(with notes.) By -Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lady with the Rubies.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lafayette, Marquis de, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -P. C. Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lalla Rookh.</b> <span class="smcap">(with notes.) By -Thomas Moore.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lamplighter.</b> <span class="smcap">By Maria S. Cummins.</span></p> - -<p><b>Last Days of Pompeii.</b> <span class="smcap">By Bulwer-Lytton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Last of the Barons.</b> <span class="smcap">By Bulwer-Lytton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Last of the Mohicans.</b> <span class="smcap">By James -Fenimore Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lay of the Last Minstrel.</b> <span class="smcap">(with -notes.) By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lee, General Robert E., Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -G. Mercer Adam.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lena Rivers.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Life of Christ.</b> <span class="smcap">By Frederick W. -Farrar.</span></p> - -<p><b>Life of Jesus.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ernest Renan.</span></p> - -<p><b>Light of Asia.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Edwin -Arnold.</span></p> - -<p><b>Light That Failed.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard -Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lincoln, Abraham, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Henry Ketcham.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lincoln’s Speeches.</b> <span class="smcap">Selected and -Edited by G. Mercer Adam.</span></p> - -<p><b>Literature and Dogma.</b> <span class="smcap">By Matthew -Arnold.</span></p> - -<p><b>Little Dorrit.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Little Minister.</b> <span class="smcap">By James M. Barrie.</span></p> - -<p><b>Livingstone, David, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Thomas Hughes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Longfellow’s Poems.</b> <span class="allsmcap">(EARLY.) By -Henry W. Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lorna Doone.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. D. Blackmore.</span></p> - -<p><b>Louise de la Valliere.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Love Me Little, Love Me Long.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Charles Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lowell’s Poems.</b> <span class="allsmcap">(EARLY.) By James -Russell Lowell.</span></p> - -<p><b>Lucile.</b> <span class="smcap">By Owen Meredith.</span></p> - -<p><b>Macaria.</b> <span class="smcap">By Augusta J. Evans.</span></p> - -<p><b>Macaulay’s Literary Essays.</b> <span class="smcap">By T. B. -Macaulay.</span></p> - -<p><b>Macaulay’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Babington -Macaulay.</span></p> - -<p><b>Madame Therese.</b> <span class="smcap">By Erckmann-Chatrian.</span></p> - -<p><b>Maggie Miller.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Magic Skin.</b> <span class="smcap">By Honore de Balzac.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mahomet, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Washington -Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Makers of Florence.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Oliphant.</span></p> - -<p><b>Makers of Venice.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Oliphant.</span></p> - -<p><b>Man and Wife.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wilkie Collins.</span></p> - -<p><b>Man in the Iron Mask.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marble Faun.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marguerite de la Valois.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marian Grey.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marius, The Epicurian.</b> <span class="smcap">By Walter -Pater.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marmion.</b> <span class="allsmcap">(WITH NOTES.) By Sir -Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Marquis of Lossie.</b> <span class="smcap">By George -Macdonald.</span></p> - -<p><b>Martin Chuzzlewit.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mary, Queen of Scots, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -P. C. Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mary St. John.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Master of Ballantrae, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. L. -Stevenson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Masterman Ready.</b> <span class="smcap">By Captain Marryatt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Meadow Brook.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.</b> -<span class="smcap">Translated by George Long.</span></p> - -<p><b>Memoirs of a Physician.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Merle’s Crusade.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Micah Clarke.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Conan Doyle</span>.</p> - -<p><b>Michael Strogoff.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Middlemarch.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Midshipman Easy.</b> <span class="smcap">By Captain Marryatt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mildred.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Millbank.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mill on the Floss.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Milton’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By John Milton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mine Own People.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Minister’s Wooing, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By Harriet -Beecher Stowe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Monastery.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Moonstone.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wilkie Collins.</span></p> - -<p><b>Moore’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Moore.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mosses from an Old Manse.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Nathaniel Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Murders in the Rue Morgue.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Edgar Allen Poe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Mysterious Island.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Napoleon Bonaparte, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By P. -C. Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Napoleon and His Marshals.</b> <span class="smcap">By J. -T. Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Natural Law in the Spiritual World.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Henry Drummond.</span></p> - -<p><b>Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Edgar Allan Poe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Nature, Addresses and Lectures.</b> <span class="smcap">By -R. W. Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Nellie’s Memories.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. -Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Nelson, Admiral Horatio, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Robert Southey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Newcomes.</b> <span class="smcap">By William M. Thackeray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Nicholas Nickleby.</b> <span class="smcap">By Chas. Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ninety-Three.</b> <span class="smcap">By Victor Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>Not Like Other Girls.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. -Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Odyssey.</b> <span class="smcap">Pope’s Translation.</span></p> - -<p><b>Old Curiosity Shop.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Old Mam’selle’s Secret.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Old Mortality.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Old Myddleton’s Money.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary -Cecil Hay.</span></p> - -<p><b>Oliver Twist.</b> <span class="smcap">By Chas. Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Only the Governess.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. -Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>On the Heights.</b> <span class="smcap">By Berthold -Auerbach.</span></p> - -<p><b>Oregon Trail.</b> <span class="smcap">By Francis Parkman.</span></p> - -<p><b>Origin of Species.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Darwin.</span></p> - -<p><b>Other Worlds than Ours.</b> <span class="smcap">By Richard -Proctor.</span></p> - -<p><b>Our Bessie.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Our Mutual Friend.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Outre-Mer.</b> <span class="smcap">By H. W. Longfellow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Owl’s Nest.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Page of the Duke of Savoy.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pair of Blue Eyes.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas -Hardy.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pan Michael.</b> <span class="smcap">By Henryk Sienkiewicz.</span></p> - -<p><b>Past and Present.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thos. Carlyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pathfinder.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore -Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Paul and Virginia.</b> <span class="smcap">By B. de St. -Pierre.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pendennis, History of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wm. M. -Thackeray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Penn, William, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By W. Hepworth -Dixon.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pere Goriot.</b> <span class="smcap">By Honore de Balzac.</span></p> - -<p><b>Peter, the Great, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By John -Barrow.</span></p> - -<p><b>Peveril of the Peak.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Phantom Rickshaw, The.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard -Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Philip II. of Spain, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Martin -A. S. Hume.</span></p> - -<p><b>Picciola.</b> <span class="smcap">By X. B. Saintine.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pickwick Papers.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pilgrim’s Progress.</b> <span class="smcap">By John Bunyan.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pillar of Fire.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rev. J. H. Ingraham.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pilot.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pioneers.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pirate.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Plain Tales from the Hills.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Plato’s Dialogues.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by J. Wright. M. A.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pleasures of Life.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir John Lubbock.</span></p> - -<p><b>Poe’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edgar A. Poe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pope’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexander Pope.</span></p> - -<p><b>Prairie.</b> <span class="smcap">By James F. Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Pride and Prejudice.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jane Austen.</span></p> - -<p><b>Prince of the House of David.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rev. J. H. Ingraham.</span></p> - -<p><b>Princess of the Moor.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Princess of Thule.</b> <span class="smcap">By William Black.</span></p> - -<p><b>Procter’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Adelaide Proctor.</span></p> - -<p><b>Professor at the Breakfast Table.</b> <span class="smcap">By Oliver Wendell Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Professor.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte Bronte.</span></p> - -<p><b>Prue and I.</b> <span class="smcap">By George William Curtis.</span></p> - -<p><b>Put Yourself in His Place.</b> <span class="smcap">By Chas. -Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Putnam, General Israel, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Canning Hill.</span></p> - -<p><b>Queen Hortense.</b> <span class="smcap">By Louisa Muhlbach.</span></p> - -<p><b>Queenie’s Whim.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Queen’s Necklace.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Quentin Durward.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rasselas, History of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Johnson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Redgauntlet.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Red Rover.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Regent’s Daughter.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Reign of Law.</b> <span class="smcap">By Duke of Argyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Representative Men.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ralph Waldo Emerson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Republic of Plato.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by Davies and Vaughan.</span></p> - -<p><b>Return of the Native.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Hardy.</span></p> - -<p><b>Reveries of a Bachelor.</b> <span class="smcap">By Ik Marvel.</span></p> - -<p><b>Reynard the Fox.</b> <span class="smcap">Edited by Joseph Jacobs.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rienzi.</b> <span class="smcap">By Bulwer-Lytton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Richelieu, Cardinal, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Richard Lodge.</span></p> - -<p><b>Robinson Crusoe.</b> <span class="smcap">By Daniel Defoe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rob Roy.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Romance of Natural History.</b> <span class="smcap">By P. H. Gosse.</span></p> - -<p><b>Romance of Two Worlds.</b> <span class="smcap">By Marie Corelli.</span></p> - -<p><b>Romola.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rory O’More.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Lover.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rose Mather.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rossetti’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Gabriel Daxte Rossetti.</span></p> - -<p><b>Royal Edinburgh.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Oliphant.</span></p> - -<p><b>Rutledge.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mirian Coles Harris.</span></p> - -<p><b>Saint Michael.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Werner.</span></p> - -<p><b>Samantha at Saratoga.</b> <span class="smcap">By Josiah Aller’s Wife. (Marietta Holley.)</span></p> - -<p><b>Sartor Resartus.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas Carlyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Scarlet Letter.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Schonberg-Cotta Family.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Andrew Charles.</span></p> - -<p><b>Schopenhauer’s Essays.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by T. B. Saunders.</span></p> - -<p><b>Scottish Chiefs.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jane Porter.</span></p> - -<p><b>Scott’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Search for Basil Lyndhurst.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Second Wife.</b> <span class="smcap">By E. Marlitt.</span></p> - -<p><b>Seekers After God.</b> <span class="smcap">By F. W. Farrar.</span></p> - -<p><b>Self-Help.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Smiles.</span></p> - -<p><b>Self-Raised.</b> <span class="smcap">(complete.) By Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth.</span></p> - -<p><b>Seneca’s Morals.</b></p> - -<p><b>Sense and Sensibility.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jane Austen.</span></p> - -<p><b>Sentimental Journey.</b> <span class="smcap">By Lawrence Sterne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Sesame and Lilies.</b> <span class="smcap">By John Ruskin.</span></p> - -<p><b>Shakespeare’s Heroines.</b> <span class="smcap">By Anna Jameson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Shelley’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Percy Bysshe Shelley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Shirley.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte Bronte.</span></p> - -<p><b>Sign of the Four.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Conan Doyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Silas Marner.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p><b>Silence of Dean Maitland.</b> <span class="smcap">By Maxwell Gray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Sir Gibbie.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Macdonald.</span></p> - -<p><b>Sketch Book.</b> <span class="smcap">By Washington Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Smith, Captain John, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By W. Gilmore Simms.</span></p> - -<p><b>Socrates, Trial and Death of.</b> <span class="smcap">Translated by F. J. Church, M. A.</span></p> - -<p><b>Soldiers Three.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rudyard Kipling.</span></p> - -<p><b>Springhaven.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. D. Blackmore.</span></p> - -<p><b>Spy.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Stanley, Henry M., African Explorer, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Montefiore.</span></p> - -<p><b>Story of an African Farm.</b> <span class="smcap">By Olive Schreiner.</span></p> - -<p><b>Story of John G. Paton.</b> <span class="smcap">Told for Young Folks. By Rev. Jas. Paton.</span></p> - -<p><b>St. Ronan’s Well.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Study in Scarlet.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Conan Doyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Surgeon’s Daughter.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter -Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Swinburne’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. C. Swinburne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Swiss Family Robinson.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jean -Rudolph Wyss.</span></p> - -<p><b>Taking the Bastile.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tale of Two Cities.</b> <span class="smcap">By Chas. -Dickens.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tales from Shakespeare.</b> <span class="smcap">By Chas. -and Mary Lamb.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tales of a Traveller.</b> <span class="smcap">By Washington -Irving.</span></p> - -<p><b>Talisman.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tanglewood Tales.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel -Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tempest and Sunshine.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mary J. -Holmes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ten Nights in a Bar Room.</b> <span class="smcap">By T. S. -Arthur.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tennyson’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alfred Tennyson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Ten Years Later.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Terrible Temptation.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Reade.</span></p> - -<p><b>Thaddeus of Warsaw.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jane -Porter.</span></p> - -<p><b>Thelma.</b> <span class="smcap">By Marie Corelli.</span></p> - -<p><b>Thirty Years’ War.</b> <span class="smcap">By Frederick -Schiller.</span></p> - -<p><b>Thousand Miles Up the Nile.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Amelia B. Edwards.</span></p> - -<p><b>Three Guardsmen.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Three Men in a Boat.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jerome K. -Jerome.</span></p> - -<p><b>Thrift.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel Smiles.</span></p> - -<p><b>Throne of David.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rev. J. H. -Ingraham.</span></p> - -<p><b>Toilers of the Sea.</b> <span class="smcap">By Victor Hugo.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tom Brown at Oxford.</b> <span class="smcap">By Thomas -Hughes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tom Brown’s School Days.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Thos. Hughes.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tom Burke of “Ours.”</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles -Lever.</span></p> - -<p><b>Tour of the World in Eighty Days.</b> -<span class="smcap">By Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Treasure Island.</b> <span class="smcap">By Robert Louis -Stevenson.</span></p> - -<p><b>Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the -Sea.</b> <span class="smcap">By Jules Verne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Twenty Years After.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Twice Told Tales.</b> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel -Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Two Admirals.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore -Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Two Dianas.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Two Years Before the Mast.</b> <span class="smcap">By R. H. -Dana</span>, Jr.</p> - -<p><b>Uarda.</b> <span class="smcap">By George Ebers.</span></p> - -<p><b>Uncle Max.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Uncle Tom’s Cabin.</b> <span class="smcap">By Harriet -Beecher Stowe.</span></p> - -<p><b>Under Two Flags.</b> <span class="smcap">By “Ouida.”</span></p> - -<p><b>Utopia.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Thomas More.</span></p> - -<p><b>Vanity Fair.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wm. M. Thackeray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Vendetta.</b> <span class="smcap">By Marie Corelli.</span></p> - -<p><b>Vespucius, Americus, Life and Voyages.</b> -<span class="smcap">By C. Edwards Lester.</span></p> - -<p><b>Vicar of Wakefield.</b> <span class="smcap">By Oliver -Goldsmith.</span></p> - -<p><b>Vicomte de Bragelonne.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Views A-Foot.</b> <span class="smcap">By Bayard Taylor.</span></p> - -<p><b>Villette.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charlotte Bronte.</span></p> - -<p><b>Virginians.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wm. M. Thackeray.</span></p> - -<p><b>Walden.</b> <span class="smcap">By Henry D. Thoreau.</span></p> - -<p><b>Washington, George, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Jared Sparks.</span></p> - -<p><b>Washington and His Generals.</b> <span class="smcap">By J. -T. Headley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Water Babies.</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>Water Witch.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore -Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Waverly.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Webster, Daniel, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Samuel -M. Schmucker, LL.D.</span></p> - -<p><b>Webster’s Speeches.</b> <span class="smcap">(Selected.) -By Daniel Webster.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wee Wifie.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Westward Ho!</b> <span class="smcap">By Charles Kingsley.</span></p> - -<p><b>We Two.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>What’s Mine’s Mine.</b> <span class="smcap">By George -Macdonald.</span></p> - -<p><b>When a Man’s Single.</b> <span class="smcap">By J. M. -Barrie.</span></p> - -<p><b>White Company.</b> <span class="smcap">By A. Conan -Doyle.</span></p> - -<p><b>Whites and the Blues.</b> <span class="smcap">By Alexandre -Dumas.</span></p> - -<p><b>Whittier’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">(early.) By John -G. Whittier.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wide, Wide World.</b> <span class="smcap">By Susan Warner.</span></p> - -<p><b>William, the Conqueror, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Edward A. Freeman, LL.D.</span></p> - -<p><b>William, the Silent, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By -Frederick Harrison.</span></p> - -<p><b>Willy Reilly.</b> <span class="smcap">By William Carleton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Window in Thrums.</b> <span class="smcap">By J. M. Barrie.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wing and Wing.</b> <span class="smcap">By James Fenimore -Cooper.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wolsey, Cardinal, Life of.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mandell -Creighton.</span></p> - -<p><b>Woman in White.</b> <span class="smcap">By Wilkie Collins.</span></p> - -<p><b>Won by Waiting.</b> <span class="smcap">By Edna Lyall.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wonder Book.</b> <span class="smcap">For Boys and -Girls.</span> <span class="smcap">By Nathaniel Hawthorne.</span></p> - -<p><b>Woodstock.</b> <span class="smcap">By Sir Walter Scott.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wooed and Married.</b> <span class="smcap">By Rosa N. -Carey.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wooing O’t.</b> <span class="smcap">By Mrs. Alexander.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wordsworth’s Poems.</b> <span class="smcap">By William -Wordsworth.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wormwood.</b> <span class="smcap">By Marie Corelli.</span></p> - -<p><b>Wreck of the Grosvenor.</b> <span class="smcap">By W. -Clark Russell.</span></p> -</div></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - - - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.</p> -</div></div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COURIER OF FORTUNE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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