"aristocrat
,
"
to
whom
she
was
as
singular
and
novel
a
rarity
as
though
she
were
some
young
savage
of
desert
western
isles
.
"
Look
you
,
Miladi
,
"
said
Cigarette
,
half
sullenly
,
half
passionately
,
for
the
words
were
wrenched
out
of
her
generosity
,
and
choked
her
in
their
utterance
,
"
that
man
suffers
:
his
life
here
is
a
hell
upon
earth
—
I
do
n't
mean
for
the
danger
,
he
is
bon
soldat
;
but
for
the
indignity
,
the
subordination
,
the
licence
,
the
brutality
,
the
tyranny
.
He
is
as
if
he
were
chained
to
the
galleys
.
He
never
says
anything
,
oh
no
!
he
is
of
your
kind
,
you
know
!
But
he
suffers
.
Mort
de
Dieu
!
he
suffers
.
Now
,
if
you
be
his
friend
,
can
you
do
nothing
for
him
?
Can
you
ransom
him
in
no
way
?
Can
you
go
away
out
of
Africa
and
leave
him
in
this
living
death
to
get
killed
and
thrust
into
the
sand
,
like
his
comrade
the
other
day
?
"
Her
hearer
did
not
answer
;
the
words
made
her
heart
ache
;
they
cut
her
to
the
soul
.
It
was
not
for
the
first
time
that
the
awful
desolation
of
his
future
had
been
present
before
her
;
but
it
was
the
first
time
that
the
fate
to
which
she
would
pass
away
and
leave
him
had
been
so
directly
in
words
before
her
.
Cigarette
,
obeying
the
generous
impulses
of
her
better
nature
,
and
abandoning
self
with
the
same
reckless
impetuosity
with
which
a
moment
before
she
would
,
if
she
could
,
have
sacrificed
her
rival
,
saw
the
advantage
gained
,
and
pursued
it
with
rapid
skill
.
She
was
pleading
against
herself
:
no
matter
,
in
that
instant
she
was
capable
of
crucifying
herself
,
and
only
remembering
mercy
to
the
absent
.
"
I
have
heard
,
"
she
went
on
,
vehemently
,
for
the
utterance
to
which
she
forced
herself
was
very
cruel
to
her
,
"
that
you
of
the
Noblesse
are
staunch
as
steel
to
your
own
people
.
It
is
the
best
virtue
that
you
have
.
Well
,
he
is
of
your
people
.
Will
you
go
away
in
your
negligent
indifference
,
and
leave
him
to
eat
his
heart
out
in
bitterness
and
misery
?
He
was
your
brother
's
friend
;
he
was
known
to
you
in
his
early
time
;
you
have
said
so
.
And
you
are
cold
enough
and
cruel
enough
,
Miladi
,
not
to
make
one
effort
to
redeem
him
out
of
bondage
?
—
to
go
back
to
your
palaces
,
and
your
pleasures
,
and
your
luxuries
,
and
your
flatteries
,
and
be
happy
,
while
this
man
is
left
on
bearing
his
yoke
here
?
—
and
it
is
a
yoke
that
galls
,
that
kills
!
—
bearing
it
until
,
in
some
day
of
desperation
,
he
rebels
,
and
is
shot
like
a
dog
;
or
,
in
some
day
of
mercy
,
a
naked
blade
cuts
its
way
to
his
heart
,
and
makes
its
pulse
cease
for
ever
?
If
you
do
,
you
patricians
are
worse
still
than
I
thought
you
!
"
Venetia
heard
her
without
interruption
;
a
great
sadness
came
over
her
face
as
the
vivid
phrases
followed
each
other
.
She
was
too
absorbed
in
the
subject
of
them
to
heed
the
challenge
and
the
insolence
of
their
manner
.
She
knew
that
the
Little
One
who
spoke
them
loved
him
,
though
so
tenacious
to
conceal
her
love
;
and
she
was
touched
,
not
less
by
the
magnanimity
which
,
for
his
sake
,
sought
to
release
him
from
the
African
service
,
than
by
the
hopelessness
of
his
coming
years
as
thus
prefigured
before
her
.
"
Your
reproaches
are
unneeded
,
"
she
replied
,
slowly
and
wearily
.
"
I
could
not
abandon
one
who
was
once
the
friend
of
my
family
to
such
a
fate
as
you
picture
without
very
great
pain
.
But
I
do
not
see
how
to
alter
this
fate
,
as
you
think
I
could
do
with
so
much
ease
.
I
am
not
in
its
secret
;
I
do
not
know
the
reason
of
its
seeming
suicide
;
I
have
no
more
connexion
with
its
intricacies
than
you
have
.
This
gentleman
has
chosen
his
own
path
;
it
is
not
for
me
to
change
his
choice
or
spy
into
his
motives
.
"
Cigarette
's
flashing
searching
eyes
bent
all
their
brown
light
on
her
.
"
Madame
Corona
,
you
are
courageous
;
to
those
who
are
so
,
all
things
are
possible
.
"
"
A
great
fallacy
!
You
must
have
seen
many
courageous
men
vanquished
.
But
what
would
you
imply
by
it
?
"
"
That
you
can
help
this
man
if
you
will
.
"
"
Would
that
I
could
;
but
I
can
discern
no
means
—
—
"
"
Make
them
.
"
Even
in
that
moment
her
listener
smiled
involuntarily
at
the
curt
imperious
tones
,
decisive
as
Napoléon
's
"
Partons
!
"
before
the
Passage
of
the
Alps
.
"
Be
certain
,
if
I
can
,
I
will
.
Meantime
,
there
is
one
pressing
danger
of
which
you
must
be
my
medium
to
warn
him
.
He
and
my
brother
must
not
meet
.
Tell
him
that
the
latter
,
knowing
him
only
as
Louis
Victor
,
and
interested
in
the
incidents
of
his
military
career
,
will
seek
him
out
early
to-morrow
morning
before
we
quit
the
camp
.
I
must
leave
it
to
him
to
avoid
the
meeting
as
best
he
may
be
able
.
"
Cigarette
smiled
grimly
.
"
You
do
not
know
much
of
the
camp
.
Victor
is
only
a
bas-officier
;
if
his
officers
call
him
up
,
he
must
come
,
or
be
thrashed
like
a
slave
for
contumacy
.
He
has
no
will
of
his
own
.
"
Venetia
gave
an
irrepressible
gesture
of
pain
.
"
True
;
I
forgot
.
Well
,
go
and
send
him
to
me
.
My
brother
must
be
taken
into
his
confidence
,
whatever
that
confidence
reveals
.
I
will
tell
him
so
.
Go
and
send
him
to
me
;
it
is
last
chance
.
"
Cigarette
gave
no
movement
of
assent
;
all
the
jealous
rage
in
her
flared
up
afresh
to
stifle
the
noble
and
unselfish
instincts
under
which
she
had
been
led
during
the
later
moments
.
A
coarse
and
impudent
scoff
rose
to
her
tongue
,
but
it
remained
unuttered
;
she
could
not
speak
it
under
that
glance
,
which
held
the
evil
in
her
in
subjection
,
and
compelled
her
reluctant
reverence
against
her
will
.
"
Tell
him
to
come
here
to
me
,
"
repeated
Venetia
,
with
the
calm
decision
of
one
to
whom
any
possibility
of
false
interpretation
of
her
motives
never
occurred
,
and
who
was
habituated
to
the
free
action
that
accompanied
an
unassailable
rank
.
"
My
brother
must
know
what
I
know
.
I
shall
be
alone
,
and
he
can
make
his
way
hither
,
without
doubt
,
unobserved
.
Go
and
say
this
to
him
.
You
are
his
loyal
little
friend
and
comrade
.
"
"
If
I
be
,
I
do
not
see
why
I
am
to
turn
your
lacquey
,
Madame
,
"
said
Cigarette
,
bitterly
.
"
If
you
want
him
,
you
can
send
for
him
by
other
messengers
!
"
Venetia
Corona
looked
at
her
steadfastly
,
with
a
certain
contempt
in
the
look
.
"
Then
your
pleading
for
him
was
all
insincere
?
Let
the
matter
drop
,
and
be
good
enough
to
leave
my
presence
,
which
,
you
will
remember
,
you
entered
unsummoned
and
undesired
.
"
The
undeviating
gentleness
of
the
tone
made
the
rebuke
cut
deeper
,
as
her
first
rebuke
had
cut
,
than
any
sterner
censure
or
more
peremptory
dismissal
could
have
done
.
Cigarette
stood
irresolute
,
ashamed
,
filled
with
rage
,
torn
by
contrition
,
impatient
,
wounded
,
swayed
by
jealous
rage
and
by
the
purer
impulses
she
strove
to
stifle
.
The
Cross
she
had
tossed
down
caught
her
sight
as
it
glittered
on
the
carpet
strewn
over
the
hard
earth
;
she
stooped
and
raised
it
;
the
action
sufficed
to
turn
the
tide
with
her
impressionable
,
ardent
,
capricious
nature
:
she
would
not
disgrace
that
.
"
I
will
go
,
"
she
muttered
in
her
throat
;
"
and
you
—
you
—
—
O
God
!
no
wonder
men
love
you
when
even
I
cannot
hate
you
!
"
Almost
ere
the
words
were
uttered
she
had
dashed
aside
the
hangings
before
the
tent-entrance
,
and
had
darted
out
into
the
night
air
.
Venetia
Corona
gazed
after
the
swiftly
flying
figure
as
it
passed
over
the
starlit
ground
,
lost
in
amazement
,
in
pity
,
and
in
regret
,
wondering
afresh
if
she
had
only
dreamt
of
this
strange
interview
in
the
Algerian
camp
,
which
seemed
to
have
come
and
gone
with
the
blinding
rapidity
of
lightning
.
"
A
little
tigress
!
"
she
thought
;
"
and
yet
with
infinite
nobility
,
with
wonderful
germs
of
good
in
her
.
Of
such
a
nature
what
a
rare
life
might
have
been
made
!
As
it
is
,
her
childhood
we
smile
at
and
forgive
;
but
,
great
Heaven
!
what
will
be
her
maturity
,
her
old
age
!
Yet
how
she
loves
him
!
And
she
is
so
brave
she
will
not
show
it
.
"
With
the
recollection
came
the
remembrance
of
Cigarette
's
words
as
to
his
own
passion
for
herself
,
and
she
grew
paler
as
it
did
so
.
"
God
forbid
he
should
have
that
pain
too
!
"
she
murmured
.
"
What
could
it
be
save
misery
for
us
both
?
"
Yet
she
did
not
thrust
the
fancy
from
her
with
contemptuous
nonchalance
as
she
had
done
every
other
of
the
many
passions
she
had
excited
and
disdained
;
it
had
a
great
sadness
and
a
greater
terror
for
her
.
She
dreaded
it
unspeakably
for
him
;
also
perhaps
,
unconsciously
,
she
dreaded
it
slightly
for
herself
.
She
wished
now
that
she
had
not
sent
for
him
.
But
it
was
done
;
it
was
for
sake
of
their
old
friendship
;
and
she
was
not
one
to
vainly
regret
what
was
unalterable
,
or
to
desert
what
she
deemed
generous
and
right
for
the
considerations
of
prudence
or
of
egotism
.
CHAPTER
X
.
ORDEAL
BY
FIRE
.
Amidst
the
mirth
,
the
noise
,
the
festivity
,
which
reigned
throughout
the
camp
as
the
men
surrendered
themselves
to
the
enjoyment
of
the
largesses
of
food
and
of
wine
allotted
to
them
by
their
Marshal
's
command
in
commemoration
of
Zarâila
,
one
alone
remained
apart
,
silent
and
powerless
to
rouse
himself
even
to
the
forced
semblance
,
the
forced
endurance
,
of
their
mischief
and
their
pleasure
.
They
knew
him
well
,
and
they
also
loved
him
too
well
to
press
such
participation
on
him
.
They
knew
that
it
was
no
lack
of
sympathy
with
them
that
made
him
so
grave
amidst
their
mirth
,
so
mute
amidst
their
volubility
.
Some
thought
that
he
was
sorely
wounded
by
the
delay
of
the
honours
promised
him
.
Others
,
who
knew
him
better
,
thought
that
it
was
the
loss
of
his
brother-exile
which
weighed
on
him
,
and
made
all
the
scene
around
him
full
of
pain
.
None
approached
him
;
but
whilst
they
feasted
in
their
tents
,
making
the
celebration
of
Zarâila
equal
to
the
Jour
de
Mazagran
,
he
sat
alone
over
a
picket-fire
on
the
far
outskirts
of
the
camp
.
His
heart
was
sick
within
him
.
To
remain
here
was
to
risk
with
every
moment
that
ordeal
of
recognition
which
he
so
unutterably
dreaded
;
and
to
flee
was
to
leave
his
name
to
the
men
,
with
whom
he
had
served
so
long
,
covered
with
obloquy
and
odium
,
buried
under
all
the
burning
shame
and
degradation
of
a
traitor
's
and
deserter
's
memory
.
The
latter
course
was
impossible
to
him
;
the
only
alternative
was
to
trust
that
the
vastness
of
that
great
concrete
body
,
of
which
he
was
one
unit
,
would
suffice
to
hide
him
from
the
discovery
of
the
friend
whose
love
he
feared
as
he
feared
the
hatred
of
no
foe
.
He
had
not
been
seen
as
he
had
passed
the
flag-staff
;
there
was
little
fear
that
in
the
few
remaining
hours
any
chance
could
bring
the
illustrious
guest
of
a
Marshal
to
the
outposts
of
the
scattered
camp
.
Yet
he
shuddered
as
he
sat
in
the
glow
of
the
fire
of
pine-wood
;
she
was
so
near
,
and
he
could
not
behold
her
!
—
though
he
might
never
see
her
face
again
;
though
they
must
pass
out
of
Africa
,
home
to
the
land
that
he
desired
as
only
exiles
can
desire
,
whilst
he
still
remained
silent
,
knowing
that
,
until
death
should
release
him
,
there
could
be
no
other
fate
for
him
,
save
only
this
one
,
hard
,
bitter
,
desolate
,
uncompanioned
,
unpitied
,
unrewarded
life
.
But
to
break
his
word
as
the
price
of
his
freedom
was
not
possible
to
his
nature
or
in
his
creed
.
This
fate
was
,
in
chief
,
of
his
own
making
:
he
accepted
it
without
rebellion
,
because
rebellion
would
have
been
in
this
case
both
cowardice
and
self-pity
.
He
was
not
conscious
of
any
heroism
in
this
;
it
seemed
to
him
the
only
course
left
to
a
man
who
,
in
losing
the
position
,
had
not
abandoned
the
instincts
of
a
gentleman
.
The
evening
wore
away
,
unmeasured
by
him
;
the
echoes
of
the
soldiers
'
mirth
came
dimly
on
his
ear
;
the
laughter
,
and
the
songs
,
and
the
music
were
subdued
into
one
confused
murmur
by
distance
;
there
was
nothing
near
him
except
a
few
tethered
horses
,
and
far
away
the
mounted
figure
of
the
vidette
who
kept
watch
beyond
the
boundaries
of
the
encampment
.
The
fire
burned
on
,
for
it
had
been
piled
hight
before
it
was
abandoned
;
the
little
white
dog
of
his
regiment
was
curled
at
his
feet
;
he
sat
motionless
,
sunk
in
thought
,
with
his
head
drooped
upon
his
breast
.
The
voice
of
Cigarette
broke
on
his
musing
.
"
Beau
sire
,
you
are
wanted
yonder
.
"
He
looked
up
wearily
:
could
he
never
be
at
peace
!
He
did
not
notice
that
the
tone
of
the
greeting
was
rough
and
curt
;
he
did
not
notice
that
there
was
a
stormy
darkness
,
a
repressed
bitterness
,
stern
and
scornful
,
on
the
Little
One
's
face
;
he
only
thought
that
the
very
dogs
were
left
sometimes
at
rest
and
unchained
,
but
a
soldier
never
.
"
You
are
wanted
!
"
repeated
Cigarette
,
with
imperious
contempt
.
He
rose
,
on
the
old
instinct
of
obedience
.
"
For
what
?
"
She
stood
looking
at
him
without
replying
;
her
mouth
was
tightly
shut
in
a
hard
line
that
pressed
inward
all
its
soft
and
rosy
prettiness
.
She
was
seeing
how
haggard
his
face
was
,
how
heavy
his
eyes
,
how
full
of
fatigue
his
movements
.
Her
silence
recalled
him
to
the
memory
of
the
past
day
.
"
Forgive
me
,
my
dear
child
,
if
I
have
seemed
without
sympathy
in
all
your
honours
,
"
he
said
,
gently
,
as
he
laid
his
hand
on
her
shoulder
.
"
Believe
me
,
it
was
unintentional
.
No
one
knows
better
than
I
how
richly
you
deserved
them
;
no
one
rejoices
more
that
you
should
have
received
them
.
"
The
very
gentleness
of
the
apology
stung
her
like
a
scorpion
;
she
shook
herself
roughly
out
of
his
hold
.
"
Point
de
phrases
!
All
the
army
is
at
my
back
;
do
you
think
I
cannot
do
without
you
?
Sympathy
too
!
Bah
!
We
do
n't
know
those
fine
words
in
camp
.
You
are
wanted
,
I
tell
you
;
—
go
!
"
"
But
where
?
"
"
To
your
Silver
Pheasant
yonder
;
—
go
!
"
"
Who
?
I
do
not
—
—
"
"
Dam
!
Can
you
not
understand
?
Miladi
wants
to
see
you
;
I
told
her
I
would
send
you
to
her
.
You
can
use
your
dainty
sentences
with
her
;
she
is
of
your
Order
!
"
"
What
!
she
wishes
—
—
"
"
Go
!
"
reiterated
the
Little
One
with
a
stamp
of
her
boot
.
"
You
know
the
great
tent
where
she
is
throned
in
honour
—
Morbleu
!
—
as
if
the
oldest
and
ugliest
hag
that
washes
out
my
soldiers
'
linen
were
not
of
more
use
and
more
deserved
such
lodgment
than
Madame
la
Princesse
,
who
has
never
done
aught
in
her
life
,
not
even
brushed
out
her
own
hair
of
gold
!
She
waits
for
you
.
Where
are
your
palace
manners
?
Go
to
her
,
I
tell
you
.
She
is
of
your
own
people
:
we
are
not
!
"
The
vehement
imperious
phrases
coursed
in
disorder
one
after
another
,
rapid
and
harsh
,
and
vibrating
with
a
hundred
repressed
emotions
.
He
paused
one
moment
,
doubting
whether
she
did
not
play
some
trick
upon
him
;
then
,
without
a
word
,
left
her
,
and
went
rapidly
through
the
evening
shadows
.
Cigarette
stood
looking
after
him
with
a
gaze
that
was
very
evil
,
almost
savage
,
in
its
wrath
,
in
its
pain
,
in
its
fiery
jealousy
,
that
ached
so
hotly
in
her
,
and
was
chained
down
by
that
pride
,
which
was
as
intense
in
the
Vivandière
of
Algeria
as
ever
it
could
be
in
any
Duchess
of
a
Court
.
Reckless
,
unfeminine
,
hardened
,
vitiated
in
much
,
as
all
her
sex
would
have
deemed
,
and
capable
of
the
utmost
abandonment
to
her
passion
had
it
been
returned
,
the
haughty
young
soul
of
the
child
of
the
People
was
as
sensitively
delicate
in
this
one
thing
as
the
purest
and
chastest
amongst
women
could
have
been
;
she
dreaded
above
every
other
thing
that
he
should
ever
suspect
that
she
loved
him
,
or
that
she
desired
his
love
.
Her
honour
,
her
generosity
,
her
pity
for
him
,
her
natural
instinct
to
do
the
thing
that
was
right
,
even
to
her
foes
,
any
one
of
the
unstudied
and
unanalysed
qualities
in
her
had
made
her
serve
him
even
at
her
rival
's
bidding
.
But
it
had
cost
her
none
the
less
hardly
because
so
manfully
done
;
none
the
less
did
all
the
violent
ruthless
hate
,
the
vivid
child-like
fury
,
the
burning
,
intolerable
jealousy
of
her
nature
combat
in
her
with
the
cruel
sense
of
her
own
unlikeness
with
that
beauty
which
had
subdued
even
herself
,
and
with
that
nobler
impulse
of
self-sacrifice
which
grew
side
by
side
with
the
baser
impulses
of
passion
.
As
she
crouched
down
by
the
side
of
the
fire
,
all
the
gracious
spiritual
light
that
had
been
upon
her
face
was
gone
;
there
was
something
of
the
goaded
,
dangerous
,
sullen
ferocity
of
a
brave
animal
hard
pressed
and
over
driven
.
Her
native
generosity
,
the
loyal
disinterestedness
of
her
love
for
him
,
had
overborne
the
jealousy
,
the
wounded
vanity
,
and
the
desire
of
vengeance
that
reigned
in
her
.
Carried
away
by
the
first
,
she
had
,
for
the
hour
,
risen
above
the
last
,
and
allowed
the
nobler
wish
to
serve
and
rescue
him
prevail
over
the
baser
egotism
.
Nothing
with
her
was
ever
premeditated
;
all
was
the
offspring
of
the
caprice
or
the
impulse
of
the
immediate
moment
.
And
now
the
reaction
followed
:
she
was
only
sensible
of
the
burning
envy
that
consumed
her
of
this
woman
who
seemed
to
her
more
than
mortal
in
her
wonderful
fair
loveliness
,
in
her
marvellous
difference
from
everything
of
their
sex
that
the
camp
and
the
barrack
ever
showed
.
"
And
I
have
sent
him
to
her
when
I
should
have
fired
my
pistol
into
her
breast
!
"
she
thought
,
as
she
sat
by
the
dying
embers
.
And
she
remembered
once
more
the
story
of
the
Marseilles
fisher-woman
.
She
understood
that
terrible
vengeance
under
the
hot
southern
sun
,
beside
the
ruthless
southern
seas
.
Meanwhile
,
he
,
who
so
little
knew
or
heeded
how
he
occupied
her
heart
,
passed
unnoticed
through
the
movements
of
the
military
crowds
,
crossed
the
breadth
that
parted
the
encampment
from
the
marquees
of
the
Generals
and
their
guests
,
gave
the
countersign
and
approached
unarrested
,
and
so
far
unseen
save
by
the
sentinels
,
the
tents
,
of
the
Corona
suite
.
The
Marshal
and
his
male
visitors
were
still
over
their
banquet
wines
;
she
had
withdrawn
early
,
on
the
plea
of
fatigue
;
there
was
no
one
to
notice
his
visit
except
the
men
on
guard
,
who
concluded
that
he
went
by
command
.
In
the
dusky
light
,
for
the
moon
was
very
young
,
and
the
flare
of
the
torches
made
the
shadows
black
and
uncertain
,
no
one
recognised
him
;
the
few
soldiers
stationed
about
saw
one
of
their
own
troopers
,
and
offered
him
no
opposition
,
made
him
no
question
.
He
knew
the
password
;
that
was
sufficient
.
The
Levantine
waiting
near
the
entrance
drew
the
tent-folds
aside
and
signed
to
him
to
enter
:
another
moment
,
and
he
was
in
the
presence
of
her
mistress
,
in
that
dim
amber
light
from
the
standing
candelabra
,
in
that
heavy
soft-scented
air
perfumed
from
the
aloe-wood
burning
in
a
brazier
,
through
which
he
saw
,
half
blinded
at
first
coming
from
the
darkness
without
,
that
face
which
subdued
and
dazzled
even
the
antagonism
and
the
lawlessness
of
Cigarette
.
He
bowed
low
before
her
,
preserving
that
distant
ceremonial
due
from
the
rank
he
ostensibly
held
to
hers
.
"
Madame
,
this
is
very
merciful
!
I
know
not
how
to
thank
you
.
"
She
motioned
to
him
to
take
a
seat
near
to
her
,
while
the
Levantine
,
who
knew
nothing
of
the
English
tongue
,
retired
to
the
farther
end
of
the
tent
.
"
I
only
kept
my
word
,
"
she
answered
,
"
for
we
leave
the
camp
to-morrow
;
Africa
next
week
.
"
"
So
soon
!
"
She
saw
the
blood
forsake
the
bronzed
fairness
of
his
face
,
and
leave
a
dusky
pallor
there
.
It
wounded
her
as
if
she
suffered
herself
.
For
the
first
time
she
believed
what
the
Little
One
had
said
;
—
that
this
man
loved
her
.
"
I
sent
for
you
,
"
she
continued
,
hurriedly
,
her
graceful
languor
and
tranquillity
,
for
the
first
time
,
stirred
and
quickened
by
emotion
,
almost
by
embarrassment
.
"
It
was
very
strange
,
it
was
very
painful
,
for
me
to
trust
that
child
with
such
a
message
.
But
you
know
us
of
old
;
you
know
we
do
not
forsake
our
friends
for
considerations
of
self-interest
or
outward
semblance
.
We
act
as
we
deem
right
;
we
do
not
heed
untrue
constructions
.
There
are
many
things
I
desire
to
say
to
you
.
"
She
paused
;
he
merely
bent
his
head
;
he
could
not
trust
the
calmness
of
his
voice
in
answer
.
"
First
,
"
she
continued
,
"
I
must
entreat
you
to
allow
me
to
tell
Philip
what
I
know
.
You
cannot
conceive
how
intensely
oppressive
it
becomes
to
me
to
have
any
secret
from
him
.
I
never
concealed
so
much
as
a
thought
from
my
brother
in
all
my
life
,
and
to
evade
even
a
mute
question
from
his
brave
frank
eyes
makes
me
feel
a
traitress
to
him
.
"
"
Anything
else
,
"
he
muttered
.
"
Ask
me
anything
else
.
For
God
's
sake
,
do
not
let
him
dream
that
I
live
!
"
"
But
why
?
You
still
speak
to
me
in
enigmas
.
To-morrow
,
moreover
,
before
we
leave
,
he
intends
to
seek
you
out
as
what
he
thinks
you
—
a
soldier
of
France
.
He
is
interested
by
all
he
hears
of
your
career
;
he
was
first
interested
by
what
I
told
him
of
you
when
he
saw
the
ivory
carvings
at
my
villa
.
I
asked
the
little
Vivandière
to
tell
you
this
,
but
,
on
second
thoughts
,
it
seemed
best
to
see
you
myself
once
more
,
as
I
had
promised
.
"
There
was
a
slow
weariness
in
the
utterance
of
the
words
.
She
had
said
that
she
could
not
reflect
on
leaving
him
to
such
a
fate
as
this
of
his
in
Africa
without
personal
suffering
,
or
without
an
effort
to
induce
him
to
reconsider
his
decision
to
condemn
himself
to
it
for
evermore
.
"
That
French
child
,
"
she
went
on
,
rapidly
,
to
cover
both
the
pain
that
she
felt
and
that
she
dealt
,
"
forced
her
entrance
here
in
a
strange
fashion
;
she
wished
to
see
me
,
I
suppose
,
and
to
try
my
courage
too
.
She
is
a
little
brigand
,
but
she
has
a
true
and
generous
nature
,
and
she
loves
you
very
loyally
.
"
"
Cigarette
?
"
he
asked
,
wearily
;
his
thoughts
could
not
stay
for
either
pity
or
interest
for
her
in
this
moment
.
"
Oh
no
!
—
I
trust
not
.
I
have
done
nothing
to
win
her
love
;
and
she
is
a
fierce
little
condottiera
who
disdains
all
such
weakness
.
She
forced
her
way
in
here
?
That
was
unpardonable
;
but
she
seems
to
bear
a
singular
dislike
to
you
.
"
"
Singular
indeed
!
I
never
saw
her
until
to-day
.
"
He
answered
nothing
;
the
conviction
stole
on
him
that
Cigarette
hated
her
because
he
loved
her
.
"
And
yet
she
brought
you
my
message
?
"
pursued
his
companion
.
"
That
seems
her
nature
—
violent
passions
,
yet
thorough
loyalty
.
But
time
is
precious
.
I
must
urge
on
you
what
I
bade
you
come
to
hear
.
It
is
to
implore
you
to
put
your
trust
,
your
confidence
,
in
Philip
.
You
have
acknowledged
to
me
that
you
are
guiltless
—
no
one
who
knows
what
you
once
were
could
ever
doubt
it
for
an
instant
—
then
let
him
hear
this
,
let
him
be
your
judge
as
to
what
course
is
right
and
what
wrong
for
you
to
pursue
.
It
is
impossible
for
me
to
return
to
Europe
knowing
you
are
living
thus
and
leaving
you
to
such
a
fate
.
What
motive
you
have
to
sentence
yourself
to
such
eternal
banishment
I
am
ignorant
;
but
all
I
ask
of
you
is
,
confide
in
him
.
Let
him
learn
that
you
live
;
let
him
decide
whether
or
not
this
sacrifice
of
yourself
be
needed
.
His
honour
is
as
punctilious
as
that
of
any
man
on
earth
;
his
friendship
you
can
never
doubt
.
Why
conceal
anything
from
him
?
"
His
eyes
turned
on
her
with
that
dumb
agony
which
once
before
had
chilled
her
to
the
soul
.
"
Do
you
think
,
if
I
could
speak
in
honour
,
I
should
not
tell
you
all
?
"
A
flush
passed
over
her
face
,
the
first
that
the
gaze
of
any
man
had
ever
brought
there
.
She
understood
him
.
"
But
,
"
she
said
,
gently
and
hurriedly
,
"
may
it
not
be
that
you
overrate
the
obligations
of
honour
?
I
know
that
many
a
noble-hearted
man
has
inexorably
condemned
himself
to
a
severity
of
rule
that
a
dispassionate
judge
of
his
life
might
deem
very
exaggerated
,
very
unnecessary
.
It
is
so
natural
for
an
honourable
man
to
so
dread
that
he
should
do
a
dishonourable
thing
through
self-interest
or
self-pity
,
that
he
may
very
well
over-estimate
the
sacrifice
required
of
him
through
what
he
deems
justice
or
generosity
.
May
it
not
be
so
with
you
?
I
can
conceive
no
reason
that
can
be
strong
enough
to
require
of
you
such
fearful
surrender
of
every
hope
,
such
utter
abandonment
of
your
own
existence
.
"
Her
voice
failed
slightly
over
the
last
words
;
she
could
not
think
with
calmness
of
the
destiny
that
he
accepted
.
Involuntarily
some
prescience
of
pain
that
would
for
ever
pursue
her
own
life
unless
his
were
rescued
lent
an
intense
earnestness
,
almost
entreaty
,
to
her
argument
.
She
did
not
bear
him
love
as
yet
;
she
had
seen
too
little
of
him
,
too
lately
only
known
him
as
her
equal
;
but
there
were
in
her
,
stronger
than
she
knew
,
a
pity
,
a
tenderness
,
a
regret
,
an
honour
for
him
that
drew
her
towards
him
with
an
indefinable
attraction
,
and
would
sooner
or
later
warm
and
deepen
into
love
.
Already
it
was
sufficient
,
though
she
deemed
it
but
compassion
and
friendship
,
to
make
her
feel
that
an
intolerable
weight
would
lie
heavy
on
her
future
if
his
should
remain
condemned
to
this
awful
isolation
and
oblivion
while
she
alone
of
all
the
world
should
know
and
hold
his
secret
.
He
started
from
her
side
as
he
heard
,
and
paced
to
and
fro
the
narrow
limits
of
the
tent
like
a
caged
animal
.
For
the
first
time
it
grew
a
belief
to
him
,
in
his
thoughts
,
that
were
he
free
,
were
he
owner
of
his
heritage
,
he
could
rouse
her
heart
from
its
long
repose
and
make
her
love
him
with
the
soft
and
passionate
warmth
of
his
dead
Arab
mistress
—
a
thing
that
had
been
as
distant
from
her
negligence
and
her
pride
as
warmth
from
the
diamond
or
the
crystal
.
He
felt
as
if
the
struggle
would
kill
him
.
He
had
but
to
betray
his
brother
,
and
he
would
be
unchained
from
his
torture
;
he
had
but
to
break
his
word
,
and
he
would
be
at
liberty
.
All
the
temptation
that
had
before
beset
him
paled
and
grew
as
nought
beside
this
possibility
of
the
possession
of
her
love
which
dawned
upon
him
now
.
She
,
knowing
nothing
of
this
which
moved
him
,
believed
only
that
he
weighed
her
words
in
hesitation
,
and
strove
to
turn
the
balance
.
"
Hear
me
,
"
she
said
,
softly
.
"
I
do
not
bid
you
decide
;
I
only
bid
your
confide
in
Philip
—
in
one
who
,
as
you
must
well
remember
,
would
sooner
cut
off
his
own
hand
than
counsel
a
base
thing
,
or
do
an
unfaithful
act
.
You
are
guiltless
of
this
charge
under
which
you
left
England
;
you
endure
it
rather
than
do
what
you
deem
dishonourable
to
clear
yourself
.
That
is
noble
—
that
is
great
.
But
it
is
possible
,
as
I
say
,
that
you
may
exaggerate
the
abnegation
required
of
you
.
Whoever
was
the
criminal
,
should
suffer
.
Yours
is
magnificent
magnanimity
;
but
it
may
surely
be
also
false
justice
alike
to
yourself
and
the
world
.
"
He
turned
on
her
almost
fiercely
in
the
suffering
she
dealt
him
:
"
It
is
!
It
was
a
madness
—
a
Quixotism
—
the
wild
,
unconsidered
act
of
a
fool
.
What
you
will
!
But
it
is
done
;
it
was
done
for
ever
—
so
long
ago
—
when
your
young
eyes
looked
on
me
in
the
pity
of
your
innocent
childhood
.
I
cannot
redeem
its
folly
now
by
adding
to
its
baseness
.
I
cannot
change
the
choice
of
a
madman
by
repenting
of
it
with
a
coward
's
caprice
.
Ah
,
God
!
you
do
not
know
what
you
do
—
how
you
tempt
.
For
pity
's
sake
,
urge
me
no
more
.
Help
me
—
strengthen
me
—
to
be
true
to
my
word
.
Do
not
bid
me
do
evil
that
I
may
enter
paradise
through
my
sin
!
"
He
threw
himself
down
beside
her
as
the
incoherent
words
poured
out
,
his
arms
flung
across
the
pile
of
cushions
on
which
he
had
been
seated
,
his
face
hidden
on
them
.
His
teeth
clenched
on
his
tongue
till
the
blood
flowed
;
he
felt
that
if
the
power
of
speech
remained
with
him
he
should
forswear
every
law
that
had
bound
him
to
silence
,
and
tell
her
all
,
whatever
the
cost
.
She
looked
at
him
,
she
heard
him
,
moved
to
a
greater
agitation
than
ever
had
had
sway
over
her
,
for
the
first
time
the
storm-winds
that
swept
by
her
did
not
leave
her
passionless
and
calm
;
this
man
's
whole
future
was
in
her
hands
.
She
could
bid
him
seek
happiness
,
dishonoured
;
or
cleave
to
honour
,
and
accept
wretchedness
for
ever
.
It
was
a
fearful
choice
to
hold
.
"
Answer
me
.
Choose
for
me
!
"
he
said
,
vehemently
.
"
Be
my
law
,
and
be
my
God
!
"
She
gave
a
gesture
almost
of
fear
.
"
Hush
,
hush
!
The
woman
does
not
live
who
should
be
that
to
any
man
.
"
"
You
shall
be
it
to
me
!
Choose
for
me
!
"
"
I
cannot
!
You
leave
so
much
in
darkness
and
untold
—
—
"
"
Nothing
that
you
need
know
to
decide
your
choice
for
me
,
save
one
thing
only
—
that
I
love
you
.
"
She
shuddered
.
"
This
is
madness
!
What
have
you
seen
of
me
?
"
"
Enough
to
love
you
while
my
life
shall
last
,
and
love
no
other
woman
.
Ah
!
I
was
but
an
African
trooper
in
your
sight
,
but
in
my
own
I
was
your
equal
.
You
only
saw
a
man
to
whom
your
gracious
alms
and
your
gentle
charity
were
to
be
given
,
as
a
queen
may
stoop
in
mercy
to
a
beggar
;
but
I
saw
one
who
had
the
light
of
my
old
days
in
her
smile
,
the
sweetness
of
my
old
joys
in
her
eyes
,
the
memories
of
my
old
world
in
her
every
grace
and
gesture
.
You
forget
!
I
was
nothing
to
you
;
but
you
were
so
much
to
me
.
I
loved
you
the
first
moment
that
your
voice
fell
on
my
ear
.
It
is
madness
!
Oh
yes
!
I
should
have
said
so
too
in
those
old
years
.
A
madness
I
would
have
sworn
never
to
feel
.
But
I
have
lived
a
hard
life
since
then
,
and
no
men
ever
love
like
those
who
suffer
.
Now
you
know
all
;
know
the
worst
that
tempts
me
.
No
famine
,
no
humiliation
,
no
obloquy
,
no
loss
I
have
known
,
ever
drove
me
so
cruelly
to
buy
back
my
happiness
with
the
price
of
dishonour
as
this
one
desire
,
to
stand
in
my
rightful
place
before
men
,
and
be
free
to
strive
with
you
for
what
they
have
not
won
!
"
As
she
heard
,
all
the
warmth
,
all
the
life
,
faded
out
of
her
face
;
it
grew
as
white
as
his
own
,
and
her
lips
parted
slightly
,
as
though
to
draw
her
breath
was
oppressive
.
The
wild
words
overwhelmed
her
with
their
surprise
not
less
than
they
shocked
her
with
their
despair
.
An
intense
truth
vibrated
through
them
,
a
truth
that
pierced
her
and
reached
her
heart
as
no
other
supplication
ever
had
done
.
She
had
no
love
for
him
yet
,
or
she
thought
not
;
she
was
very
proud
,
and
resisted
such
passions
;
but
in
that
moment
the
thought
swept
by
her
that
such
love
might
be
possible
.
It
was
the
nearest
submission
to
it
she
had
ever
given
.
She
heard
him
in
unbroken
silence
;
she
kept
silence
long
after
he
had
spoken
.
So
far
as
her
courage
and
her
dignity
could
be
touched
with
it
,
she
felt
something
akin
to
terror
at
the
magnitude
of
the
choice
left
to
her
.
"
You
give
me
great
pain
,
great
surprise
,
"
she
murmured
.
"
All
I
can
trust
is
,
that
your
love
is
of
such
sudden
birth
that
it
will
die
as
rapidly
—
—
"
He
interrupted
her
:
"
You
mean
that
,
under
no
circumstances
—
not
even
were
I
to
possess
my
inheritance
—
could
you
give
me
any
hope
that
I
might
wake
your
tenderness
?
"
She
looked
at
him
full
in
the
eyes
with
the
old
,
fearless
,
haughty
instinct
of
refusal
to
all
such
entreaty
,
which
had
made
her
so
indifferent
—
and
many
said
so
pitiless
—
to
all
.
At
his
gaze
,
however
,
her
own
changed
and
softened
,
grew
shadowed
,
and
then
wandered
from
him
.
"
I
do
not
say
that
.
I
cannot
tell
—
—
"
The
words
were
very
low
:
she
was
too
truthful
to
conceal
from
him
what
half
dawned
on
herself
—
the
possibility
that
,
more
in
his
presence
and
under
different
circumstances
,
she
might
feel
her
heart
go
to
him
with
a
warmer
and
a
softer
impulse
than
that
of
friendship
.
The
heroism
of
his
life
had
moved
her
greatly
.
His
head
dropped
down
again
upon
his
arms
.
"
It
is
possible
at
least
!
I
am
blind
—
mad
.
Make
my
choice
for
me
!
I
know
not
what
I
do
.
"
The
tears
that
had
gathered
in
her
eyes
fell
slowly
down
over
her
colourless
cheeks
;
she
looked
at
him
with
a
pity
that
made
her
heart
ache
with
a
sorrow
only
less
than
his
own
.
The
grief
was
for
him
chiefly
:
yet
something
of
it
for
herself
.
Some
sense
of
present
bitterness
that
fell
on
her
from
his
fate
,
some
foreboding
of
future
regret
that
would
inevitably
and
for
ever
follow
her
when
she
left
him
to
his
loneliness
and
his
misery
,
smote
on
her
with
a
weightier
pang
than
any
her
caressed
and
cloudless
existence
had
encountered
.
Love
was
dimly
before
her
as
the
possibility
he
called
it
;
remote
,
unrealised
,
still
unacknowledged
,
but
possible
under
certain
conditions
,
only
known
as
such
when
it
was
also
impossible
through
circumstance
.
He
had
suffered
silently
;
endured
strongly
;
fought
greatly
:
these
were
the
only
means
through
which
any
man
could
have
ever
reached
her
sympathy
,
her
respect
,
her
tenderness
.
Yet
though
a
very
noble
and
a
very
generous
woman
,
she
was
also
a
woman
of
the
world
.
She
knew
that
it
was
not
for
her
to
say
even
thus
much
to
a
man
who
was
in
one
sense
well-nigh
a
stranger
,
and
who
stood
under
the
accusation
of
a
crime
whose
shadow
he
allowed
to
rest
on
him
unmoved
.
She
felt
sick
at
heart
:
she
longed
unutterably
,
with
a
warmer
longing
than
had
moved
her
previously
,
to
bid
him
,
at
all
cost
,
lay
bare
his
past
,
and
throw
off
the
imputed
shame
that
hung
on
him
.
Yet
all
the
grand
traditions
of
her
race
forbade
her
to
counsel
the
acceptance
of
an
escape
whose
way
led
through
a
forfeiture
of
honour
.
"
Choose
for
me
,
Venetia
!
"
he
muttered
at
last
once
more
.
She
rose
with
what
was
almost
a
gesture
of
despair
,
and
thrust
the
gold
hair
off
her
temples
.
"
Heaven
help
me
,
I
cannot
—
I
dare
not
!
And
—
I
am
no
longer
capable
of
being
just
!
"
There
was
an
accent
almost
of
passion
in
her
voice
;
she
felt
that
so
greatly
did
she
desire
his
deliverance
,
his
justification
,
his
return
to
all
which
was
his
own
,
desired
even
his
presence
amongst
them
in
her
own
world
,
that
she
could
no
longer
give
him
calm
and
unbiased
judgment
.
He
heard
,
and
the
burning
tide
of
a
new
joy
rushed
on
him
,
checked
almost
ere
it
was
known
,
by
the
dread
lest
for
her
sake
she
should
ever
give
him
so
much
pity
that
such
pity
became
love
.
He
started
to
his
feet
and
looked
down
imploringly
into
her
eyes
—
a
look
under
which
her
own
never
quailed
or
drooped
,
but
which
they
answered
with
that
same
regard
which
she
had
given
him
when
she
had
declared
her
faith
in
his
innocence
.
"
If
I
thought
it
possible
you
could
ever
care
—
—
"
She
moved
slightly
from
him
;
her
face
was
very
white
still
,
and
her
voice
,
though
serenely
sustained
,
shook
as
it
answered
him
:
"
If
I
could
—
believe
me
,
I
am
not
a
woman
who
would
bid
you
forsake
your
honour
to
spare
yourself
or
me
.
Let
us
speak
no
more
of
this
!
What
can
it
avail
,
except
to
make
you
suffer
greater
things
?
Follow
the
counsels
of
your
own
conscience
.
You
have
been
true
to
them
hitherto
;
it
is
not
for
me
,
or
through
me
,
that
you
shall
ever
be
turned
aside
from
them
.
"
A
bitter
sigh
broke
from
him
as
he
heard
.
"
They
are
noble
words
.
And
yet
it
is
so
easy
to
utter
,
so
hard
to
follow
them
.
If
you
had
one
thought
of
tenderness
for
me
,
you
could
not
speak
them
.
"
A
flush
passed
over
her
face
.
"
Do
not
think
me
without
feeling
—
without
sympathy
—
pity
—
—
"
"
These
are
not
love
.
"
She
was
silent
;
they
were
,
in
a
sense
,
nearer
to
love
than
any
emotion
she
had
ever
known
.
"
If
you
loved
me
,
"
he
pursued
,
passionately
—
"
ah
,
God
!
the
very
word
from
me
to
you
sounds
insult
;
and
yet
there
is
not
one
thought
in
me
that
does
not
honour
you
—
if
you
loved
me
,
could
you
stand
there
and
bid
me
drag
on
this
life
for
ever
,
nameless
,
friendless
,
hopeless
,
having
all
the
bitterness
but
none
of
the
torpor
of
death
,
wearing
out
the
doom
of
a
galley-slave
,
though
guiltless
of
all
crime
?
"
"
Why
speak
so
?
You
are
unreasoning
;
a
moment
ago
you
implored
me
not
to
tempt
you
to
the
violation
of
what
you
hold
your
honour
;
because
I
bid
you
be
faithful
to
it
,
you
deem
me
cruel
!
"
"
Heaven
help
me
!
I
scarce
know
what
I
say
.
I
ask
you
,
if
you
were
a
woman
who
cared
for
me
,
could
you
decide
thus
?
"
"
These
are
wild
questions
,
"
she
murmured
;
"
what
can
they
serve
?
I
believe
that
I
should
—
I
am
sure
that
I
should
.
As
it
is
—
as
your
friend
—
—
"
"
Ah
,
hush
!
Friendship
is
crueller
than
hate
.
"
"
Cruel
?
"
"
Yes
;
the
worst
cruelty
when
we
seek
love
—
a
stone
proffered
us
when
we
ask
for
bread
in
famine
!
"
There
was
desperation
,
almost
ferocity
,
in
the
answer
;
she
was
moved
and
shaken
by
it
—
not
to
fear
,
for
fear
was
not
in
her
nature
,
but
to
something
of
awe
,
and
something
of
the
despairing
hopelessness
that
was
in
him
.
"
Lord
Royallieu
,
"
she
said
,
slowly
,
as
if
the
familiar
name
were
some
tie
between
them
,
some
cause
of
excuse
for
these
,
the
only
love-words
she
had
ever
heard
without
disdain
and
rejection
—
"
Lord
Royallieu
,
it
is
unworthy
of
you
to
take
this
advantage
of
an
interview
which
I
sought
,
and
sought
for
your
own
sake
.
You
pain
me
,
you
wound
me
.
I
cannot
tell
how
to
answer
you
.
You
speak
strangely
,
and
without
warrant
.
"
He
stood
mute
and
motionless
before
her
,
his
head
sunk
on
his
chest
.
He
knew
that
she
rebuked
him
justly
;
he
knew
that
he
had
broken
through
every
law
he
had
proscribed
himself
,
and
that
he
had
sinned
against
that
code
of
chivalry
which
should
have
made
her
sacred
from
such
words
whilst
they
were
those
he
could
not
utter
,
nor
she
hear
,
except
in
secresy
and
shame
.
Unless
he
could
stand
justified
in
her
sight
and
in
that
of
all
men
,
he
had
no
right
to
seek
to
wring
out
tenderness
from
her
regret
and
from
her
pity
.
Yet
all
his
heart
went
out
to
her
in
one
irrepressible
entreaty
.
"
Forgive
me
,
for
pity
's
sake
!
After
to-night
I
shall
never
look
upon
your
face
again
.
"
"
I
do
forgive
,
"
she
said
,
gently
,
whilst
her
voice
grew
very
sweet
.
"
You
endure
too
much
already
for
one
needless
pang
to
be
added
by
me
.
All
I
wish
is
,
that
you
had
never
met
me
,
so
that
this
last
,
worst
,
thing
had
not
come
unto
you
!
"
A
long
silence
fell
between
them
;
where
she
leaned
back
amongst
her
cushions
,
her
face
was
turned
from
him
.
He
stood
motionless
in
the
shadow
,
his
head
still
dropped
upon
his
breast
,
his
breathing
loud
and
slow
and
hard
.
To
speak
of
love
to
her
was
forbidden
to
him
,
yet
the
insidious
temptation
wound
closer
and
closer
round
his
strength
.
He
had
only
to
betray
the
man
he
had
sworn
to
protect
,
and
she
would
know
his
innocence
,
she
would
hear
his
passion
;
he
would
be
free
,
and
she
—
he
grew
giddy
as
the
thought
rose
before
him
—
she
might
,
with
time
,
be
brought
to
give
him
other
tenderness
than
that
of
friendship
.
He
seemed
to
touch
the
very
supremacy
of
joy
,
to
reach
it
almost
with
his
hand
,
to
have
honours
,
and
peace
,
and
all
the
glory
of
her
haughty
loveliness
,
and
all
the
sweetness
of
her
subjugation
,
and
all
the
soft
delights
of
passion
before
him
in
their
golden
promise
:
—
and
he
was
held
back
in
bands
of
iron
,
he
was
driven
out
from
them
desolate
and
accurst
.
Unlike
Cain
,
he
had
suffered
in
his
brother
's
stead
,
yet
,
like
Cain
,
he
was
branded
,
and
could
only
wander
out
into
the
darkness
and
the
wilderness
.
She
watched
him
many
minutes
,
he
unconscious
of
her
gaze
;
and
whilst
she
did
so
,
many
conflicting
emotions
passed
over
the
colourless
delicacy
of
her
features
;
her
eyes
were
filled
and
shadowed
with
many
altering
thoughts
;
her
heart
was
waking
from
its
rest
,
and
the
high
,
generous
,
unselfish
nature
in
her
strove
with
her
pride
of
birth
,
her
dignity
of
habit
.
"
Wait
,
"
she
said
,
softly
,
with
the
old
imperial
command
of
her
voice
subdued
,
though
not
wholly
banished
.
"
I
think
you
have
mistaken
me
somewhat
.
You
wrong
me
if
you
think
that
I
could
be
so
callous
,
so
indifferent
,
as
to
leave
you
here
without
heed
as
to
your
fate
.
Believe
in
your
innocence
you
know
that
I
do
,
as
firmly
as
though
you
substantiated
it
with
a
thousand
proofs
;
reverence
your
devotion
to
your
honour
you
are
certain
that
I
must
,
or
all
better
things
were
dead
in
me
.
"
Her
voice
sank
inaudible
for
the
instant
;
she
recovered
her
self-control
with
an
effort
.
"
You
reject
my
friendship
—
you
term
it
cruel
—
but
at
least
it
will
be
faithful
to
you
;
too
faithful
for
me
to
pass
out
of
Africa
and
never
give
you
one
thought
again
.
I
believe
in
you
.
Do
you
not
know
that
that
is
the
highest
trust
,
to
my
thinking
,
that
one
human
life
can
show
in
another
's
?
You
decide
that
it
is
your
duty
not
to
free
yourself
from
this
bondage
,
not
to
expose
the
actual
criminal
,
not
to
take
up
your
rights
of
birth
.
I
dare
not
seek
to
alter
that
decision
.
But
I
cannot
leave
you
to
such
a
future
without
infinite
pain
,
and
there
must
—
there
shall
be
—
means
through
which
you
will
let
me
hear
of
you
—
through
which
,
at
least
,
I
can
know
that
you
are
living
.
"
She
stretched
her
hands
towards
him
with
that
same
gesture
with
which
she
had
first
declared
her
faith
in
his
guiltlessness
;
the
tears
trembled
in
her
voice
and
swam
in
her
eyes
.
As
she
had
said
,
she
suffered
for
him
exceedingly
.
He
,
hearing
those
words
which
breathed
the
only
pity
that
had
never
humiliated
him
,
and
the
loyal
trust
which
was
but
the
truer
because
the
sincerity
of
faith
in
lieu
of
the
insanity
of
love
dictated
it
,
made
a
blind
,
staggering
,
unconscious
movement
of
passionate
dumb
agony
.
He
seized
her
hands
in
his
and
held
them
close
against
his
breast
one
instant
,
against
the
loud
hard
panting
of
his
aching
heart
.
"
God
reward
you
!
God
keep
you
!
If
I
stay
,
I
shall
tell
you
all
;
let
me
go
,
and
forget
that
we
ever
met
!
I
am
dead
—
let
me
be
dead
to
you
!
"
With
another
instant
he
had
left
the
tent
and
passed
out
into
the
red
glow
of
the
torchlit
evening
.
And
Venetia
Corona
dropped
her
proud
head
down
upon
the
silken
cushions
where
his
own
had
rested
,
and
wept
as
women
weep
over
their
dead
—
in
such
emotion
as
had
never
come
to
her
in
all
the
course
of
her
radiant
,
victorious
,
and
imperious
life
.
It
seemed
to
her
as
if
she
had
seen
him
slain
in
cold
blood
,
and
had
never
lifted
her
hand
or
her
voice
against
his
murder
.
His
voice
rang
in
her
ear
;
his
face
was
before
her
with
its
white
still
rigid
anguish
;
the
scorching
accents
of
his
avowal
of
love
seemed
to
search
her
very
heart
.
If
this
man
perished
in
any
of
the
thousand
perils
of
war
she
would
for
ever
feel
herself
his
assassin
.
She
had
his
secret
,
she
had
his
soul
,
she
had
his
honour
in
her
hands
;
and
she
could
do
nothing
better
for
them
both
than
to
send
him
from
her
to
eternal
silence
,
to
eternal
solitude
!
Her
thoughts
grew
unbearable
;
she
rose
impetuously
from
her
couch
and
paced
to
and
fro
the
narrow
confines
of
her
tent
.
Her
tranquillity
was
broken
down
;
her
pride
was
abandoned
;
her
heart
,
at
length
,
was
reached
and
sorely
wounded
.
The
only
man
she
had
ever
found
,
whom
it
would
have
been
possible
to
her
to
have
loved
,
was
one
already
severed
from
her
by
a
fate
almost
more
hideous
than
death
.
And
yet
,
in
her
loneliness
,
the
colour
flushed
back
into
her
face
;
her
eyes
gathered
some
of
their
old
light
;
one
dreaming
shapeless
fancy
floated
vaguely
through
her
mind
.
If
,
in
the
years
to
come
,
she
knew
him
in
all
ways
worthy
,
and
learned
to
give
him
back
this
love
he
bore
her
,
it
was
in
her
to
prove
that
love
at
no
matter
what
cost
to
her
pride
and
her
lineage
.
If
this
perfect
innocence
were
made
clear
in
her
own
sight
,
there
was
greatness
and
there
was
unselfishness
enough
in
her
nature
to
make
her
capable
of
regarding
alone
his
martyrdom
and
his
heroism
,
and
disregarding
the
opinion
of
the
world
.
If
hereafter
she
grew
to
find
his
presence
the
necessity
of
her
life
,
and
his
sacrifice
of
that
nobility
,
and
of
that
purity
,
she
now
believed
it
,
she
—
proud
as
she
was
with
the
twin
pride
of
lineage
and
of
character
—
would
be
capable
of
incurring
the
odium
and
the
marvel
of
all
who
knew
her
by
uniting
her
fate
to
his
own
,
by
making
manifest
her
honour
and
her
tenderness
for
him
,
though
men
saw
in
him
only
a
soldier
of
the
Empire
,
only
a
base-born
trooper
,
beneath
her
,
as
Riom
beneath
the
daughter
of
D'Orléans
.
She
was
of
a
brave
nature
,
of
a
great
nature
,
of
a
daring
courage
,
and
of
a
superb
generosity
.
Abhorring
dishonour
,
full
of
glory
in
the
stainless
history
of
her
race
,
and
tenacious
of
the
dignity
and
of
the
magnitude
of
her
House
,
she
yet
was
too
courageous
and
too
haughty
a
woman
not
to
be
capable
of
braving
calumny
if
conscious
of
her
own
pure
rectitude
beneath
it
,
not
to
be
capable
of
incurring
false
censure
,
if
encountered
in
the
path
of
justice
and
of
magnanimity
.
It
was
possible
,
even
on
herself
it
dawned
as
possible
,
that
so
great
might
become
her
compassion
and
her
tenderness
for
this
man
,
that
she
would
,
in
some
distant
future
,
when
the
might
of
his
love
and
the
severity
of
his
suffering
should
prevail
with
her
,
say
to
him
:
"
Keep
your
secret
from
the
world
as
you
will
.
Prove
your
innocence
only
to
me
;
let
me
and
the
friend
of
your
youth
alone
know
your
name
and
your
rights
.
And
knowing
all
,
knowing
you
myself
to
be
hero
and
martyr
in
one
,
I
shall
not
care
what
the
world
thinks
of
you
,
what
the
world
says
of
me
.
I
will
be
your
wife
:
I
have
lands
and
riches
,
and
honours
,
and
greatness
enough
to
suffice
for
us
both
.
"
If
ever
she
loved
him
exceedingly
,
she
would
become
capable
of
this
sacrifice
from
the
strength
,
and
the
graciousness
,
and
the
fearlessness
of
her
nature
,
and
such
love
was
not
so
distant
from
her
as
she
thought
.
Outside
her
tent
there
was
a
peculiar
mingling
of
light
and
shadow
;
of
darkness
from
the
moonless
and
how
cloud-covered
sky
,
of
reddened
warmth
from
the
tall
burning
pine-boughs
thrust
into
the
soil
in
lieu
of
other
illumination
.
The
atmosphere
was
hot
from
the
flames
,
and
chilly
with
the
breath
of
the
night
winds
;
it
was
oppressively
still
,
though
from
afar
off
the
sounds
of
laughter
in
the
camp
still
echoed
,
and
near
at
hand
the
dull
and
steady
tramp
of
the
sentinels
fell
on
the
hard
parched
soil
.
Into
that
blended
heat
and
cold
,
dead
blackness
and
crimson
glare
,
he
reeled
out
from
her
presence
;
drunk
with
pain
as
deliriously
as
men
grow
drunk
with
raki
.
The
challenge
rang
on
the
air
:
"
Who
goes
there
?
"
He
never
heard
it
.
Even
the
old
long-accustomed
habits
of
a
soldier
's
obedience
were
killed
in
him
.
"
Who
goes
there
?
"
the
challenge
rang
again
.
Still
he
never
heard
,
but
went
on
blindly
.
From
where
the
tents
stood
,
there
was
a
stronger
breadth
of
light
through
which
he
had
passed
,
and
was
passing
still
—
a
light
strong
enough
for
it
to
be
seen
whence
he
came
,
but
not
strong
enough
to
show
his
features
.
"
Halt
,
or
I
fire
!
"
The
sentinel
brought
the
weapon
to
his
shoulder
and
took
a
calm
,
close
,
sure
aim
.
Cecil
did
not
speak
;
the
password
he
had
forgotten
as
though
he
had
never
heard
or
never
given
it
.
Another
figure
than
that
of
the
soldier
on
guard
came
out
of
the
shadow
,
and
stood
between
him
and
the
sentinel
.
It
was
that
of
Châteauroy
;
he
was
mounted
on
his
grey
horse
and
wrapped
in
his
military
cloak
,
about
to
go
the
round
of
the
cavalry
camp
.
Their
eyes
met
in
the
wavering
light
like
the
glow
from
a
furnace-mouth
:
in
a
glance
they
knew
each
other
.
"
It
is
one
of
my
men
,
"
said
the
chief
carelessly
to
the
sentinel
.
"
Leave
me
to
deal
with
him
.
"
The
guard
saluted
,
and
resumed
his
beat
.
"
Why
did
you
refuse
the
word
,
sir
?
"
"
I
did
not
hear
.
"
"
And
why
did
you
not
hear
?
"
There
was
no
reply
.
"
Why
are
you
absent
from
your
squadron
?
"
There
was
no
reply
still
.
"
Have
you
no
tongue
,
sir
?
The
matraque
shall
soon
make
you
speak
!
Why
are
you
here
?
"
There
was
again
no
answer
.
Châteauroy
's
teeth
ground
out
a
furious
oath
;
yet
a
flash
of
brutal
delight
glittered
in
his
eyes
.
At
last
he
had
hounded
down
this
man
,
so
long
out
of
his
reach
,
into
disobedience
and
contumacy
.
"
Why
are
you
here
,
and
where
have
you
been
?
"
he
demanded
once
more
.
"
I
will
not
say
.
