8thof
July
,
and
with
that
summer
day
all
hearts
at
Paris
were
in
unison
.
Discontent
was
charmed
into
enthusiasm
—
Belleville
and
Montmartre
forgot
the
visions
of
Communism
and
Socialism
and
other
“
isms
”
not
to
be
realised
except
in
some
undiscovered
Atlantis
!
The
Emperor
was
the
idol
of
the
day
—
the
names
of
Jules
Favre
and
Gambetta
were
by-words
of
scorn
.
Even
Armand
Monnier
,
still
out
of
work
,
beginning
to
feel
the
pinch
of
want
,
and
fierce
for
any
revolution
that
might
turn
topsy-turvy
the
conditions
of
labour
,
—
even
Armand
Monnier
was
found
among
groups
that
were
laying
immortelles
at
the
foot
of
the
column
in
the
Place
Vendome
,
and
heard
to
say
to
a
fellow
malcontent
,
with
eyes
uplifted
to
the
statue
of
the
First
Napoleon
,
“
Do
you
not
feel
at
this
moment
that
no
Frenchman
can
be
long
angry
with
the
Little
Corporal
?
He
denied
La
Liberte
,
but
he
gave
La
Gloire
.
”
Heeding
not
the
stir
of
the
world
without
,
Graham
was
compelling
into
one
resolve
the
doubts
and
scruples
which
had
so
long
warred
against
the
heart
which
they
ravaged
,
but
could
not
wholly
subdue
.
The
conversations
with
Mrs.
Morley
and
Rochebriant
had
placed
in
a
light
in
which
he
had
not
before
regarded
it
,
the
image
of
Isaura
.
He
had
reasoned
from
the
starting-point
of
his
love
for
her
,
and
had
sought
to
convince
himself
that
against
that
love
it
was
his
duty
to
strive
.
But
now
a
new
question
was
addressed
to
his
conscience
as
well
as
to
his
heart
.
What
though
he
had
never
formally
declared
to
her
his
affection
—
never
,
in
open
words
,
wooed
her
as
his
own
—
never
even
hinted
to
her
the
hopes
of
a
union
which
at
one
time
he
had
fondly
entertained
,
—
still
was
it
true
that
his
love
had
been
too
transparent
not
to
be
detected
by
her
,
and
not
to
have
led
her
on
to
return
it
?
Certainly
he
had
,
as
we
know
,
divined
that
he
was
not
indifferent
to
her
:
at
Enghien
,
a
year
ago
,
that
he
had
gained
her
esteem
,
and
perhaps
interested
her
fancy
.
We
know
also
how
he
had
tried
to
persuade
himself
that
the
artistic
temperament
,
especially
when
developed
in
women
,
is
too
elastic
to
suffer
the
things
of
real
life
to
have
lasting
influence
over
happiness
or
sorrow
,
—
that
in
the
pursuits
in
which
her
thought
and
imagination
found
employ
,
in
the
excitement
they
sustained
,
and
the
fame
to
which
they
conduced
,
Isaura
would
be
readily
consoled
for
a
momentary
pang
of
disappointed
affection
.
And
that
a
man
so
alien
as
himself
,
both
by
nature
and
by
habit
,
from
the
artistic
world
,
was
the
very
last
person
who
could
maintain
deep
and
permanent
impression
on
her
actual
life
or
her
ideal
dreams
.
But
what
if
,
as
he
gathered
from
the
words
of
the
fair
American
—
what
if
,
in
all
these
assumptions
,
she
was
wholly
mistaken
?
What
if
,
in
previously
revealing
his
own
heart
,
he
had
decoyed
hers
—
what
if
,
by
a
desertion
she
had
no
right
to
anticipate
,
he
had
blighted
her
future
?
What
if
this
brilliant
child
of
genius
could
love
as
warmly
,
as
deeply
,
as
enduringly
as
any
simple
village
girl
to
whom
there
is
no
poetry
except
love
?
If
this
were
so
—
what
became
the
first
claim
on
his
honour
,
his
conscience
,
his
duty
?
The
force
which
but
a
few
days
ago
his
reasonings
had
given
to
the
arguments
that
forbade
him
to
think
of
Isaura
,
became
weaker
and
weaker
,
as
now
in
an
altered
mood
of
reflection
he
resummoned
and
reweighed
them
.
All
those
prejudices
—
which
had
seemed
to
him
such
rational
common-sense
truths
,
when
translated
from
his
own
mind
into
the
words
of
Lady
Janet’s
letter
,
—
was
not
Mrs.
Morley
right
in
denouncing
them
as
the
crotchets
of
an
insolent
egotism
?
Was
it
not
rather
to
the
favour
than
to
the
disparagement
of
Isaura
,
regarded
even
in
the
man’s
narrow-minded
view
of
woman’s
dignity
,
that
this
orphan
girl
could
,
with
character
so
unscathed
,
pass
through
the
trying
ordeal
of
the
public
babble
,
the
public
gaze-command
alike
the
esteem
of
a
woman
so
pure
as
Mrs.
Morley
,
the
reverence
of
a
man
so
chivalrously
sensitive
to
honour
as
Alain
de
Rochebriant
?
Musing
thus
,
Graham’s
countenance
at
last
brightened
—
a
glorious
joy
entered
into
and
possessed
him
.
He
felt
as
a
man
who
had
burst
asunder
the
swathes
and
trammels
which
had
kept
him
galled
and
miserable
with
the
sense
of
captivity
,
and
from
which
some
wizard
spell
that
took
strength
from
his
own
superstition
had
forbidden
to
struggle
.
He
was
free
!
—
and
that
freedom
was
rapture
!
—
yes
,
his
resolve
was
taken
.
The
day
was
now
far
advanced
.
He
should
have
just
time
before
the
dinner
with
Duplessis
to
drive
to
A
—
—
—
,
where
he
still
supposed
Isaura
resided
.
How
,
as
his
fiacre
rolled
along
the
well-remembered
road
—
how
completely
he
lived
in
that
world
of
romance
of
which
he
denied
himself
to
be
a
denizen
.
Arrived
at
the
little
villa
,
he
found
it
occupied
only
by
workmen
—
it
was
under
repair
.
No
one
could
tell
him
to
what
residence
the
ladies
who
occupied
it
the
last
year
had
removed
.
“
I
shall
learn
from
Mrs.
Morley
,
”
thought
Graham
,
and
at
her
house
he
called
in
going
back
,
but
Mrs.
Morley
was
not
at
home
;
he
had
only
just
time
,
after
regaining
his
apartment
,
to
change
his
dress
for
the
dinner
to
which
he
was
invited
.
As
it
was
,
he
arrived
late
,
and
while
apologising
to
his
host
for
his
want
of
punctuality
,
his
tongue
faltered
.
At
the
farther
end
of
the
room
he
saw
a
face
,
paler
and
thinner
than
when
he
had
seen
it
last
—
a
face
across
which
a
something
of
grief
had
gone
.
The
servant
announced
that
dinner
was
served
.
“
Mr.
Vane
,
”
said
Duplessis
,
“
will
you
take
into
dinner
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
?
”
BOOK
XI
.
CHAPTER
I
.
Amoung
the
frets
and
checks
to
the
course
that
“
never
did
run
smooth
,
”
there
is
one
which
is
sufficiently
frequent
,
for
many
a
reader
will
remember
the
irritation
it
caused
him
.
You
have
counted
on
a
meeting
with
the
beloved
one
unwitnessed
by
others
,
an
interchange
of
confessions
and
vows
which
others
may
not
hear
.
You
have
arranged
almost
the
words
in
which
your
innermost
heart
is
to
be
expressed
;
pictured
to
yourself
the
very
looks
by
which
those
words
will
have
their
sweetest
reply
.
The
scene
you
have
thus
imagined
appears
to
you
vivid
and
distinct
,
as
if
foreshown
in
a
magic
glass
.
And
suddenly
,
after
long
absence
,
the
meeting
takes
place
in
the
midst
of
a
common
companionship
:
nothing
that
you
wished
to
say
can
be
said
.
The
scene
you
pictured
is
painted
out
by
the
irony
of
Chance
;
and
groups
and
backgrounds
of
which
you
had
never
dreamed
start
forth
from
the
disappointing
canvas
.
Happy
if
that
be
all
!
But
sometimes
,
by
a
strange
,
subtle
intuition
,
you
feel
that
the
person
herself
is
changed
;
and
sympathetic
with
that
change
,
a
terrible
chill
comes
over
your
own
heart
.
Before
Graham
had
taken
his
seat
at
the
table
beside
Isaura
,
he
felt
that
she
was
changed
to
him
.
He
felt
it
by
her
very
touch
as
their
hands
met
at
the
first
greeting
,
—
by
the
tone
of
her
voice
in
the
few
words
that
passed
between
them
,
—
by
the
absence
of
all
glow
in
the
smile
which
had
once
lit
up
her
face
,
as
a
burst
of
sunshine
lights
up
a
day
in
spring
,
and
gives
a
richer
gladness
of
colour
to
all
its
blooms
.
Once
seated
side
by
side
they
remained
for
some
moments
silent
.
Indeed
,
it
would
have
been
rather
difficult
for
anything
less
than
the
wonderful
intelligence
of
lovers
between
whom
no
wall
can
prevent
the
stolen
interchange
of
tokens
,
to
have
ventured
private
talk
of
their
own
amid
the
excited
converse
which
seemed
all
eyes
,
all
tongues
,
all
ears
,
admitting
no
one
present
to
abstract
himself
from
the
common
emotion
.
Englishmen
do
not
recognise
the
old
classic
law
which
limited
the
number
of
guests
,
where
banquets
are
meant
to
be
pleasant
,
to
that
of
the
Nine-Muses
.
They
invite
guests
so
numerous
,
and
so
shy
of
launching
talk
across
the
table
,
that
you
may
talk
to
the
person
next
to
you
not
less
secure
from
listeners
than
you
would
be
in
talking
with
the
stranger
whom
you
met
at
a
well
in
the
Sahara
.
It
is
not
so
,
except
on
state
occasions
,
at
Paris
.
Difficult
there
to
retire
into
solitude
with
your
next
neighbour
.
The
guests
collected
by
Duplessis
completed
with
himself
the
number
of
the
Sacred
Nine
—
the
host
,
Valerie
,
Rochebriant
,
Graham
,
Isaura
,
Signora
Venosta
,
La
Duchesse
de
Tarascon
,
the
wealthy
and
high-born
Imperialist
,
Prince
—
—
—
—
,
and
last
and
least
,
one
who
shall
be
nameless
.
I
have
read
somewhere
,
perhaps
in
one
of
the
books
which
American
superstition
dedicates
to
the
mysteries
of
Spiritualism
,
how
a
gifted
seer
,
technically
styled
medium
,
sees
at
the
opera
a
box
which
to
other
eyes
appears
untenanted
and
empty
,
but
to
him
is
full
of
ghosts
,
well
dressed
in
costume
de-regle
,
gazing
on
the
boards
and
listening
to
the
music
.
Like
such
ghosts
are
certain
beings
whom
I
call
Lookers-on
.
Though
still
living
,
they
have
no
share
in
the
life
they
survey
,
they
come
as
from
another
world
to
hear
and
to
see
what
is
passing
in
ours
.
In
ours
they
lived
once
,
but
that
troubled
sort
of
life
they
have
survived
.
Still
we
amuse
them
as
stage-players
and
puppets
amuse
ourselves
.
One
of
these
Lookers-on
completed
the
party
at
the
house
of
Duplessis
.
How
lively
,
how
animated
the
talk
was
at
the
financier’s
pleasant
table
that
day
,
the
8th
of
July
!
The
excitement
of
the
coming
war
made
itself
loud
in
every
Gallic
voice
,
and
kindled
in
every
Gallic
eye
.
Appeals
at
every
second
minute
were
made
,
sometimes
courteous
,
sometimes
sarcastic
,
to
the
Englishman
—
promising
son
of
an
eminent
statesman
,
and
native
of
a
country
in
which
France
is
always
coveting
an
ally
,
and
always
suspecting
an
enemy
.
Certainly
Graham
could
not
have
found
a
less
propitious
moment
for
asking
Isaura
if
she
really
were
changed
.
And
certainly
the
honour
of
Great
Britain
was
never
less
ably
represented
(
that
is
saying
a
great
deal
)
than
it
was
on
this
occasion
by
the
young
man
reared
to
diplomacy
and
aspiring
to
Parliamentary
distinction
.
He
answered
all
questions
with
a
constrained
voice
and
an
insipid
smile
,
—
all
questions
pointedly
addressed
to
him
as
to
what
demonstrations
of
admiring
sympathy
with
the
gallantry
of
France
might
be
expected
from
the
English
Government
and
people
;
what
his
acquaintance
with
the
German
races
led
him
to
suppose
would
be
the
effect
on
the
Southern
States
of
the
first
defeat
of
the
Prussians
;
whether
the
man
called
Moltke
was
not
a
mere
strategist
on
paper
,
a
crotchety
pedant
;
whether
,
if
Belgium
became
so
enamoured
of
the
glories
of
France
as
to
solicit
fusion
with
her
people
,
England
would
have
a
right
to
offer
any
objection
,
etc.
,
etc.
I
do
not
think
that
during
that
festival
Graham
once
thought
one-millionth
so
much
about
the
fates
of
Prussia
and
France
as
he
did
think
,
“
Why
is
that
girl
so
changed
to
me
?
Merciful
heaven
!
is
she
lost
to
my
life
?
”
By
training
,
by
habit
,
even
by
passion
,
the
man
was
a
genuine
politician
,
cosmopolitan
as
well
as
patriotic
,
accustomed
to
consider
what
effect
every
vibration
in
that
balance
of
European
power
,
which
no
deep
thinker
can
despise
,
must
have
on
the
destinies
of
civilised
humanity
,
and
on
those
of
the
nation
to
which
he
belongs
.
But
are
there
not
moments
in
life
when
the
human
heart
suddenly
narrows
the
circumference
to
which
its
emotions
are
extended
?
As
the
ebb
of
a
tide
,
it
retreats
from
the
shores
it
had
covered
on
its
flow
,
drawing
on
with
contracted
waves
the
treasure-trove
it
has
selected
to
hoard
amid
its
deeps
.
CHAPTER
II
.
On
quitting
the
dining-room
,
the
Duchesse
de
Tarascon
said
to
her
host
,
on
whose
arm
she
was
leaning
,
“
Of
course
you
and
I
must
go
with
the
stream
.
But
is
not
all
the
fine
talk
that
has
passed
to-day
at
your
table
,
and
in
which
we
too
have
joined
,
a
sort
of
hypocrisy
?
I
may
say
this
to
you
;
I
would
say
it
to
no
other
.
”
“
And
I
say
to
you
,
Madame
la
Duchesse
,
that
which
I
would
say
to
no
other
.
Thinking
over
it
as
I
sit
alone
,
I
find
myself
making
a
‘terrible
hazard
;
’
but
when
I
go
abroad
and
become
infected
by
the
general
enthusiasm
,
I
pluck
up
gaiety
of
spirit
,
and
whisper
to
myself
,
‘True
,
but
it
may
be
an
enormous
gain.’
To
get
the
left
bank
of
the
Rhine
is
a
trifle
;
but
to
check
in
our
next
neighbour
a
growth
which
a
few
years
hence
would
overtop
us
,
—
that
is
no
trifle
.
And
,
be
the
gain
worth
the
hazard
or
not
,
could
the
Emperor
,
could
any
Government
likely
to
hold
its
own
for
a
week
,
have
declined
to
take
the
chance
of
the
die
?
”
The
Duchesse
mused
a
moment
,
and
meanwhile
the
two
seated
themselves
on
a
divan
in
the
corner
of
the
salon
.
Then
she
said
very
slowly
—
“
No
Government
that
held
its
tenure
on
popular
suffrage
could
have
done
so
.
But
if
the
Emperor
had
retained
the
personal
authority
which
once
allowed
the
intellect
of
one
man
to
control
and
direct
the
passions
of
many
,
I
think
the
war
would
have
been
averted
.
I
have
reason
to
know
that
the
Emperor
gave
his
emphatic
support
to
the
least
bellicose
members
of
the
Council
,
and
that
Gramont’s
speech
did
not
contain
the
passage
that
precipitates
hostilities
when
the
Council
in
which
it
was
framed
broke
up
.
These
fatal
Ministers
found
the
Chamber
,
and
the
reports
of
the
popular
excitement
which
could
not
be
resisted
without
imminent
danger
of
revolution
.
It
is
Paris
that
has
forced
the
war
on
the
Emperor
.
But
enough
of
this
subject
.
What
must
be
,
must
,
and
,
as
you
say
,
the
gain
may
be
greater
than
the
hazard
.
I
come
to
something
else
you
whispered
to
me
before
we
went
in
to
dinner
,
—
a
sort
of
complaint
which
wounds
me
sensibly
.
You
say
I
had
assisted
to
a
choice
of
danger
and
possibly
of
death
a
very
distant
connection
of
mine
,
who
might
have
been
a
very
near
connection
of
yours
.
You
mean
Alain
de
Rochebriant
?
”
“
Yes
;
I
accept
him
as
a
suitor
for
the
hand
of
my
only
daughter
.
”
“
I
am
so
glad
,
not
for
your
sake
so
much
as
for
his
.
No
one
can
know
him
well
without
appreciating
in
him
the
finest
qualities
of
the
finest
order
of
the
French
noble
;
but
having
known
your
pretty
Valerie
so
long
,
my
congratulations
are
for
the
man
who
can
win
her
.
Meanwhile
,
hear
my
explanation
:
when
I
promised
Alain
any
interest
I
can
command
for
the
grade
of
officer
in
a
regiment
of
Mobiles
,
I
knew
not
that
he
had
formed
,
or
was
likely
to
form
,
ties
or
duties
to
keep
him
at
home
.
I
withdraw
my
promise
.
”
“
No
,
Duchesse
,
fulfil
it
.
I
should
be
disloyal
indeed
if
I
robbed
a
sovereign
under
whose
tranquil
and
prosperous
reign
I
have
acquired
,
with
no
dishonour
,
the
fortune
which
Order
proffers
to
Commerce
,
of
one
gallant
defender
in
the
hour
of
need
.
And
,
speaking
frankly
,
if
Alain
were
really
my
son
,
I
think
I
am
Frenchman
enough
to
remember
that
France
is
my
mother
.
”
“
Say
no
more
,
my
friend
—
say
no
more
,
”
cried
the
Duchesse
,
with
the
warm
blood
of
the
heart
rushing
through
all
the
delicate
coatings
of
pearl-powder
.
“
If
every
Frenchman
felt
as
you
do
;
if
in
this
Paris
of
ours
all
hostilities
of
class
may
merge
in
the
one
thought
of
the
common
country
;
if
in
French
hearts
there
yet
thrills
the
same
sentiment
as
that
which
,
in
the
terrible
days
when
all
other
ties
were
rent
asunder
,
revered
France
as
mother
,
and
rallied
her
sons
to
her
aid
against
the
confederacy
of
Europe
,
—
why
,
then
,
we
need
not
grow
pale
with
dismay
at
the
sight
of
a
Prussian
needle-gun
.
Hist
!
look
yonder
:
is
not
that
a
tableau
of
Youth
in
Arcady
?
Worlds
rage
around
,
and
Love
,
unconcerned
,
whispers
to
Love
!
”
The
Duchesse
here
pointed
to
a
corner
of
the
adjoining
room
in
which
Alain
and
Valerie
sat
apart
,
he
whispering
into
her
ear
;
her
cheek
downcast
,
and
,
even
seen
at
that
distance
,
brightened
by
the
delicate
tenderness
of
its
blushes
.
CHAPTER
III
.
But
in
that
small
assembly
there
were
two
who
did
not
attract
the
notice
of
Duplessis
or
of
the
lady
of
the
Imperial
Court
.
While
the
Prince
—
—
and
the
placid
Looker-on
were
engaged
at
a
contest
of
ecarte
,
with
the
lively
Venosta
,
for
the
gallery
,
interposing
criticisms
and
admonitions
,
Isaura
was
listlessly
turning
over
a
collection
of
photographs
,
strewed
on
a
table
that
stood
near
to
an
open
window
in
the
remoter
angle
of
the
room
,
communicating
with
a
long
and
wide
balcony
filled
partially
with
flowers
and
overlooking
the
Champs
Elysees
,
softly
lit
up
by
the
innumerable
summer
stars
.
Suddenly
a
whisper
,
the
command
of
which
she
could
not
resist
,
thrilled
through
her
ear
,
and
sent
the
blood
rushing
back
to
her
heart
.
“
Do
you
remember
that
evening
at
Enghien
?
how
I
said
that
our
imagination
could
not
carry
us
beyond
the
question
whether
we
two
should
be
gazing
together
that
night
twelve
months
on
that
star
which
each
of
us
had
singled
out
from
the
hosts
of
heaven
?
That
was
the
8th
of
July
.
It
is
the
8th
of
July
once
more
.
Come
and
seek
for
our
chosen
star
—
come
.
I
have
something
to
say
,
which
say
I
must
.
Come
.
”
Mechanically
,
as
it
were
,
—
mechanically
,
as
they
tell
us
the
Somnambulist
obeys
the
Mesmeriser
,
—
Isaura
obeyed
that
summons
.
In
a
kind
of
dreamy
submission
she
followed
his
steps
,
and
found
herself
on
the
balcony
,
flowers
around
her
and
stars
above
,
by
the
side
of
the
man
who
had
been
to
her
that
being
ever
surrounded
by
flowers
and
lighted
by
stars
,
—
the
ideal
of
Romance
to
the
heart
of
virgin
Woman
.
“
Isaura
,
”
said
the
Englishman
,
softly
.
At
the
sound
of
her
own
name
for
the
first
time
heard
from
those
lips
,
every
nerve
in
her
frame
quivered
.
“
Isaura
,
I
have
tried
to
live
without
you
.
I
cannot
.
You
are
all
in
all
to
me
:
without
you
it
seems
to
me
as
if
earth
had
no
flowers
,
and
even
heaven
had
withdrawn
its
stars
.
Are
there
differences
between
us
,
differences
of
taste
,
of
sentiments
,
of
habits
,
of
thought
?
Only
let
me
hope
that
you
can
love
me
a
tenth
part
so
much
as
I
love
you
,
and
such
differences
cease
to
be
discord
.
Love
harmonises
all
sounds
,
blends
all
colours
into
its
own
divine
oneness
of
heart
and
soul
.
Look
up
!
is
not
the
star
which
this
time
last
year
invited
our
gaze
above
,
is
it
not
still
there
?
Does
it
not
still
invite
our
gaze
?
Isaura
,
speak
!
”
“
Hush
,
hush
,
hush
,
”
—
the
girl
could
say
no
more
,
but
she
recoiled
from
his
side
.
The
recoil
did
not
wound
him
:
there
was
no
hate
in
it
.
He
advanced
,
he
caught
her
hand
,
and
continued
,
in
one
of
those
voices
which
become
so
musical
in
summer
nights
under
starry
skies
:
“
Isaura
,
there
is
one
name
which
I
can
never
utter
without
a
reverence
due
to
the
religion
which
binds
earth
to
heaven
—
a
name
which
to
man
should
be
the
symbol
of
life
cheered
and
beautified
,
exalted
,
hallowed
.
That
name
is
‘wife.’
Will
you
take
that
name
from
me
?
”
And
still
Isaura
made
no
reply
.
She
stood
mute
,
and
cold
,
and
rigid
as
a
statue
of
marble
.
At
length
,
as
if
consciousness
had
been
arrested
and
was
struggling
back
,
she
sighed
heavily
,
and
passed
her
hands
slowly
over
her
forehead
.
“
Mockery
,
mockery
,
”
she
said
then
,
with
a
smile
half
bitter
,
half
plaintive
,
on
her
colourless
lips
.
“
Did
you
wait
to
ask
me
that
question
till
you
knew
what
my
answer
must
be
?
I
have
pledged
the
name
of
wife
to
another
.
”
“
No
,
no
;
you
say
that
to
rebuke
,
to
punish
me
!
Unsay
it
!
unsay
it
!
”
Isaura
beheld
the
anguish
of
his
face
with
bewildered
eyes
.
“
How
can
my
words
pain
you
?
”
she
said
,
drearily
.
“
Did
you
not
write
that
I
had
unfitted
myself
to
be
wife
to
you
?
”
“
I
?
”
“
That
I
had
left
behind
me
the
peaceful
immunities
of
private
life
?
I
felt
you
were
so
right
!
Yes
!
I
am
affianced
to
one
who
thinks
that
in
spite
of
that
misfortune
—
”
“
Stop
,
I
command
you
—
stop
!
You
saw
my
letter
to
Mrs.
Morley
.
I
have
not
had
one
moment
free
from
torture
and
remorse
since
I
wrote
it
.
But
whatever
in
that
letter
you
might
justly
resent
—
”
“
I
did
not
resent
—
”
Graham
heard
not
the
interruption
,
but
hurried
on
.
“
You
would
forgive
could
you
read
my
heart
.
No
matter
.
Every
sentiment
in
that
letter
,
except
those
which
conveyed
admiration
,
I
retract
.
Be
mine
,
and
instead
of
presuming
to
check
in
you
the
irresistible
impulse
of
genius
to
the
first
place
in
the
head
or
the
heart
of
the
world
,
I
teach
myself
to
encourage
,
to
share
,
to
exult
in
it
.
Do
you
know
what
a
difference
there
is
between
the
absent
one
and
the
present
one
—
between
the
distant
image
against
whom
our
doubts
,
our
fears
,
our
suspicions
,
raise
up
hosts
of
imaginary
giants
,
barriers
of
visionary
walls
,
and
the
beloved
face
before
the
sight
of
which
the
hosts
are
fled
,
the
walls
are
vanished
?
Isaura
,
we
meet
again
.
You
know
now
from
my
own
lips
that
I
love
you
.
I
think
your
lips
will
not
deny
that
you
love
me
.
You
say
that
you
are
affianced
to
another
.
Tell
the
man
frankly
,
honestly
,
that
you
mistook
your
heart
.
It
is
not
yours
to
give
.
Save
yourself
,
save
him
,
from
a
union
in
which
there
can
be
no
happiness
.
”
“
It
is
too
late
,
”
said
Isaura
,
with
hollow
tones
,
but
with
no
trace
of
vacillating
weakness
on
her
brow
and
lips
.
“
Did
I
say
now
to
that
other
one
,
‘I
break
the
faith
that
I
pledged
to
you
,
’
I
should
kill
him
,
body
and
soul
.
Slight
thing
though
I
be
,
to
him
I
am
all
in
all
;
to
you
,
Mr.
Vane
,
to
you
a
memory
—
the
memory
of
one
whom
a
year
,
perhaps
a
month
,
hence
,
you
will
rejoice
to
think
you
have
escaped
.
”
She
passed
from
him
—
passed
away
from
the
flowers
and
the
starlight
;
and
when
Graham
,
—
recovering
from
the
stun
of
her
crushing
words
,
and
with
the
haughty
mien
and
stop
of
the
man
who
goes
forth
from
the
ruin
of
his
hopes
,
leaning
for
support
upon
his
pride
,
—
when
Graham
re-entered
the
room
,
all
the
guests
had
departed
save
only
Alain
,
who
was
still
exchanging
whispered
words
with
Valerie
.
CHAPTER
IV
.
The
next
day
,
at
the
hour
appointed
,
Graham
entered
Alain’s
apartment
.
“
I
am
glad
to
tell
you
,
”
said
the
Marquis
,
gaily
,
“
that
the
box
has
arrived
,
and
we
will
very
soon
examine
its
contents
.
Breakfast
claims
precedence
.
”
During
the
meal
Alain
was
in
gay
spirits
,
and
did
not
at
first
notice
the
gloomy
countenance
and
abstracted
mood
of
his
guest
.
At
length
,
surprised
at
the
dull
response
to
his
lively
sallies
on
the
part
of
a
man
generally
so
pleasant
in
the
frankness
of
his
speech
,
and
the
cordial
ring
of
his
sympathetic
laugh
,
it
occurred
to
him
that
the
change
in
Graham
must
be
ascribed
to
something
that
had
gone
wrong
in
the
meeting
with
Isaura
the
evening
before
;
and
remembering
the
curtness
with
which
Graham
had
implied
disinclination
to
converse
about
the
fair
Italian
,
he
felt
perplexed
how
to
reconcile
the
impulse
of
his
good
nature
with
the
discretion
imposed
on
his
good-breeding
.
At
all
events
,
a
compliment
to
the
lady
whom
Graham
had
so
admired
could
do
no
harm
.
“
How
well
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
looked
last
night
!
”
“
Did
she
?
It
seemed
to
me
that
,
in
health
at
least
,
she
did
not
look
very
well
.
Have
you
heard
what
day
M
.
Thiers
will
speak
on
the
war
?
”
“
Thiers
?
No.
Who
cares
about
Thiers
?
Thank
heaven
his
day
is
past
!
I
don’t
know
any
unmarried
woman
in
Paris
,
not
even
Valerie
—
I
mean
Mademoiselle
Duplessis
—
who
has
so
exquisite
a
taste
in
dress
as
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
.
Generally
speaking
,
the
taste
of
a
female
author
is
atrocious
.
”
“
Really
—
I
did
not
observe
her
dress
.
I
am
no
critic
on
subjects
so
dainty
as
the
dress
of
ladies
,
or
the
tastes
of
female
authors
.
”
“
Pardon
me
,
”
said
the
beau
Marquis
,
gravely
.
“
As
to
dress
,
I
think
that
so
essential
a
thing
in
the
mind
of
woman
,
that
no
man
who
cares
about
women
ought
to
disdain
critical
study
of
it
.
In
woman
,
refinement
of
character
is
never
found
in
vulgarity
of
dress
.
I
have
only
observed
that
truth
since
I
came
up
from
Bretagne
.
”
“
I
presume
,
my
dear
Marquis
,
that
you
may
have
read
in
Bretagne
books
which
very
few
not
being
professed
scholars
have
ever
read
at
Paris
;
and
possibly
you
may
remember
that
Horace
ascribes
the
most
exquisite
refinement
in
dress
,
denoted
by
the
untranslatable
words
,
‘simplex
munditiis
,
’
to
a
lady
who
was
not
less
distinguished
by
the
ease
and
rapidity
with
which
she
could
change
her
affection
.
Of
course
that
allusion
does
not
apply
to
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
,
but
there
are
many
other
exquisitely
dressed
ladies
at
Paris
of
whom
an
ill-fated
admirer
‘fidem
Mutatosque
deos
flebit.’
“
Now
,
with
your
permission
,
we
will
adjourn
to
the
box
of
letters
.
”
The
box
being
produced
and
unlocked
,
Alain
looked
with
conscientious
care
at
its
contents
before
he
passed
over
to
Graham’s
inspection
a
few
epistles
,
in
which
the
Englishman
immediately
detected
the
same
handwriting
as
that
of
the
letter
from
Louise
which
Richard
King
had
bequeathed
to
him
.
They
were
arranged
and
numbered
chronologically
.
LETTER
I
.
DEAR
M
.
LE
MARQUIS
,
—
How
can
I
thank
you
sufficiently
for
obtaining
and
remitting
to
me
those
certificates
?
You
are
too
aware
of
the
unhappy
episode
in
my
life
not
to
know
how
inestimable
is
the
service
you
render
me
.
I
am
saved
all
further
molestation
from
the
man
who
had
indeed
no
right
over
my
freedom
,
but
whose
persecution
might
compel
me
to
the
scandal
and
disgrace
of
an
appeal
to
the
law
for
protection
,
and
the
avowal
of
the
illegal
marriage
into
which
I
was
duped
.
I
would
rather
be
torn
limb
from
limb
by
wild
horses
,
like
the
Queen
in
the
history
books
,
than
dishonour
myself
and
the
ancestry
which
I
may
at
least
claim
on
the
mother’s
side
,
by
proclaiming
that
I
had
lived
with
that
low
Englishman
as
his
wife
,
when
I
was
only
—
O
heavens
,
I
cannot
conclude
the
sentence
!
“
No
,
Mons
.
le
Marquis
,
I
am
in
no
want
of
the
pecuniary
aid
you
so
generously
wish
to
press
on
me
.
Though
I
know
not
where
to
address
my
poor
dear
uncle
,
—
though
I
doubt
,
even
if
I
did
,
whether
I
could
venture
to
confide
to
him
the
secret
known
only
to
yourself
as
to
the
name
I
now
bear
—
and
if
he
hear
of
me
at
all
he
must
believe
me
dead
,
—
yet
I
have
enough
left
of
the
money
he
last
remitted
to
me
for
present
support
;
and
when
that
fails
,
I
think
,
what
with
my
knowledge
of
English
and
such
other
slender
accomplishments
as
I
possess
,
I
could
maintain
myself
as
a
teacher
or
governess
in
some
German
family
.
At
all
events
,
I
will
write
to
you
again
soon
,
and
I
entreat
you
to
let
me
know
all
you
can
learn
about
my
uncle
.
I
feel
so
grateful
to
you
for
your
just
disbelief
of
the
horrible
calumny
which
must
be
so
intolerably
galling
to
a
man
so
proud
,
and
,
whatever
his
errors
,
so
incapable
of
a
baseness
.
“
Direct
to
me
Poste
restante
,
Augsburg
.
“
Yours
with
all
consideration
,
LETTER
II
.
(
Seven
months
after
the
date
of
Letter
1.
)
“
AUGSBURG
.
“
DEAR
M
.
LE
MARQUIS
,
—
I
thank
you
for
your
kind
little
note
informing
me
of
the
pains
you
have
taken
,
as
yet
with
no
result
,
to
ascertain
what
has
become
of
my
unfortunate
uncle
.
My
life
since
I
last
wrote
has
been
a
very
quiet
one
.
I
have
been
teaching
among
a
few
families
here
;
and
among
my
pupils
are
two
little
girls
of
very
high
birth
.
They
have
taken
so
great
a
fancy
to
me
that
their
mother
has
just
asked
me
to
come
and
reside
at
their
house
as
governess
.
What
wonderfully
kind
hearts
those
Germans
have
,
—
so
simple
,
so
truthful
!
They
raise
no
troublesome
questions
,
—
accept
my
own
story
implicitly
.
”
Here
follow
a
few
commonplace
sentences
about
the
German
character
,
and
a
postscript
.
“
I
go
into
my
new
home
next
week
.
When
you
hear
more
of
my
uncle
,
direct
to
me
at
the
Countess
von
Rudesheim
,
Schloss
—
—
—
—
,
near
Berlin
.
”
“
Rudesheim
!
”
Could
this
be
the
relation
,
possibly
the
wife
,
of
the
Count
von
Rudesheim
with
whom
Graham
had
formed
acquaintance
last
year
?
LETTER
III
.
(
Between
three
and
four
years
after
the
date
of
the
last
.
)
“
You
startle
me
indeed
,
dear
M
.
le
Marquis
.
My
uncle
said
to
have
been
recognised
in
Algeria
under
another
name
,
a
soldier
in
the
Algerian
army
?
My
dear
,
proud
,
luxurious
uncle
!
Ah
,
I
cannot
believe
it
,
any
more
than
you
do
:
but
I
long
eagerly
for
such
further
news
as
you
can
learn
of
him
.
For
myself
,
I
shall
perhaps
surprise
you
when
I
say
I
am
about
to
be
married
.
Nothing
can
exceed
the
amiable
kindness
I
have
received
from
the
Rudesheims
since
I
have
been
in
their
house
.
For
the
last
year
especially
I
have
been
treated
on
equal
terms
as
one
of
the
family
.
Among
the
habitual
visitors
at
the
house
is
a
gentleman
of
noble
birth
,
but
not
of
rank
too
high
,
nor
of
fortune
too
great
,
to
make
a
marriage
with
the
French
widowed
governess
a
misalliance
.
I
am
sure
that
he
loves
me
sincerely
;
and
he
is
the
only
man
I
ever
met
whose
love
I
have
cared
to
win
.
We
are
to
be
married
in
the
course
of
the
year
.
Of
course
he
is
ignorant
of
my
painful
history
,
and
will
never
learn
it
.
And
after
all
,
Louise
D
—
—
is
dead
.
In
the
home
to
which
I
am
about
to
remove
,
there
is
no
probability
that
the
wretched
Englishman
can
ever
cross
my
path
.
My
secret
is
as
safe
with
you
as
in
the
grave
that
holds
her
whom
in
the
name
of
Louise
D
—
—
you
once
loved
.
Henceforth
I
shall
trouble
you
no
more
with
my
letters
;
but
if
you
hear
anything
decisively
authentic
of
my
uncle’s
fate
,
write
me
a
line
at
any
time
,
directed
as
before
to
Madame
—
—
,
enclosed
to
the
Countess
von
Rudesheim
.
“
And
accept
,
for
all
the
kindness
you
have
ever
shown
me
,
as
to
one
whom
you
did
not
disdain
to
call
a
kinswoman
,
the
assurance
of
my
undying
gratitude
.
In
the
alliance
she
now
makes
,
your
kinswoman
does
not
discredit
the
name
through
which
she
is
connected
with
the
yet
loftier
line
of
Rochebriant
.
”
To
this
letter
the
late
Marquis
had
appended
in
pencil
.
“
Of
course
Rochebriant
never
denies
the
claim
of
a
kinswoman
,
even
though
a
drawing-master’s
daughter
.
Beautiful
creature
,
Louise
,
but
a
termagant
.
I
could
not
love
Venus
if
she
were
a
termagant
.
L.‘s
head
turned
by
the
unlucky
discovery
that
her
mother
was
noble
.
In
one
form
or
other
,
every
woman
has
the
same
disease
—
vanity
.
Name
of
her
intended
not
mentioned
—
easily
found
out
.
”
The
next
letter
was
dated
May
7
,
1859
,
on
black-edged
paper
,
and
contained
but
these
lines
:
“
I
was
much
comforted
by
your
kind
visit
yesterday
,
dear
Marquis
.
My
affliction
has
been
heavy
:
but
for
the
last
two
years
my
poor
husband’s
conduct
has
rendered
my
life
unhappy
,
and
I
am
recovering
the
shock
of
his
sudden
death
.
It
is
true
that
I
and
the
children
are
left
very
ill
provided
for
;
but
I
cannot
accept
your
generous
offer
of
aid
.
Have
no
fear
as
to
my
future
fate
.
Adieu
,
my
dear
Marquis
!
This
will
reach
you
just
before
you
start
for
Naples
.
Bon
voyage
.
”
There
was
no
address
on
this
note-no
postmark
on
the
envelope-evidently
sent
by
hand
.
The
last
note
,
dated
1861
,
March
20
,
was
briefer
than
its
predecessor
.
“
I
have
taken
your
advice
,
dear
Marquis
;
and
,
overcoming
all
scruples
,
I
have
accepted
his
kind
offer
,
on
the
condition
that
I
am
never
to
be
taken
to
England
.
I
had
no
option
in
this
marriage
.
I
can
now
own
to
you
that
my
poverty
had
become
urgent
.
—
Yours
,
with
inalienable
gratitude
.
This
last
note
,
too
,
was
without
postmark
,
and
was
evidently
sent
by
hand
.
“
There
are
no
other
letters
,
then
,
from
this
writer
?
”
asked
Graham
;
“
and
no
further
clue
as
to
her
existence
?
”
“
None
that
I
have
discovered
;
and
I
see
now
why
I
preserved
these
letters
.
There
is
nothing
in
their
contents
not
creditable
to
my
poor
father
.
They
show
how
capable
he
was
of
good-natured
disinterested
kindness
towards
even
a
distant
relation
of
whom
he
could
certainly
not
have
been
proud
,
judging
not
only
by
his
own
pencilled
note
,
or
by
the
writer’s
condition
as
a
governess
,
but
by
her
loose
sentiments
as
to
the
marriage
tie
.
I
have
not
the
slightest
idea
who
she
could
be
.
I
never
at
least
heard
of
one
connected
,
however
distantly
,
with
my
family
,
whom
I
could
identify
with
the
writer
of
these
letters
.
”
“
I
may
hold
them
a
short
time
in
my
possession
?
”
“
Pardon
me
a
preliminary
question
.
If
I
may
venture
to
form
a
conjecture
,
the
object
of
your
search
must
be
connected
with
your
countryman
,
whom
the
lady
politely
calls
the
‘wretched
Englishman
;
’
but
I
own
I
should
not
like
to
lend
,
through
these
letters
,
a
pretence
to
any
steps
that
may
lead
to
a
scandal
in
which
my
father’s
name
or
that
of
any
member
of
my
family
could
be
mixed
up
.
”
“
Marquis
,
it
is
to
prevent
the
possibility
of
all
scandal
that
I
ask
you
to
trust
these
letters
to
my
discretion
.
”
“
Foi
de
gentilhomme
?
”
“
Foi
de
gentilhomme
!
”
“
Take
them
.
When
and
where
shall
we
meet
again
?
”
“
Soon
,
I
trust
;
but
I
must
leave
Paris
this
evening
.
I
am
bound
to
Berlin
in
quest
of
this
Countess
von
Rudesheim
:
and
I
fear
that
in
a
very
few
days
intercourse
between
France
and
the
German
frontier
will
be
closed
upon
travellers
.
”
After
a
few
more
words
not
worth
recording
,
the
two
young
men
shook
hands
and
parted
.
CHAPTER
V.
It
was
with
an
interest
languid
and
listless
indeed
,
compared
with
that
which
he
would
have
felt
a
day
before
,
that
Graham
mused
over
the
remarkable
advances
towards
the
discovery
of
Louise
Duval
which
were
made
in
the
letters
he
had
perused
.
She
had
married
,
then
,
first
a
foreigner
,
whom
she
spoke
of
as
noble
,
and
whose
name
and
residence
could
be
easily
found
through
the
Countess
von
Rudesheim
.
The
marriage
did
not
seem
to
have
been
a
happy
one
.
Left
a
widow
in
reduced
circumstances
,
she
had
married
again
,
evidently
without
affection
.
She
was
living
so
late
as
1861
,
and
she
had
children
living
is
1859
:
was
the
child
referred
to
by
Richard
King
one
of
them
?
The
tone
and
style
of
the
letters
served
to
throw
some
light
on
the
character
of
the
writer
:
they
evinced
pride
,
stubborn
self-will
,
and
unamiable
hardness
of
nature
;
but
her
rejection
of
all
pecuniary
aid
from
a
man
like
the
late
Marquis
de
Rochebriant
betokened
a
certain
dignity
of
sentiment
.
She
was
evidently
,
whatever
her
strange
ideas
about
her
first
marriage
with
Richard
King
,
no
vulgar
woman
of
gallantry
;
and
there
must
have
been
some
sort
of
charm
about
her
to
have
excited
a
friendly
interest
in
a
kinsman
so
remote
,
and
a
man
of
pleasure
so
selfish
,
as
her
high-born
correspondent
.
But
what
now
,
so
far
as
concerned
his
own
happiness
,
was
the
hope
,
the
probable
certainty
,
of
a
speedy
fulfilment
of
the
trust
bequeathed
to
him
?
Whether
the
result
,
in
the
death
of
the
mother
,
and
more
especially
of
the
child
,
left
him
rich
,
or
,
if
the
last
survived
,
reduced
his
fortune
to
a
modest
independence
,
Isaura
was
equally
lost
to
him
,
and
fortune
became
valueless
.
But
his
first
emotions
on
recovering
from
the
shock
of
hearing
from
Isaura’s
lips
that
she
was
irrevocably
affianced
to
another
,
were
not
those
of
self-reproach
.
They
were
those
of
intense
bitterness
against
her
who
,
if
really
so
much
attached
to
him
as
he
had
been
led
to
hope
,
could
within
so
brief
a
time
reconcile
her
heart
to
marriage
with
another
.
This
bitterness
was
no
doubt
unjust
;
but
I
believe
it
to
be
natural
to
men
of
a
nature
so
proud
and
of
affections
so
intense
as
Graham’s
,
under
similar
defeats
of
hope
.
Resentment
is
the
first
impulse
in
a
man
loving
with
the
whole
ardour
of
his
soul
,
rejected
,
no
matter
why
or
wherefore
,
by
the
woman
by
whom
he
had
cause
to
believe
he
himself
was
beloved
;
and
though
Graham’s
standard
of
honour
was
certainly
the
reverse
of
low
,
yet
man
does
not
view
honour
in
the
same
light
as
woman
does
,
when
involved
in
analogous
difficulties
of
position
.
Graham
conscientiously
thought
that
if
Isaura
so
loved
him
as
to
render
distasteful
an
engagement
to
another
which
could
only
very
recently
have
been
contracted
,
it
would
be
more
honourable
frankly
so
to
tell
the
accepted
suitor
than
to
leave
him
in
ignorance
that
her
heart
was
estranged
.
But
these
engagements
are
very
solemn
things
with
girls
like
Isaura
,
and
hers
was
no
ordinary
obligation
of
woman-honour
.
Had
the
accepted
one
been
superior
in
rank-fortune
—
all
that
flatters
the
ambition
of
woman
in
the
choice
of
marriage
;
had
he
been
resolute
,
and
strong
,
and
self-dependent
amid
the
trials
and
perils
of
life
—
then
possibly
the
woman’s
honour
might
find
excuse
in
escaping
the
penalties
of
its
pledge
.
But
the
poor
,
ailing
,
infirm
,
morbid
boy-poet
,
who
looked
to
her
as
his
saving
angel
in
body
,
in
mind
,
and
soul-to
say
to
him
,
“
Give
me
back
my
freedom
,
”
would
be
to
abandon
him
to
death
and
to
sin
.
But
Graham
could
not
of
course
divine
why
what
he
as
a
man
thought
right
was
to
Isaura
as
woman
impossible
:
and
he
returned
to
his
old
prejudiced
notion
that
there
is
no
real
depth
and
ardour
of
affection
for
human
lovers
in
the
poetess
whose
mind
and
heart
are
devoted
to
the
creation
of
imaginary
heroes
.
Absorbed
in
reverie
,
he
took
his
way
slowly
and
with
downcast
looks
towards
the
British
embassy
,
at
which
it
was
well
to
ascertain
whether
the
impending
war
yet
necessitated
special
passports
for
Germany
.
“
Bon-jour
,
cher
ami
,
”
said
a
pleasant
voice
;
“
and
how
long
have
you
been
at
Paris
?
”
“
Oh
,
my
dear
M
.
Savarin
!
charmed
to
see
you
looking
so
well
!
Madame
well
too
,
I
trust
?
My
kindest
regards
to
her
.
I
have
been
in
Paris
but
a
day
or
two
,
and
I
leave
this
evening
.
”
“
So
soon
?
The
war
frightens
you
away
,
I
suppose
.
Which
way
are
you
going
now
?
”
“
To
the
British
embassy
.
”
“
Well
,
I
will
go
with
you
so
far
—
it
is
in
my
own
direction
.
I
have
to
call
at
the
charming
Italian’s
with
my
congratulations
—
on
news
I
only
heard
this
morning
.
”
“
You
mean
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
—
and
the
news
that
demands
congratulations
—
her
approaching
marriage
!
”
“
Mon
Dieu
!
when
could
you
have
heard
of
that
?
”
“
Last
night
at
the
house
of
M
.
Duplessis
.
”
“
Parbleu
!
I
shall
scold
her
well
for
confiding
to
her
new
friend
Valerie
the
secret
she
kept
from
her
old
friends
,
my
wife
and
myself
.
”
“
By
the
way
,
”
said
Graham
,
with
a
tone
of
admirably-feigned
indifference
,
“
who
is
the
happy
man
?
That
part
of
the
secret
I
did
not
hear
.
”
“
Can’t
you
guess
?
”
“
NO.
”
“
Gustave
Rameau
.
”
“
Ah
!
”
Graham
almost
shrieked
,
so
sharp
and
shrill
was
his
cry
.
“
Ah
!
I
ought
indeed
to
have
guessed
that
!
”
“
Madame
Savarin
,
I
fancy
,
helped
to
make
up
the
marriage
.
I
hope
it
may
turn
out
well
;
certainly
it
will
be
his
salvation
.
May
it
be
for
her
happiness
!
”
“
No
doubt
of
that
!
Two
poets-born
for
each
other
,
I
dare
say
.
Adieu
,
my
dear
Savarin
!
Here
we
are
at
the
embassy
.
”
CHAPTER
VI
.
That
evening
Graham
found
himself
in
the
coupe
of
the
express
train
to
Strasbourg
.
He
had
sent
to
engage
the
whole
coupe
to
himself
,
but
that
was
impossible
.
One
place
was
bespoken
as
far
as
C
—
—
—
-
,
after
which
Graham
might
prosecute
his
journey
alone
on
paying
for
the
three
places
.
When
he
took
his
seat
another
man
was
in
the
further
corner
whom
he
scarcely
noticed
.
The
train
shot
rapidly
on
for
some
leagues
.
Profound
silence
in
the
coupe
,
save
at
moments
those
heavy
impatient
sighs
that
came
from
the
very
depths
of
the
heart
,
and
of
which
he
who
sighs
is
unconscious
,
burst
from
the
Englishman’s
lips
,
and
drew
on
him
the
observant
side-glance
of
his
fellow-traveller
.
At
length
the
fellow-traveller
said
in
very
good
English
,
though
with
French
accent
,
“
Would
you
object
,
sir
,
to
my
lighting
my
little
carriage-lantern
?
I
am
in
the
habit
of
reading
in
the
night
train
,
and
the
wretched
lamp
they
give
us
does
not
permit
that
.
But
if
you
wish
to
sleep
,
and
my
lantern
would
prevent
you
doing
so
,
consider
my
request
unasked
.
”
“
You
are
most
courteous
,
sir
.
Pray
light
your
lantern
—
that
will
not
interfere
with
my
sleep
.
”
As
Graham
thus
answered
,
far
away
from
the
place
and
the
moment
as
his
thoughts
were
,
it
yet
faintly
struck
him
that
he
had
heard
that
voice
before
.
The
man
produced
a
small
lantern
,
which
he
attached
to
the
window-sill
,
and
drew
forth
from
a
small
leathern
bag
sundry
newspapers
and
pamphlets
.
Graham
flung
himself
back
,
and
in
a
minute
or
so
again
came
his
sigh
.
“
Allow
me
to
offer
you
those
evening
journals
—
you
may
not
have
had
time
to
read
them
before
starting
,
”
said
the
fellow-traveller
,
leaning
forward
,
and
extending
the
newspapers
with
one
hand
,
while
with
the
other
he
lifted
his
lantern
.
Graham
turned
,
and
the
faces
of
the
two
men
were
close
to
each
other
—
Graham
with
his
travelling-cap
drawn
over
his
brows
,
the
other
with
head
uncovered
.
“
Monsieur
Lebeau
!
”
“
Bon
soir
,
Mr.
Lamb
!
”
Again
silence
for
a
moment
or
so
.
Monsieur
Lebeau
then
broke
it
—
“
I
think
,
Mr.
Lamb
,
that
in
better
society
than
that
of
the
Faubourg
Montmartre
you
are
known
under
another
name
.
”
Graham
had
no
heart
then
for
the
stage-play
of
a
part
,
and
answered
,
with
quiet
haughtiness
,
“
Possibly
—
and
what
name
?
”
“
Graham
Vane
.
And
,
sir
,
”
continued
Lebeau
,
with
a
haughtiness
equally
quiet
,
but
somewhat
more
menacing
,
“
since
we
two
gentlemen
find
ourselves
thus
close
,
do
I
ask
too
much
if
I
inquire
why
you
condescend
to
seek
my
acquaintance
in
disguise
?
”
“
Monsieur
le
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
,
when
you
talk
of
disguise
,
is
it
too
much
to
inquire
why
my
acquaintance
was
accepted
by
Monsieur
Lebeau
?
”
“
Ha
!
Then
you
confess
that
it
was
Victor
de
Mauleon
whom
you
sought
when
you
first
visited
the
cafe
Jean
Jacques
?
”
“
Frankly
I
confess
it
.
”
Monsieur
Lebeau
drew
himself
back
,
and
seemed
to
reflect
.
“
I
see
!
Solely
for
the
purpose
of
learning
whether
Victor
de
Mauleon
could
give
you
any
information
about
Louise
Duval
.
Is
it
so
?
”
“
Monsieur
le
Vicomte
,
you
say
truly
.
”
Again
M
.
Lebeau
paused
as
if
in
reflection
;
and
Graham
,
in
that
state
of
mind
when
a
man
who
may
most
despise
and
detest
the
practice
of
duelling
,
may
yet
feel
a
thrill
of
delight
if
some
homicide
would
be
good
enough
to
put
him
out
of
his
misery
,
flung
aside
his
cap
,
lifted
his
broad
frank
forehead
,
and
stamped
his
foot
impatiently
as
if
to
provoke
a
quarrel
.
M
.
Lebeau
lowered
his
spectacles
,
and
,
with
those
calm
,
keen
,
searching
eyes
of
his
,
gazed
at
the
Englishman
.
“
It
strikes
me
,
”
he
said
,
with
a
smile
,
the
fascination
of
which
not
even
those
faded
whiskers
could
disguise
—
“
it
strikes
me
that
there
are
two
ways
in
which
gentlemen
such
as
you
and
I
are
can
converse
:
firstly
,
with
reservation
and
guard
against
each
other
;
secondly
,
with
perfect
openness
.
Perhaps
of
the
two
I
have
more
need
of
reservation
and
wary
guard
against
any
stranger
than
you
have
.
Allow
me
to
propose
the
alternative
—
perfect
openness
.
What
say
you
?
”
and
he
extended
his
hand
.
“
Perfect
openness
,
”
answered
Graham
,
softened
into
sudden
liking
for
this
once
terrible
swordsman
,
and
shaking
,
as
an
Englishman
shakes
,
the
hand
held
out
to
him
in
peace
by
the
man
from
whom
he
had
anticipated
quarrel
.
“
Permit
me
now
,
before
you
address
any
questions
to
me
,
to
put
one
to
you
.
How
did
you
learn
that
Victor
de
Mauleon
was
identical
with
Jean
Lebeau
?
”
“
I
heard
that
from
an
agent
of
the
police
.
”
“
Ah
!
”
“
Whom
I
consulted
as
to
the
means
of
ascertaining
whether
Louise
Duval
was
alive
,
—
if
so
,
where
she
could
be
found
.
”
“
I
thank
you
very
much
for
your
information
.
I
had
no
notion
that
the
police
of
Paris
had
divined
the
original
alias
of
poor
Monsieur
Lebeau
,
though
something
occurred
at
Lyons
which
made
me
suspect
it
.
Strange
that
the
Government
,
knowing
through
the
police
that
Victor
de
Mauleon
,
a
writer
they
had
no
reason
to
favour
,
had
been
in
so
humble
a
position
,
should
never
,
even
in
their
official
journals
,
have
thought
it
prudent
to
say
so
!
But
,
now
I
think
of
it
,
what
if
they
had
?
They
could
prove
nothing
against
Jean
Lebeau
.
They
could
but
say
,
‘Jean
Lebeau
is
suspected
to
be
too
warm
a
lover
of
liberty
,
too
earnest
a
friend
of
the
people
,
and
Jean
Lebeau
is
the
editor
of
La
Sens
Commun.’
Why
,
that
assertion
would
have
made
Victor
de
Mauleon
the
hero
of
the
Reds
,
the
last
thing
a
prudent
Government
could
desire
.
I
thank
you
cordially
for
your
frank
reply
.
Now
,
what
question
would
you
put
to
me
?
”
“
In
one
word
,
all
you
can
tell
me
about
Louise
Duval
.
”
“
You
shall
have
it
.
I
had
heard
vaguely
in
my
young
days
that
a
half-sister
of
mine
by
my
father’s
first
marriage
with
Mademoiselle
de
Beauvilliers
had
—
when
in
advanced
middle
life
he
married
a
second
time
—
conceived
a
dislike
for
her
mother-in-law
,
and
,
being
of
age
,
with
an
independent
fortune
of
her
own
,
had
quitted
the
house
,
taken
up
her
residence
with
an
elderly
female
relative
,
and
there
had
contracted
a
marriage
with
a
man
who
gave
her
lessons
in
drawing
.
After
that
marriage
,
which
my
father
in
vain
tried
to
prevent
,
my
sister
was
renounced
by
her
family
.
That
was
all
I
knew
till
,
after
I
came
into
my
inheritance
by
the
death
of
both
my
parents
,
I
learned
from
my
father’s
confidential
lawyer
that
the
drawing-master
,
M
.
Duval
,
had
soon
dissipated
his
wife’s
fortune
,
become
a
widower
with
one
child
—
a
girl
—
and
fallen
into
great
distress
.
He
came
to
my
father
,
begging
for
pecuniary
aid
.
My
father
,
though
by
no
means
rich
,
consented
to
allow
him
a
yearly
pension
,
on
condition
that
he
never
revealed
to
his
child
her
connection
with
our
family
.
The
man
agreed
to
the
condition
,
and
called
at
my
father’s
lawyer
quarterly
for
his
annuity
.
But
the
lawyer
informed
me
that
this
deduction
from
my
income
had
ceased
,
that
M
.
Duval
had
not
for
a
year
called
or
sent
for
the
sum
due
to
him
,
and
that
he
must
therefore
be
dead
.
One
day
my
valet
informed
me
that
a
young
lady
wished
to
see
me
—
in
those
days
young
ladies
very
often
called
on
me
.
I
desired
her
to
be
shown
in
.
There
entered
a
young
creature
,
almost
of
my
own
age
,
who
,
to
my
amazement
saluted
me
as
uncle
.
This
was
the
child
of
my
half-sister
.
Her
father
had
been
dead
several
months
,
fulfilling
very
faithfully
the
condition
on
which
he
had
held
his
pension
,
and
the
girl
never
dreaming
of
the
claims
that
,
if
wise
,
poor
child
,
she
ought
not
to
have
cared
for
,
viz.
,
—
to
that
obsolete
useless
pauper
birthright
,
a
branch
on
the
family
tree
of
a
French
noble
.
But
in
pinch
of
circumstance
,
and
from
female
curiosity
,
hunting
among
the
papers
her
father
had
left
for
some
clue
to
the
reasons
for
the
pension
he
had
received
,
she
found
letters
from
her
mother
,
letters
from
my
father
,
which
indisputably
proved
that
she
was
grandchild
to
the
fue
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
,
and
niece
to
myself
.
Her
story
as
told
to
me
was
very
pitiable
.
Conceiving
herself
to
be
nothing
higher
in
birth
than
daughter
to
this
drawing-master
,
at
his
death
,
poor
,
penniless
orphan
that
she
was
,
she
had
accepted
the
hand
of
an
English
student
of
medicine
whom
she
did
not
care
for
.
Miserable
with
this
man
,
on
finding
by
the
documents
I
refer
to
that
she
was
my
niece
,
she
came
to
me
for
comfort
and
counsel
.
What
counsel
could
I
or
any
man
give
to
her
but
to
make
the
best
of
what
had
happened
,
and
live
with
her
husband
?
But
then
she
started
another
question
.
It
seems
that
she
had
been
talking
with
some
one
,
I
think
her
landlady
,
or
some
other
woman
with
whom
she
had
made
acquaintance
—
was
she
legally
married
to
this
man
?
Had
he
not
entrapped
her
ignorance
into
a
false
marriage
?
This
became
a
grave
question
,
and
I
sent
at
once
to
my
lawyer
.
On
hearing
the
circumstances
,
he
at
once
declared
that
the
marriage
was
not
legal
according
to
the
laws
of
France
.
But
,
doubtless
,
her
English
soi-disant
husband
was
not
cognisant
of
the
French
law
,
and
a
legal
marriage
could
,
with
his
assent
,
be
at
once
solemnised
.
Monsieur
Vane
,
I
cannot
find
words
to
convey
to
you
the
joy
that
poor
girl
showed
in
her
face
and
in
her
words
when
she
learned
that
she
was
not
bound
to
pass
her
life
with
that
man
as
his
wife
.
It
was
in
vain
to
talk
and
reason
with
her
.
Then
arose
the
other
question
,
scarcely
less
important
.
True
,
the
marriage
was
not
legal
,
but
would
it
not
be
better
on
all
accounts
to
take
steps
to
have
it
formally
annulled
,
thus
freeing
her
from
the
harassment
of
any
claim
the
Englishman
might
advance
,
and
enabling
her
to
establish
the
facts
in
a
right
position
,
not
injurious
to
her
honour
in
the
eyes
of
any
future
suitor
to
her
hand
?
She
would
not
hear
of
such
a
proposal
.
She
declared
that
she
could
not
bring
to
the
family
she
pined
to
re-enter
the
scandal
of
disgrace
.
To
allow
that
she
had
made
such
a
misalliance
would
be
bad
enough
in
itself
;
but
to
proclaim
to
the
world
that
,
though
nominally
the
wife
,
she
had
in
fact
been
only
the
mistress
of
this
medical
student
—
she
would
rather
throw
herself
into
the
Seine
.
All
she
desired
was
to
fund
some
refuge
,
some
hiding-place
for
a
time
,
whence
she
could
write
to
the
man
informing
him
that
he
had
no
lawful
hold
on
her
.
Doubtless
he
would
not
seek
then
to
molest
her
.
He
would
return
to
his
own
country
,
and
be
effaced
from
her
life
.
And
then
,
her
story
unknown
,
she
might
form
a
more
suitable
alliance
.
Fiery
young
creature
though
she
was
—
true
De
Mauleon
in
being
so
fiery
—
she
interested
me
strongly
.
I
should
say
that
she
was
wonderfully
handsome
