ZIBELINE

By Philippe De Massa

Translated By D. Knowlton Ranous

ALEXANDRE-PHILIPPE-REGNIER DE MASSA

MARQUIS DE MASSA, soldier, composer, and French dramatist, was born inParis, December 5, 1831. He selected the military career and received acommission in the cavalry after leaving the school of St. Cyr. He servedin the Imperial Guards, took part in the Italian and Franco-German Warsand was promoted Chief of Squadron, Fifth Regiment, Chasseurs a Cheval, September 10, 1871. Having tendered his resignation from active service, he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the territorial army February3, 1880. He has been decorated with the Legion of Honor. 

The Marquis de Massa is known as a composer of music and as a dramaticauthor and novelist. At the Opera Comique there was represented in1861 Royal-Cravate, written by him. Fragments of two operas by him wereperformed at the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1865, and in 1868. Thelist of his principal plays follows: 'Le Service en campagne, comedy(1882); La Cicatrice, comedy (1885); Au Mont Ida, Fronsac a La Bastille, and La Coeur de Paris, all in 1887; La Czarine and Brouille depuisMagenta (1888), and La Bonne Aventure--all comedies--1889. Together withPetipa he also wrote a ballet Le Roi d'Yvetot (1866); music by CharlesLabarre. He further wrote Zibeline, a most brilliant romance (1892) withan Introduction by Jules Claretie; crowned by the Academie Francaise. This odd and dainty little story has a heroine of striking originality, in character and exploits. Her real name is Valentine de Vermont, andshe is the daughter of a fabulously wealthy French-American dealer infurs, and when, after his death, she goes to Paris to spend her colossalfortune, and to make restitution to the man from whom her father wonat play the large sum that became the foundation of his wealth, certainlively Parisian ladies, envying her her rich furs, gave her the name ofZibeline, that of a very rare, almost extinct, wild animal. Zibeline'sAmerican unconventionality, her audacity, her wealth, and generosity, set all Paris by the ears. There are fascinating glimpses into thedrawing-rooms of the most exclusive Parisian society, and also intothe historic greenroom of the Comedie Francaise, on a brilliant "firstnight. " The man to whom she makes graceful restitution of his fortuneis a hero of the Franco-Mexican and Franco-Prussian wars, and when shegives him back his property, she throws her heart in with the gift. Thestory is an interesting study of a brilliant and unconventional Americangirl as seen by the eyes of a clever Frenchman. 

Later came 'La Revue quand meme, comedy, (1894); Souvenirs etImpressions (1897); La Revue retrospective, comedy (1899); and Sonnets'the same year. 

 PAUL HERVIEU de l'Academe Francaise. 

LETTER FROM JULES CLARETIE TO THE AUTHOR

MY DEAR FRIEND:

I have often declared that I never would write prefaces! But how canone resist a fine fellow who brings one an attractive manuscript, signedwith a name popular among all his friends, who asks of one, in the mostengaging way, an opinion on the same--then a word, a simple word ofintroduction, like a signal to saddle?

I have read your Zibeline, my dear friend, and this romance--yourfirst--has given me a very keen pleasure. You told me once that you felta certain timidity in publishing it. Reassure yourself immediately. Aman can not be regarded as a novice when he has known, as you have, all the Parisian literary world so long; or rather, perhaps, I may moreaccurately say, he is always a novice when he tastes for the first timethe intoxication of printer's ink. 

You have the quickest of wits and the least possible affectation ofgravity, and you have made as well known in Mexico as in Paris yourcouplets on the end of the Mexican conflict with France. 'Tout Mexico ypassera!' Where are they, the 'tol-de-rols' of autumn?

Yesterday I found, in a volume of dramatic criticism by that terribleand charming Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, an appreciation of one of yourcomedies which bears a title very appropriate to yourself: 'Honor. '"And this play does him honor, " said Barbey d'Aurevilly, "because it ischarming, light, and supple, written in flowing verse, the correctnessof which does not rob it of its grace. "

That which the critic said of your comedy I will say of your romance. It is a pretty fairy-story-all about Parisian fairies, for a great manyfairies live in Paris! In fact, more are to be found there than anywhereelse! There are good fairies and bad fairies among them. Your ownparticular fairy is good and she is charming. I am tempted to askwhether you have drawn your characters from life. That is a questionwhich was frequently put to me recently, after I had published'L'Americaine. ' The public longs to possess keys to our books. It is notsufficient for them that a romance is interesting; it must possess alsoa spice of scandal. 

Portraits? You have not drawn any--neither in the drawing-rooms whereZibeline scintillates, nor in the foyer of the Comedie Francaise, where for so long a time you have felt yourself at home. Your women arevisions and not studies from life--and I do not believe that you willobject to my saying this. 

You should not dislike the "romantic romance, " which every one in thesedays advises us to write--as if that style did not begin as far backas the birth of romance itself: as if the Princess of Cleves had notwritten, and as if Balzac himself, the great realist, had not invented, the finest "romantic romances" that can be found--for example, theamorous adventure of General de Montriveau and the Duchesse de Langlais!

Apropos, in your charming story there is a General who pleases me verymuch. How was it that you did not take, after the fashion of Paul deMolenes, a dashing cavalry officer for your hero?--you, for whom theliterary cavalier has all the attractions of a gentleman and a soldier?

Nothing could be more piquant, alert, chivalrous--in short, worthy ofa Frenchman--than the departure of your hero for the war after thatdramatic card-party, which was also a battle--and what a battle!--where, at the end of the conflict, he left his all upon the green cloth. Thatis an attractive sketch of the amiable comedienne, who wishes for fairweather and a smooth sea for the soldier lover who is going so far away. It seems to me that I have actually known that pretty girl at some timeor another! That chapter is full of the perfume of pearl powder andiris! It is only a story, of course, but it is a magnificent story, which will please many readers. 

The public will ask you to write others, be sure of that; and you willdo well, my dear friend, for your own sake and for ours, to follow theprecept of Denis Diderot: "My friends, write stories; while one writesthem he amuses himself, and the story of life goes on, and that is lessgay than the stories we can tell. "

I do not know precisely whether these last words, which are slightlypessimistic, are those of the good Diderot himself. But they arethose of a Parisian of 1892, who has been able to forget his cares andannoyances in reading the story that you have told so charmingly. 

With much affection to you, and wishing good luck to Zibeline, I am

Your friend, JULES CLARETIE de l'Academie Francaise. APRIL 26, 1892. 

ZIBELINE

BOOK 1. 

CHAPTER I. LES FRERES-PROVENCAUX. 

In the days of the Second Empire, the Restaurant des Freres-Provencauxstill enjoyed a wide renown to which its fifty years of existence hadcontributed more than a little to heighten its fame. 

This celebrated establishment was situated near the Beaujolais Galleryof the Palais-Royal, close to the narrow street leading to the RueVivienne, and it had been the rendezvous of epicures, either residentsof Paris or birds of passage, since the day it was opened. 

On the ground floor was the general dining-room, the gathering-place forhonest folk from the provinces or from other lands; the next floor hadbeen divided into a succession of private rooms, comfortably furnished, where, screened behind thick curtains, dined somewhat "irregular"patrons: lovers who were in either the dawn, the zenith, or the declineof their often ephemeral fancies. On the top floor, spacious salons, richly decorated, were used for large and elaborate receptions ofvarious kinds. 

At times the members of certain social clubs gave in these roomssubscription balls of anacreontic tendencies, the feminine elementof which was recruited among the popular gay favorites of the period. Occasionally, also, young fellows about town, of different social rank, but brought together by a pursuit of amusement in common, met here onneutral ground, where, after a certain hour, the supper-table was turnedinto a gaming-table, enlivened by the clinking of glasses and the rattleof the croupier's rake, and where to the excitement of good cheer wasadded that of high play, with its alternations of unexpected gains anddisastrous losses. 

It was at a reunion of this kind, on the last evening in the monthof May, 1862, that the salons on the top floor were brilliantlyilluminated. A table had been laid for twenty persons, who were to joinin a banquet in honor of the winner of the great military steeplechaseat La Marche, which had taken place a few days before. The victoriousgentleman-rider was, strange to say, an officer of infantry--anunprecedented thing in the annals of this sport. 

Heir to a seigneurial estate, which had been elevated to a marquisate inthe reign of Louis XII, son of a father who had the strictest notions asto the preservation of pure blood, Henri de Prerolles, early initiatedinto the practice of the breaking and training of horses, was ateighteen as bold and dashing a rider as he was accomplished in otherphysical exercises; and although, three years later, at his debut at St. Cyr, he expressed no preference for entering the cavalry service, forwhich his early training and rare aptitude fitted him, it was because, in the long line of his ancestors--which included a marshal of Franceand a goodly number of lieutenants-general--all, without exception, fromRavenna to Fontenoy, had won renown as commanders of infantry. 

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Henri's grandfather, who haddistinguished himself in the American War for Independence, lefthis native land only when he was in the last extremity. As soon ascircumstances permitted, he reentered France with his son, upon whomNapoleon conferred a brevet rank, which the recipient accepted of hisfree will. He began his military experience in Spain, returned safe andwell from the retreat from Russia, and fought valiantly at Bautzen andat Dresden. The Restoration--by which time he had become chief of hisbattalion--could not fail to advance his career; and the line was aboutto have another lieutenant-general added to its roll, when the events of1830 decided Field-Marshal the Marquis de Prerolles to sheathe hissword forever, and to withdraw to his own estate, near the forest ofl'Ile-d'Adam, where hunting and efforts toward the improvement of theequine race occupied his latter years. 

He died in 1860, a widower, leaving two children: Jeanne, recentlymarried to the Duc de Montgeron, and his son Henri, then a pupil ina military school, who found himself, on reaching his majority, inpossession of the chateau and domains of Prerolles, the value of whichwas from fifteen to eighteen hundred thousand francs. 

Having been made sub-lieutenant by promotion on the first day ofOctober, 1861, the young Marquis, already the head of his house and amilitary leader, asked and obtained the favor of being incorporated witha battalion of chasseurs garrisoned at Vincennes. 

Exact in the performance of his military duties, and at the same timeardent in the pursuit of pleasure, he was able, thanks to his robusthealth, to conciliate the exigencies of the one with the fatigues of theother. 

Unfortunately, Henri was fond of gaming, and his natural impetuosity, which showed itself by an emulation of high standards in his militaryduties, degenerated into recklessness before the baccarat-table. At theend of eighteen months, play, and an expensive liaison with an actress, had absorbed half his fortune, and his paternal inheritance had beenmortgaged as well. The actress was a favorite in certain circles and hadbeen very much courted; and this other form of rivalry, springingfrom the glitter of the footlights, added so much the more fuel to theprodigalities of the inflammable young officer. 

Affairs were in this situation when, immediately after Henri's triumphat the race-track, a bettor on the opposite side paid one of his wagersby offering to the victor a grand dinner at the Freres-Provencaux. 

CHAPTER II. BIRDS OF PREY

The hero of the night was seated at the middle of one side of the table, in the place of honor. For his 'vis-a-vis' he had his lively friendFanny Dorville, star of the Palais Royal, while at his right sat HeloiseVirot, the "first old woman, " or duenna, of the same theatre, whose wellknown jests and eccentricities added their own piquancy to gay life inParis. The two artists, being compelled to appear in the after-piece attheir theatre that evening, had come to the dinner made up and in fullstage costume, ready to appear behind the footlights at the summons ofthe call-boy. 

The other guests were young men accustomed to the surroundings of theweighing-stand and the betting-room, at a time when betting had not yetbecome a practice of the masses; and most of them felt highly honoredto rub elbows with a nobleman of ancient lineage, as was Henri dePrerolles. 

Among these persons was Andre Desvanneaux, whose father, a churchwardenat Ste. -Clotilde, had attained a certain social prestige by his goodworks, and Paul Landry, in his licentiate in a large banking house inParis. The last named was the son of a ship-owner at Havre, and hischaracter was ambitious and calculating. He cherished, under aquiet demeanor, a strong hope of being able to supply, by the rapidacquisition of a fortune, the deficiencies of his inferior birth, fromwhich his secret vanity suffered severely. Being an expert in all gamesof chance, he had already accumulated, while waiting for some brilliantcoup, enough to lead a life of comparative elegance, thus giving acertain satisfaction to his instincts. He and Henri de Prerolles neveryet had played cards together, but the occasion was sure to come someday, and Paul Landry had desired it a long time. 

The company, a little silent at first, was becoming somewhat moreanimated, when a head-waiter, correct, and full of a sense of his ownimportance, entered the salon, holding out before him with both handsa large tray covered with slender glasses filled with a beverage called"the cardinal's drink, " composed of champagne, Bordeaux, and slices ofpineapple. The method of blending these materials was a professionalsecret of the Freres-Provencaux. 

Instantly the guests were on their feet, and Heloise, who had beenserved first, proposed that they should drink the health of the Marquis, but, prompted by one of her facetious impulses, instead of lifting theglass to her own lips, she presented it to those of the waiter, and, raising her arm, compelled him to swallow the contents. Encouragedby laughter and applause, she presented to him a second glass, then athird; and the unhappy man drank obediently, not being able to push awaythe glasses without endangering the safety of the tray he carried. 

Fanny Dorville interceded in vain for the victim; the inexorable duennahad already seized a fourth glass, and the final catastrophe would havebeen infallibly brought about, had not providence intervened in theperson of the call-boy, who, thrusting his head through the half-opendoorway, cried, shrilly:

"Ladies, they are about to begin!"

The two actresses hastened away, escorted by Andre Desvanneaux, a modernTartufe, who, though married, was seen everywhere, as much at homebehind the scenes as in church. 

Coffee and liqueurs were then served in a salon adjoining the largedining-room, which gave the effect of a private club-room to this partof the restaurant. 

Cigars were lighted, and conversation soon turned on feminine charms andthe performances of various horses, particularly those of Franc-Comtois, the winner of the military steeplechase. This animal was one of theproducts of the Prerolles stud, and was ordinary enough on flat ground, but a jumper of the first rank. 

At last the clock struck the half hour after eleven, and some of theguests had already manifested their intention to depart, when PaulLandry, who had been rather silent until then, said, carelessly:

"You expect to sleep to-night in Paris, no doubt, Monsieur dePrerolles?"

"Oh, no, " Henri replied, "I am on duty this week, and am obliged toreturn to Vincennes early in the morning. So I shall stay here until itis time for me to go. "

"In that case, might we not have a game of cards?" proposed CaptainConstantin Lenaieff, military attache to the suite of the Russianambassador. 

"As you please, " said Henri. 

This proposal decided every one to remain. The company returned to thelarge dining-room, which, in the mean time, had been again transformedinto a gaming-hall, with the usual accessories: a frame for thetally-sheet, a metal bowl to hold rejected playing-cards set in one endof the table, and, placed at intervals around it, were tablets on whichthe punter registered the amount of the stakes. 

On reentering this apartment, Henri de Prerolles approached a sortof counter, and, drawing from his pocket thirty thousand francs inbank-notes, he exchanged them for their value in mother-of-pearl"chips" of different sizes, representing sums from one to five, ten, twenty-five, or a hundred louis. Paul Landry took twenty-five thousandfrancs' worth; Constantin Unaieff, fifteen thousand; the others, lessfortunate or more prudent, took smaller sums; and about midnight thegame began. 

CHAPTER III. THE GAME

It began quietly enough, the two principal players waiting, beforemaking any bold strokes, to see how the luck should run. The firstvictory was in favor of Henri, who, at the end of a hand dealt byConstantin Lenaieff, had won about three hundred Louis. Just at thismoment the two women returned, accompanied by Desvanneaux. 

"I had some difficulty in persuading our charming friends to return, "said he; "Mademoiselle Dorville was determined that some one shouldescort her to her own house. "

"You, perhaps, Desvanneaux, " said Henri, twisting up the ends of hismoustache. 

"Not at all, " said Fanny; "I wished Heloise to go with me. I havenoticed that when I am here you always lose. I fear I have the evileye. "

"Say, rather, that you have no stomach, " said Heloise. "Had you madeyour debut, as I made mine, with Frederic Lemaitre in 'Thirty Years inthe Life of an Actor'"

"It certainly would not rejuvenate her, " said Henri, finishing thesentence. 

"Marquis, you are very impertinent, " said the duenna, laughing. "As apenalty, you must lend me five louis. "

"With the greatest pleasure. "

"Thank you!"

And, as a new hand was about to be dealt, Heloise seated herself at oneof the tables. This time Paul Landry put fifteen thousand francs in thebank. 

"Will you do me the favor to cut the cards?" he asked of Fanny, whostood behind Henri's chair. 

"What! in spite of my evil eye, Monsieur?"

"I do not fear that, Mademoiselle. Your eyes have always been toobeautiful for one of them to change now. "

Stale as was this compliment, it had the desired effect, and the youngwoman thrust vertically into the midst of the pack the cards he held outto her. 

"Play, messieurs, " said the banker. 

"Messieurs and Madame, " corrected Heloise, placing her five chips beforeher, while Henri, at the other table, staked the six thousand francswhich he had just won. 

"Don't put up more than there is in the bank, " objected Paul Landry, throwing a keen glance at the stakes. Having assured himself that on theopposing side to this large sum there were hardly thirty louis, he dealtthe cards. 

"Eight!" said he, laying down his card. 

"Nine!" said Heloise. 

"Baccarat!" said Henri, throwing two court-cards into the basket. 

The rake rattled on the losing table, but after the small stakes ofthe winners had been paid, the greater part of the six thousand francspassed into the hands of the banker. 

Five times in succession, at the first deal, the same thing happened;and at the sixth round Heloise won six hundred francs, and Henri foundhimself with no more counters. 

"This is the proper moment to retire!" said the duenna, rising from thetable. "Are you coming, Fanny?"

"I beg you, let us go now, " murmured Mademoiselle Dorville in the ear ofher lover. 

Her voice was caressing and full of tender promise. The young manhesitated an instant. But to desert the game at his first loss seemed tohim an act unworthy of his reputation, and, as between love and pride, the latter finally prevailed. 

"I have only an hour or two more to wait. Can not you go home byyourself?" he replied to Fanny's appeal, while Heloise exchanged hercounters for tinkling coin, forgetting, no doubt, to reimburse hercreditor, who, in fact, gave no thought to the matter. 

Henri accompanied the two women to a coach at the door, which hadbeen engaged by the thoughtful and obliging Desvanneaux; and, pressingtenderly the hand of his mistress, he murmured:

"Till to-morrow!"

"To-morrow!" she echoed, her heart oppressed with sad forebodings. 

Desvanneaux, whose wife was very jealous of him, made all haste toregain his conjugal abode. 

CHAPTER IV. THE RESULT

Meanwhile, Paul Landry had begun badly, and had had some ill turns ofluck; nevertheless, feeling that his fortune was about to change, heraised the stakes. 

"Does any one take him up?" asked Constantin Lenaeiff. 

"I do, " said De Prerolles, who had returned to the table. 

And, seizing a pencil that lay on the card-table, he signed four chequesof twenty-five thousand francs each. Unfortunately for him, the nexthand was disastrous. The stakes were increased, and the bank was brokenseveral times, when Paul Landry, profiting by a heavy gain, doubled andredoubled the preceding stakes, and beheld mounting before him a pile ofcheques and counters. 

But, as often happens in such circumstances, his opponent, Henri dePrerolles, persisted in his vain battle against ill-luck, until at threeo'clock in the morning, controlling his shaken nerves and throwing downhis cards, without any apparent anger, he said:

"Will you tell me, gentlemen, how much I owe you?"

After all accounts had been reckoned, he saw that he had lost twohundred and ninety thousand francs, of which two hundred and sixtythousand in cheques belonged to Paul Landry, and the thirty thousandfrancs' balance to the bank. 

"Monsieur de Prerolles, " said Paul Landry, hypocritically, "I am ashamedto win such a sum from you. If you wish to seek your revenge at someother game, I am entirely at your service. "

The Marquis looked at the clock, calculated that he had still half anhour to spare, and, not more for the purpose of "playing to the gallery"than in the hope of reducing the enormous sum of his indebtedness, hereplied:

"Will it be agreeable to you to play six hands of bezique?"

"Certainly, Monsieur. How much a point?"

"Ten francs, if that is not too much. "

"Not at all! I was about to propose that amount myself. "

A quick movement of curiosity ran through the assembly, and a circle wasformed around the two opponents in this exciting match. 

Every one knows that bezique is played with four packs of cards, andthat the number of points may be continued indefinitely. The essentialthing is to win at least one thousand points at the end of each hand;unless a player does this he is said to "pass the Rubicon, " becomingtwice a loser--that is, the victor adds to his own score the points lostby his adversary. Good play, therefore, consists largely in avoidingthe "Rubicon" and in remaining master of the game to the last trick, in order to force one's adversary over the "Rubicon, " if he stands indanger of it. The first two hands were lost by Landry, who, having eachtime approached the "Rubicon, " succeeded in avoiding it only by thegreatest skill and prudence. Immediately his opponent, still believingthat good luck must return to him, began to neglect the smaller pointsin order to make telling strokes, but he became stranded at the veryport of success, as it were; so that, deducting the amount of his firstwinning, he found at the end of the fifth hand that he had lost sixthousand points. Notwithstanding his wonderful self-control, it wasnot without difficulty that the young officer preserved a calm demeanorunder the severe blows dealt him by Fortune. Paul Landry, alwaysmaster of himself, lowered his eyes that their expression of greedyand merciless joy should not be seen. The nearer the game drew to itsconclusion, the closer pressed the circle of spectators, and in themidst of a profound silence the last hand began. Favored from thebeginning with the luckiest cards, followed by the most fortunatereturns, Paul Landry scored successively "forty, bezique, " five hundredand fifteen hundred. He lacked two cards to make the highest pointpossible, but Henri, by their absence from his own hand, could measurethe peril that menaced him. So, surveying the number of cards thatremained in stock, he guarded carefully three aces of trumps which mighthelp him to avert disaster. But, playing the only ace that would allowhim to score again, Paul Landry announced coldly, laying on the tablefour queens of spades and four knaves of diamonds:

"Four thousand five hundred!" This was the final stroke. The last handhad wiped out, by eight thousand points, the possessions of Landry'sadversary. The former losses of the unfortunate Marquis were nowaugmented by one hundred and forty thousand francs. Henri became verypale, but, summoning all his pride to meet the glances of the curious, he arose, rang a bell, and called for a pen and a sheet of stampedpaper. Then, turning to Paul Landry, he said, calmly "Monsieur, I oweyou four hundred thousand francs. Debts of honor are payable withintwenty-four hours, but in order to realize this sum, I shall requiremore time. How long a delay will you grant me?"

"As long as you wish, Monsieur. "

"I thank you. I ask a month. "

A waiter appeared, bringing the pen and paper. 

"Oh, your word will be sufficient for me, " said Landry. 

"Pardon me!" said the Marquis. "One never knows what may happen. Iinsist that you shall accept a formal acknowledgment of the debt. "

And he wrote:

"I, the undersigned, acknowledge that I owe to Monsieur Paul Landry thesum of four hundred thousand francs, which I promise to pay in thirtydays, counting from this date. "

He dated, signed, and folded the paper, and handed it to Paul Landry. Then, glancing at the clock, whose hands pointed to a quarter beforefour, he said:

"Permit me to take leave of you, gentlemen. I have barely time to reachVincennes before roll-call. "

He lighted a cigar, saluted the astonished assembly with perfectcoolness, slowly descended the stairs, and jumped into his carriage, thechasseur of the restaurant holding open the door for him. 

"To Vincennes!" he cried to the coachman; "and drive like the devil!"

CHAPTER V. A DESPERATE RESOLUTION

The chimneys and roofs of the tall houses along the boulevards stood outsharp and clear in the light of the rising sun. Here and there squadsof street-cleaners appeared, and belated hucksters urged their horsestoward the markets; but except for these, the streets were deserted, andthe little coupe that carried Caesar and his misfortunes rolled rapidlytoward the Barriere du Trone. 

With all the coach-windows lowered, in order to admit the fresh morningair, the energetic nobleman, buffeted by ill-luck, suddenly raised hishead and steadily looked in the face the consequences of his defeat. He, too, could say that all was lost save honor; and already, from thedepths of his virile soul, sprang the only resolution that seemed to himworthy of himself. 

When he entered his own rooms in order to dress, his mind was made up;and although, during the military exercises that morning, his commandswere more abrupt than usual, no one would have suspected that his mindwas preoccupied by any unusual trouble. 

He decided to call upon his superior officer that afternoon to requestfrom him authorization to seek an exchange for Africa. Then he wentquietly to breakfast at the pension of the officers of his own rank, who, observing his calm demeanor, in contrast to their own, knew thathe must be unaware of the important news just published in the morningjournals. General de Lorencez, after an unsuccessful attack upon thewalls of Puebla, had been compelled to retreat toward Orizaba, and tointrench there while waiting for reenforcements. 

This military event awakened the liveliest discussions, and in themidst of the repast a quartermaster entered to announce the reply to thereport, first presenting his open register to the senior lieutenant. 

"Ah! By Jove, fellows! what luck!" cried that officer, joyously. 

"What is it?" demanded the others in chorus. 

"Listen to this!" And he read aloud: "'General Order: An expeditioncorps, composed of two divisions of infantry, under the command ofGeneral Forey, is in process of forming, in order to be sent to Mexicoon urgent business. The brigade of the advance guard will be composed ofthe First Regiment of Zouaves and the Eighteenth Battalion of infantry. As soon as these companies shall be prepared for war, this battalionwill proceed by the shortest route to Toulon; thence they will embarkaboard the Imperial on the twenty-sixth day of June next. '"

Arousing cheer drowned the end of the reading of this bulletin, thetenor of which gave to Henri's aspirations an immediate and moreadvantageous prospect immediate, because, as his company was the firstto march, he was assured of not remaining longer at the garrison; moreadvantageous, because the dangers of a foreign expedition opened a muchlarger field for his chances of promotion. 

Consequently, less than a month remained to him in which to settle hisindebtedness. After the reading of the bulletin, he asked one of hisbrother officers to take his place until evening, caught the first trainto town, and, alighting at the Bastille, went directly to the Hotelde Montgeron, where he had temporary quarters whenever he chose to usethem. 

"Is the Duke at home?" he inquired of the Swiss. 

Receiving an affirmative reply, he crossed the courtyard, and was soonannounced to his brother-in-law, the noble proprietor of La Sarthe, deputy of the Legitimist opposition to the Corps Legislatif of theEmpire. 

The Duc de Montgeron listened in silence to his relative's explanationof his situation. When the recital was finished, without uttering asyllable he opened a drawer, drew out a legal paper, and handed it toHenri, saying:

"This is my marriage contract. Read it, and you will see that I havehad, from the head of my family, three hundred and fifteen thousandlivres income. I do not say this to you in order to contrast my richeswith your ruin, but only to prove to you that I was perfectly well ableto marry your sister even had she possessed no dot. That dot yieldsseven hundred and fifteen thousand francs' income, at three per cent. We were married under the law of community of goods, which greatlysimplifies matters when husband and wife have, as have Jeanne andmyself, but one heart and one way of looking at things. To consult herwould be, perhaps, to injure her. To-morrow I will sell the necessarystock, and ere the end of the week Monsieur Durand, your notary andours, shall hold at your disposal the amount of the sum you lost lastnight. "

The blood rose to the cheeks of the young officer. 

"I--I" he stammered, pressing convulsively the hands of hisbrother-in-law. "Shall I let you pay the ransom for my madness andfolly? Shall I a second time despoil my sister, already robbed by me ofone half her rightful share? I should die of shame! Or, rather--wait amoment! Let us reverse our situations for an instant, and if you willswear to me that, were you in my place, you would accept--Ah, you see!You hesitate as much now as you hesitated little a moment ago in yoursimple and cordial burst of generosity: Consequently, I refuse!"

"What do you mean to do, then?"

"To sell Prerolles immediately-to-day, if possible. This determinationtroubles you because of the grief it will cause Jeanne. It will grieveme, too. And the courage to tell this to her is the only effort to whichmy strength is unequal. Only you can tell it in such a way as to softenthe blow--"

"I will try to do it, " said the Duke. 

"I thank you! As to the personal belongings and the family portraits, their place is at Montgeron, is it not?"

"That is understood. Now, one word more, Henri. "

"Speak!"

"Have you not another embarrassment to settle?"

"I have indeed, and the sooner the better. Unhappily--"

"You have not enough money, " finished the Duke. "I have received thismorning twenty-five thousand francs' rent from my farms. Will you allowme to lend them to you?"

"To be repaid from the price of the sale? Very willingly, this time. "

And he placed in an envelope the notes handed him by his brother-in-law. 

"This is the last will and testament of love, " said the Marquis, as hedeparted, to give the necessary instructions to his notary. 

CHAPTER VI. THE FAREWELL

His debts were easily reckoned. He owed eight hundred thousand francs tothe Credit Foncier; four hundred thousand to Paul Landry; more thanone hundred thousand to various jewellers and shopkeepers; twenty-fivethousand to the Duc de Montgeron. It was necessary to sell the chateauand the property at one million four hundred thousand francs, and theposters advertising the sale must be displayed without delay. 

Then he must say farewell to Fanny Dorville. Nothing should disturb asensible mind; the man who, with so much resolution, deprives himselfof his patrimonial estates should not meet less bravely the separationimposed by necessity. 

As soon as Henri appeared in Fanny's boudoir, she divined that herpresentiments of the previous night had not deceived her. 

"You have lost heavily?" she asked. 

"Very heavily, " he replied, kissing her brow. 

"And it was my fault!" she cried. "I brought you bad luck, and thatwretch of a Landry knew well what he was about when he made me cut thecards that brought you misfortune!"

"No, no, my dear-listen! The only one in fault was I, who allowedmyself, through false pride, to be persuaded that I should not seem tofear him. "

"Fear him--a professional gambler, who lives one knows not how!Nonsense! It is as if one should fight a duel with a fencing-master. "

"What do you wish, my dear? The evil is done--and it is so great--"

"That you have not the means to pay the sum? Oh, but wait a moment. "

And taking up a casket containing a superb collar of pearls, she said:

"This is worth fourteen thousand francs. You may well take them from me, since it was you that gave them to me. "

No doubt, she had read De Musset, and this action was perhaps arefection of that of Marion, but the movement was sincere. Somethingof the stern pride of this other Rolla was stirred; a sob swelled hisbosom, and two tears--those tears that rise to a soldier's eyes in thepresence of nobility and goodness--fell from his eyes upon the hair ofthe poor girl. 

"I have not come to that yet, " he said, after a short silence. "But wemust part--"

"You are about to marry?" she cried. 

"Oh, no!"

"Ah, so much the better!"

In a few words he told her of his approaching departure, and said thathe must devote all his remaining time to the details of the mobilizationof troops. 

"So--it is all over!" said Fanny, sadly. "But fear nothing! I havecourage, and even if I have the evil eye at play, I know of somethingthat brings success in war. Will you accept a little fetich from me?"

"Yes, but you persist in trying to give me something, " he said, placingon a table the sealed envelope he had brought. 

"How good you are!" she murmured. "Now promise me one thing: let us dinetogether once more. Not at the Provencaux, however. Oh, heavens! no! Atthe Cafe Anglais--where we dined before the play the first time we--"

The entrance of Heloise cut short the allusion to a memory of autumn. 

"Ah, it is you, " said Fanny nervously. "You come apropos. "

"Is there a row in the family?" inquired Heloise. 

"As if there could be!"

"What is it, then?"

"You see Henri, do you not?"

"Well, yes, I do, certainly. What then?"

"Then look at him long and well, for you will not see him again in manya day. He is going to Mexico!"

"To exploit a mine?"

"Yes, Heloise, " the officer replied, "a mine that will make the walls ofPuebla totter. "

"In that case, good luck, my General!" said the duenna, presenting armswith her umbrella. 

Fanny could not repress a smile in spite of her tears. Her lover seizedthis moment to withdraw from her arms and reach the stairs. 

"And now, Marquis de Prerolles, go forth to battle!" cried the oldactress to him over the banisters, with the air of an artist who knowsher proper cue. 

CHAPTER VII. THE VOW

Notwithstanding the desire expressed by his mistress, Henri firmlydecided not to repeat that farewell scene. 

The matter that concerned him most was the wish not to depart withouthaving freed himself wholly from his debt to Paul Landry. Fortunately, because of a kindly interest, as well as on account of the guaranty ofthe Duc de Montgeron, a rich friend consented to advance the sum; sothat, one week before the day appointed for payment, the losingplayer was able to withdraw his signature from the hands of his greedycreditor. 

Relieved from this anxiety, Henri had asked, the night before the dayset for departure, for leave of absence for several hours, in orderto visit for the last time a spot very dear to him, upon whose wallsplacards now hung, announcing the sale of the property to take place onthe following morning. 

No one received warning of this visit in extremis save the steward, who awaited his master before the gates of the chateau, the doors andwindows of which had been flung wide open. 

At the appointed hour the visitor appeared at the end of the avenue, advancing with a firm step between two hedges bordered with poplars, behind which several brood-mares, standing knee-deep in the rich grass, suckled their foal. 

The threshold of the gate crossed, master and man skirted the lawn, traversed the garden, laid out in the French fashion, and, side by side, without exchanging a word, mounted the steps of the mansion. Enteringthe main hall, the Marquis, whose heart was full of memories of hischildhood, stopped a long time to regard alternately the two suites ofapartments that joined the vestibule to the two opposite wings. Makinga sign to his companion not to follow him, Henri then entered the vastgallery, wherein hung long rows of the portraits of his ancestors; andthere, baring his head before that of the Marshal of France whose namehe bore, he vowed simply, without excitement, and in a low tone, eitherto vanquish the enemy or to add, after the manner of his forbears, aglorious page to his family's history. 

The object of his pilgrimage having thus been accomplished, the Marquisordered the steward to see that all the portraits were sent to theChateau de Montgeron; then, after pressing his hand in farewell, hereturned to the station by the road whence he had come, avoiding thevillage in order to escape the curious eyes of the peasantry. 

CHAPTER VIII. IN SEARCH OF GLORY

The next morning the 18th battalion of 'chasseurs', in dress uniform, with knapsacks on their backs and fully armed, awaited in the Gare deLyon the moment to board the train destined to transport them to thecoast. 

At a trumpet-call this movement was executed in silence, and in perfectorder; and only after all the men were installed did the functionarieswho kept the crowd in order take their own places in the carriages, leaving a throng of relatives and friends jostling one another upon thequay. 

Fanny Dorville and her friend the duenna tried in vain to reach thecompartment wherein Henri had his place, already in marching order;the presence of the Duc and the Duchesse de Montgeron prevented the twowomen from approaching him. Nevertheless, at the moment when the trainbegan to move slowly out of the station, an employee found the means toslip into the hands of the Marquis a small packet containing the littlefetich which his mistress had kept for him. It was a medallion of theHoly Virgin, which had been blessed at Notre-Dame des-Victoires, and itwas attached to a long gold chain. 

Thirty-six hours later, on the evening of the 26th of June, thebattalion embarked aboard the Imperial, which, with steam up, was due toleave the Toulon roadstead at daybreak. At the moment of getting underweigh, the officer in charge of the luggage, who was the last to leavethe shore, brought several despatches aboard the ship, and handed toLieutenant de Prerolles a telegram, which had been received the eveningbefore at the quay. 

The Marquis opened it and read: "Chateau and lands sold for 1, 450, 000francs. Everything paid, 1600 francs remain disposable. "

"That is to say, " thought the officer, sadly, "I have my pay and barelythree thousand francs' income!"

Leaning both elbows upon the taffrail, he gazed long at the shoresof France, which appeared to fly toward the horizon; then, brusquelyturning his eyes to the quarters filled with the strong figures andmanly faces of the young foot-soldiers of the 18th battalion, he saidto himself that among such men, under whatever skies or at whateverdistance, one found his country--glancing aloft where floated above hishead the folds of his flag. 

CHAPTER IX. THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE

Twenty-three years after the events already recorded, on a coldafternoon in February, the Bois de Boulogne appeared to be draped in aSiberian mantle rarely seen at that season. A deep and clinging coveringof snow hid the ground, and the prolonged freezing of the lakes gaveabsolute guaranty of their solidity. 

A red sun, drowned in mist, threw a mild radiance over the landscape, and many pedestrians stamped their feet around the borders of the lakebelonging to the Skaters' Club, and watched the hosts of pretty womendescending from their carriages, delighted at the opportunity affordedthem, by this return of winter, to engage in their favorite exercise. 

Received on her arrival by one of the attendants posted at the entrance, each of the fair skaters entered in turn a small building reserved forladies, whence she soon came forth in full skating array, ready to riskherself on the ice, either alone or guided by the hand of some expertcavalier. 

Here and there, around the enclosure, large garden-seats, shaped likesentry-boxes, were reserved for the mothers and sisters of the membersof the club, so that they could observe, from a comfortable shelter, theevolutions of those in whom they were interested. 

Within two of these nooks, side by side, sat the Duchesse de Montgeron, president, and the Comtesse Desvanneaux, vice-president of the CharityOrphan Asylum; the latter had come to look on at the first essay on theice of her daughter, Madame de Thomery; the former, to judge the skillof her brother, General the Marquis de Prerolles, past-master in allexercises of strength and skill. 

At forty-five years of age, the young General had preserved the samegrace and slenderness that had distinguished him when he had firstdonned the elegant tunic of an officer of chasseuys. His hair, cutrather short, had become slightly gray on his temples, but his jauntymoustache and well-trimmed beard were as yet innocent of a single silverthread. The same energy shone in his eyes, the same sonority rang in hisvoice, which had become slightly more brusque and authoritative from hislong-continued habit of command. 

In a small round hat, with his hands in the pockets of an outing-jacket, matching his knickerbockers in color, he strolled to and fro near hissister, now encouraging Madame de Thomery, hesitating on the arm of herinstructor, now describing scientific flourishes on the ice, in rivalryagainst the crosses dashed off by Madame de Lisieux and Madame deNointel--two other patronesses of the orphanage--the most renowned amongall the fashionable skaters. This sort of tourney naturally attractedall eyes, and the idlers along the outer walks had climbed upon thepaling in order to gain a better view of the evolutions, when suddenly aspectacle of another kind called their attention to the entrance-gate intheir rear. 

Passing through the Porte Dauphine, and driven by a young womanenveloped in furs, advanced swiftly, over the crisp snow, a lightAmerican sleigh, to which was harnessed a magnificent trotter, whosehead and shoulders emerged, as from an aureole, through that flexible, circular ornament which the Russians call the 'douga'. 

Having passed the last turn of the path, the driver slackened her grasp, and the horse stopped short before the entrance. His owner, throwing thereins to a groom perched up behind, sprang lightly to the ground amid acrowd of curious observers, whose interest was greatly enhanced by thesight of the odd-looking vehicle. 

The late-comer presented her card of invitation to the properfunctionary, and went across the enclosure toward the ladies' salon. 

"Ah! there is Zibeline!" cried Madame Desvanneaux, with an affected air. "Do you know her?" she inquired of the Duchesse de Montgeron. 

"Not yet, " the Duchess replied. "She did not arrive in Paris until theend of spring, just at the time I was leaving town for the seashore. ButI know that she says her real name is Mademoiselle de Vermont, and thatshe was born in Louisiana, of an old French family that emigrated to theNorth, and recently became rich in the fur trade-from which circumstanceMadame de Nointel has wittily named her 'Zibeline. ' I know also thatshe is an orphan, that she has an enormous fortune, and has successivelyrefused, I believe, all pretenders who have thus far aspired to herhand. "

"Yes--gamblers, and fortune-hunters, in whose eyes her millions excuseall her eccentricities. "

"Do I understand that she has been presented to you?" asked the Duchess, surprised. 

"Well, yes-by the old Chevalier de Sainte-Foy, one of her so-calledcousins--rather distant, I fancy! But the independent airs of this younglady, and her absolute lack of any respectable chaperon, have decided meto break off any relations that might throw discredit on our patriarchalhouse, " Madame Desvanneaux replied volubly, as ready to cross herself asif she had been speaking of the devil!

The Duchess could not repress a smile, knowing perfectly that herinterlocutor had been among the first to demand for her son the hand ofMademoiselle de Vermont!

During this dialogue, the subject of it had had time to cast aside herfur cloak, to fasten upon her slender, arched feet, clad in dainty, laced boots, a pair of steel skates, with tangent blades, and withouteither grooves or straps, and to dart out upon this miniature sheet ofwater with the agility of a person accustomed to skating on the greatlakes of America. 

She was a brunette, with crisply waving hair, a small head, well-set, and deep yet brilliant eyes beneath arched and slightly meeting brows. Her complexion was pale, and her little aquiline nose showed thin, dilating nostrils. Her rosy lips, whose corners drooped slightly, revealed dazzling teeth, and her whole physiognomy expressed an air ofhaughty disdain, somewhat softened by her natural elegance. 

Her cloth costume, which displayed to advantage her slender waist andgraceful bust, was of simple but elegant cut, and was adorned withsuperb trimmings of black fox, which matched her toque and a littlesatin-lined muff, which from time to time she raised to her cheek toward off the biting wind. 

Perhaps her skirt was a shade too short, revealing in its undulations atrifle too much of the dainty hose; but the revelation was so shapely itwould have been a pity to conceal it!

"Very bad form!" murmured Madame Desvanneaux. 

"But one can not come to a place like this in a skirt with a train, " wasthe more charitable thought of the Duchess. 

Meantime the aforesaid tournament went on in the centre of the sheet ofice, and Zibeline, without mingling with the other skaters, contentedherself with skirting the borders of the lake, rapidly designing a chainof pierced hearts on the smooth surface, an appropriate symbol of herown superiority. 

Annoyed to see himself eclipsed by a stranger, the General threw achallenging glance in her direction, and, striking out vigorously in astraight line, he sped swiftly toward the other end of the lake. 

Stung to the quick by his glance, Mademoiselle de Vermont darted afterhim, passed him halfway along the course, and, wheeling around witha wide, outward curve, her body swaying low, she allowed him to passbefore her, maintaining an attitude which her antagonist might interpretas a salute, courteous or ironic, as he chose. 

By this time the crowd was gradually diminishing. The daylight waswaning, and a continued sound of closing gates announced the retreat ofthe gay world toward Paris. 

Zibeline alone, taking advantage of the free field, lingered a fewmoments to execute some evolutions in the deepening twilight, lookinglike the heroines in the old ballads, half-visible, through the mists, \to the vivid imagination of the Scottish bards. 

Henri de Prerolles had entered his sister's carriage, in company withMadame Desvanneaux and Madame Thomery, and during the drive home, thesetwo gentle dames--for the daughter was worthy of the mother--did notfail to sneer at the fair stranger, dilating particularly upon theimpropriety of the challenging salute she had given to the General, withwhom she was unacquainted. 

"But my brother could hardly request his seconds to call upon her forthat!" laughingly said the Duchess who, it seemed, had decided to defendthe accused one in all attacks made upon her. 

"Look! Here she comes! She is passing us again. One would think she wasdeliberately trying to do it!" exclaimed Madame Desvanneaux, just beforetheir carriage reached the Arc de Triomphe. 

Zibeline's sleigh, which had glided swiftly, and without hindrance, along the unfrequented track used chiefly by equestrians, had indeedovertaken the Duchess's carriage. Turning abruptly to the left, itentered the open gateway belonging to one of the corner houses of theRond-Point de l'Etoile. 

"Decidedly, the young lady is very fond of posing, " said the General, with a shrug, and, settling himself in his corner, he turned histhoughts elsewhere. 

Having deposited her two friends at their own door, the Duchess orderedthe coachman to take her home, and at the foot of the steps she said toher brother:

"Will you dine with us to-night?"

"No, not to-night, " he replied, "but we shall meet at the theatre. "

And, crossing the court, he entered his little bachelor apartment, whichhe had occupied from time to time since the days when he was only asub-lieutenant. 

CHAPTER X. GENERAL DE PREROLLES

The sub-lieutenant had kept his word, and the progress of his careerdeserves detailed mention. 

He was a lieutenant at the taking of Puebla, where he was first tomount in the assault of the Convent of Guadalupita. Captain of the ThirdZouaves after the siege of Oajaca, he had exercised, during the restof the expedition, command over a mounted company, whose duty was tomaintain communications between the various columns, continuing, at thesame time, their operations in the Michoacan. 

This confidential mission, requiring as much power to take theinitiative as it demanded a cool head, gave the Marquis opportunity toexecute, with rapidity and decision, several master-strokes, which, in the following circumstances, won for him the cross of the Legion ofHonor. 

The most audacious of the guerrillas who had devastated this fertilecountry was a chief called Regulas. He pillaged the farms, stoppedrailway trains, boldly demanding ransom from captives from the municipalgovernments of large towns. He was continually, active, and alwaysinaccessible. 

Warned by his scouts that the followers of this villain menaced the townof Pazcuaro, Captain de Prerolles prepared himself eagerly to meet them. He overtook them in a night march, and fell upon them unexpectedly, justas they were holding up the diligence from Morelia to Guadalajara. His plans had been so well laid that not a man escaped. What was thesurprise of the French officer to find, among the travellers, deliveredby himself from certain death, Paul Landry, the principal cause of hisruin, who the chances of war now laid under obligations to him!

"This is my revenge, " said the Captain, simply, to Landry, attempting toavoid his thanks, and returning to him intact his luggage, of which thechinacos had not had time to divide the contents. 

Reconciled in Algiers with his regiment, Henri de Prerolles did notagain quit the province of Constantine except to serve in the army ofthe Rhine, as chief of battalion in the line, until the promotions whichfollowed the declaration of war in 1870. Officer of the Legion of Honorfor his gallantry at Gravelotte and at St. Privat, and assigned for hisability to the employ of the chief of corps, he had just been calledupon to assume command of his former battalion of chasseurs, when thedisastrous surrender of Metz left him a prisoner of war in the hands ofthe Germans. 

Profoundly affected by this disaster, but learning that the conflictstill continued, he refused to avail himself of the offer of comparativefreedom in the city, provided he would give his parole not to attemptto escape. He was therefore conducted to a distant fortress near theRussian frontier, and handed over to the captain of the landwehr, whoreceived instructions to keep a strict guard over him. 

This officer belonged to the engineering corps, and directed, at thesame time, the work of repairs within the citadel, in charge of acivilian contractor. 

Taking into consideration the rank of his prisoner, the captainpermitted the Marquis to have with him his orderly, an Alsatian, whotwice a day brought from the inn his chief's repasts. This functionaryhad permission also, from ten o'clock in the morning until sunset, topromenade in the court under the eye of the sentinel on guard at theentrance. At five o'clock in the evening, the officer of the landwehrpolitely shut up his guest in his prison, double-locked the door, putthe key in his pocket, and appeared no more until the next morning. 

The middle of November had arrived; heavy snows had already fallen, andthe prisoner amused himself by constructing fortifications of snow--awork which his amiable jailer followed with a professional interest, giving him advice regarding modifications proper to introduce in thedefense of certain places, himself putting a finger in the pie insupport of his demonstration. 

This sort of amusement was followed so industriously that in a few daysa kind of rampart was erected in front of the casemate of the fortress, behind which, by stooping a little, a man of ordinary height couldeasily creep along unseen by the sentinel. 

While pursuing his work of modelling in snow, the Marquis de Prerolleshad taken care to observe the goings and comings of the civiliancontractor, who, wearing a tall hat and attired in a black redingote, departed regularly every day at half-past four, carrying a largeportfolio under his arm. To procure such a costume and similaraccessories for himself was easy, since the Marquis's orderly spoke thelanguage of the country; and to introduce them into the prison, hiddenin a basket of provisions, was not difficult to accomplish. 

To execute all this required only four trips to and fro. At the endof forty-eight hours, the necessary aids to escape were in the properplace, hidden under the snow behind the bastion. More than this, theclever Alsatian had slipped a topographical map of the surroundingcountry between two of the plates in the basket. According to the scale, the frontier was distant only about five leagues, across opencountry, sparsely settled with occasional farms which would serve asresting-places. 

By that time, the plan of escape was drawn up. Upon the day fixed forhis flight, the Marquis assumed his disguise, rolled up his own uniformto look like a man asleep in his bed, lying after the fashion of asleeping soldier; and pleading a slight illness as an excuse for notdining that evening, and, not without emotion, curled himself up behindthe snowy intrenchment which his jailer himself had helped to fashion. That worthy man, only too glad to be able to rejoin his 'liebe frau'a little earlier than usual, peeped through the half-open door of theprisoner's room and threw a glance at the little cot-bed. 

"Good-night, Commander!" said the honest fellow, in a gentle voice. 

Then he double-locked the door, according to custom, and disappearedwhistling a national air. A quarter of an hour later the contractor leftthe place, and as soon as the functionary who had seen him depart wasrelieved by another, the prisoner left his hiding-place, crossed thedrawbridge in his turn, simulating the gait of his twin, and, withoutany hindrance, rejoined his orderly at the place agreed upon. The trickwas played!

A matter of twenty kilometres was a mere trifle for infantry troopers. They walked as lightly as gymnasts, under a clear sky, through thefields, guided by the lights in the farmhouses, and at nine o'clock, having passed the frontier, they stumbled upon a post of Cossacksambuscaded behind a hedge!

Unfortunately, at that time the Franco-Russian alliance was still inembryo, and an agreement between the two neighboring States interdictedall passage to Frenchmen escaping from the hands of their conquerors. The two deserters were therefore conducted to the major of the nearestgarrison, who alone had the right to question them. 

As soon as they were in his presence, Henri could not restrain astart of surprise, for he recognized Constantin Lenaieff, one of hisadversaries on the fatal night of the Freres-Provencaux. 

"Who are you?" demanded the Major, brusquely. 

"A dealer in Belgian cattle, purveyor to the German intendant, " hazardedthe prisoner, who had his reply all prepared. 

"You--nonsense! You are a French officer; that is plain enough to beseen, in spite of your disguise. "

The Major advanced a step in order to examine the prisoner more closely. 

"Good heavens!" he muttered, "I can not be mistaken--"

He made a sign to his soldiers to retire, then, turning to Henri, hesaid:

"You are the Marquis de Prerolles!" and he extended his hand cordiallyto the former companion of his pleasures. 

In a few words Henri explained to him the situation. 

"My fate is in your hands, " he concluded. "Decide it!"

"You are too good a player at this game not to win it, " Lenaieffreplied, "and I am not a Paul Landry, to dispute it with you. Here is aletter of safe-conduct made out in due form; write upon it any name youchoose. As for myself, I regard you absolutely as a Belgian citizen, andI shall make no report of this occurrence. Only, let me warn you, as amatter of prudence, you would do well not to linger in this territory, and if you need money--"

"I thank you!" replied the nobleman, quickly, declining with hiscustomary proud courtesy. "But I never shall forget the service you haverendered me!"

A few moments later, the two travellers drove away in a carriage towardthe nearest railway, in order to reenter France by way of Vienna andTurin. 

They passed the Austrian and Italian frontiers without difficulty; butat the station at Modena a too-zealous detective of the French police, struck with the Alsatian accent of the orderly, immediately decidedthat they were two Prussian spies, and refused to allow them to proceed, since they could show him no passports. 

"Passports!" cried Henri de Prerolles, accompanying his exclamation withthe most Parisian oath that ever had reverberated from the Rue Laffitteto the Madeleine. 

"Here is my passport!" he added, drawing from his pocket his officer'scross, which he had taken good care not to allow to become a souvenirin the hands of his jailer. "And if that does not satisfy you, give me apen. "

Suiting the action to the word, he seized a pen and wrote out thefollowing telegram:

 "DEPUTY OF WAR, TOURS:

 "Escaped from prisons of the enemy, I demand admittance to France, and official duties suitable to my rank, that I may cooperate in the national defence. 

 "DE PREROLLES, Commandant. "

He handed the paper to the police agent, saying: "Do me the favor toforward this despatch with the utmost expedition. "

As soon as the agent had glanced at the message, he swept a profoundsalute. "Pass on, Commandant, " said he, in a tone of great respect. 

Promoted to a higher rank, and appointed commander of a regiment offoot, the Lieutenant-Colonel de Prerolles rejoined the army of Chanzy, which, having known him a long time, assigned to him the duties of abrigadier-general, and instructed him to cover his retreat from theLoire on the Sarthe. 

In the ensuing series of daily combats, the auxiliary General performedall that his chief expected of him, from Orleans to the battle of Maus, where, in the thick of the fight, a shell struck him in the breast. Itis necessary to say that on the evening before he had noticed that thelittle medallion which had been given to him by Fanny Dorville, wornfrom its chain by friction, had disappeared from his neck. Scoffingcomrades smiled at the coincidence; the more credulous looked grave. 

The wound was serious, for, transported to the Chateau de Montgeron, a few leagues distant, the Marquis was compelled to remain there sixmonths before he was in fit condition to rejoin his command. Toward theend of his convalescence, in June, 1871, the brother and sister resolvedto make a pious pilgrimage to the cradle of their ancestors. 

Exactly nine years had elapsed since the castle and lands had been soldat auction and fallen into the possession of a company of speculators, who had divided it and resold it to various purchasers. Only the farm ofValpendant, with a house of ancient and vast construction, built inthe time of Philippe-Auguste, remained to an old tenant, with hisdependencies and his primitive methods of agriculture. 

Leaving the train at the Beaumont tunnel, the two travellers made theirway along a road which crosses the high plateau that separates theforest of Carnelle from the forest of the Ile-d'Adam, whence one candiscern the steeple of Prerolles rising above the banks of the Oise. 

From this culminating point they beheld the chateau transformed intoa factory, the park cut up into countryseats, the fields turned intomarket-gardens! With profound sadness the brother and the sister meteach other's glance, and their eyes filled with tears, as if they stoodbefore a tomb on All Souls' Day. 

"No expiation is possible, " said Henri to Jeanne, pressing her handconvulsively. "I must go--I must move on forever and ever, like theWandering Jew. "

Thanks to the influence of the Duke of Montgeron, whose faithfulconstituents had sent him to the National Assembly, his brother-in-lawhad been transferred to a regiment of zouaves, of which he becamecolonel in 1875, whereupon he decided to remain in Africa during therest of his life. 

But Tunis and Tonquin opened new horizons to him. Landing as abrigadier-general at Haiphong, he was about to assume, at Bac-Ninh, histhird star, when the Minister of War, examining the brilliant recordof this officer who, since 1862, never had ceased his service to hiscountry, called him to take command of one of the infantry divisionsof the army of Paris, a place which he had occupied only a few monthsbefore the events related in the preceding chapter. 

CHAPTER XI. EUGENIE GONTIER

Few salons in Paris have so imposing an air as the foyer of thedramatic artists of the Comedie Francaise, a rectangular room of fineproportions, whose walls are adorned with portraits of great actors, representing the principal illustrations of the plays that have beenthe glory of the house Mademoiselle Duclos, by Largilliere; Fleury, byGerard; Moliere crowned, by Mignard; Baron, by De Troy, and many others. 

At the left of the entrance, separated by a large, high mirror whichfaced the fireplace, two other canvases, signed by Geffroy, representthe foyer itself, in costumes of the classic repertoire, the greaterpart of the eminent modern 'societaires', colleagues and contemporariesof the great painter. 

Between the windows, two pedestals, surmounted by busts of MademoiselleClairon and Mademoiselle Dangeville, stood, one on each side of thegreat regulator--made by Robin, clockmaker to the king--which dominatedthe bust of Moliere--after Houdon--seeming to keep guard over all thisgathering of artistic glory. 

Opposite this group, hanging above a large table of finely chisellediron, were two precious autographs under glass: a brevet of pension, dated 1682, signed Louis and countersigned Colbert; an act of notary, dated 1670, bearing the signature of Moliere, the master of the house. 

Disposed about the room were sofas, armchairs, and tete-a-tete seats inoak, covered with stamped green velvet. 

Here, at the first representations of new plays, or at importantrevivals of old ones, flocked literary notables and the regularfrequenters of the theatre, eager to compliment the performers; here, those favored strangers who have the proper introduction, and whowish to see the place at close range, are graciously conducted by theadministrator-general or by the officer for the week. 

Here it was that the Marquis de Prerolles appeared in the evening afterhis experience at the skating-pond. He had dressed, and had dined ingreat haste at a restaurant near the theatre. 

The posters announced a revival of 'Adrienne Lecouvreur', withMademoiselle Gontier in the principal role, in which she was to appearfor the first time. 

Eugenie Gontier was, it was said, the natural daughter of a greatforeign lord, who had bequeathed to her a certain amount of money. Therefore, she had chosen the theatrical life less from necessity thanfrom inclination. 

She was distinguished in presence, a great favorite with the public, and had a wide circle of friends, among whom a rich banker, the Baronde Samoreau, greatly devoted to her, had made for her investmentssufficiently profitable to enable her to occupy a mansion of her own, and to open a salon which became a favorite rendezvous with many personsdistinguished in artistic, financial, and even political circles. Talent being the guaranty of good companionship, this salon becamemuch frequented, and General de Prerolles had become one of its mostassiduous visitors. 

The first act had begun. Although the charming artist was not to appearuntil the second act, she had already descended from her dressing-room, and, finding herself alone in the greenroom, was putting a final touchto her coiffure before the mirror when the General entered. 

He kissed her hand gallantly, and both seated themselves in a retiredcorner between the fireplace and the window. 

"I thank you for coming so early, " said Eugenie. "I wished very muchto see you to-night, in order to draw from your eyes a little of yourcourage before I must face the footlights in a role so difficult and sosuperb. "

"The fire of the footlights is not that of the enemy--above all, foryou, who are so sure of winning the battle. "

"Alas! does one ever know? Although at the last rehearsal MonsieurLegouve assured me that all was perfect, look up there at that portraitof Rachel, and judge for yourself whether I have not reason to trembleat my audacity in attempting this role after such a predecessor. "

"But you yourself caused this play to be revived, " said Henri. 

"I did it because of you, " Eugenie replied. 

"Of me?"

"Yes. Am I not your Adrienne, and is not Maurice de Saxe as intrepid asyou, and as prodigal as you have been? Was he not dispossessed of hisduchy of Courlande, as you were of your--"

A gesture from Henri prevented her from finishing the sentence. 

"Pardon me!" said she. "I had forgotten how painful to you is anyreference to that matter. We will speak only of your present renown, andof the current of mutual sympathy that attracts each of us toward theother. For myself, that attraction began on the fourteenth of last July. You had just arrived at Paris, and a morning journal, in mentioningthe troops, and the names of the generals who appeared at the review, related, apropos of your military exploits, many exciting details ofyour escape during the war. Do you recall the applause that greeted youwhen you marched past the tribunes? I saw you then for the first time, but I should have known you among a thousand! The next day--"

"The next day, " Henri interrupted, "it was my turn to applaud you. I hadbeen deprived a long time of the pleasures of the theatre, of which Iam very fond, and I began by going to the Comedie Francaise, whereyou played, that night, the role of Helene in 'Mademoiselle de laSeigliere. ' Do you remember?"

"Do I remember! I recognized you instantly, sitting in the third row inthe orchestra. "

"I had never seen you until then, " Henri continued, "but thatsympathetic current was soon established, from the moment you appeareduntil the end of the second piece. As it is my opinion that any officeris sufficiently a gentleman to have the right to love a girl of noblebirth, I fell readily under the spell in which she whom you representedechoed my own sentiments. Bernard Stamply also had just returned fromcaptivity, and the more enamored of you he became the more I pleasedmyself with fancying my own personality an incarnation of his, with lesspresumption than would be necessary for me to imagine myself the hero ofwhich you spoke a moment ago. After the play, a friend brought me here, presented me to you--"

"And the sympathetic current did the rest!" added Eugenie Gontier, looking at him tenderly. "Since then you have consecrated to me a partof whatever time is at your disposal, and I assure you that I never havebeen so happy, nor have felt so flattered, in my life. "

"Second act!" came the voice of the call-boy from the corridor. 

"Will you return here after the fourth act?" said the actress, rising. "I shall wish to know how you find me in the great scene, and whetherthere is another princess de Bouillon among the audience--beware ofher!"

"You know very well that there is not. "

"Not yet, perhaps, but military men are so inconstant! By and by, Maurice!" she murmured, with a smile. 

"By and by, Adrienne!" Henri replied, kissing her hand. 

He accompanied her to the steps that led to the stage, and, loungingalong the passage that ends at the head of the grand stairway, heentered the theatre and hastened to his usual seat in the third row ofthe orchestra. 

CHAPTER XII. RIVAL BEAUTIES

It was Tuesday, the subscription night; the auditorium was as much themore brilliant as the play was more interesting than on other nights. In one of the proscenium boxes sat the Duchesse de Montgeron with theComtesse de Lisieux; in another the Vicomtesse de Nointel and MadameThomery. In the first box on the left Madame Desvanneaux was to beseen, with her husband and her son, the youthful and recently rejectedpretender to the hand of Mademoiselle de Vermont. 

Among the subscription seats in the orchestra sat the Baron de Samoreau, the notary Durand, treasurer of the Industrial Orphan Asylum; theaide-de-camp of General Lenaieff, beside his friend the Marquis dePrerolles. One large box, the first proscenium loge on the right, wasstill unoccupied when the curtain rose on the second act. 

The liaison of Eugenie Gontier with the Marquis de Prerolles was not amystery; from the moment of her entrance upon the scene, it was evidentthat she "played to him, " to use a phrase in theatrical parlance. Thus, after the recital of the combat undertaken in behalf of Adrienne by herdefender--a recital which she concluded in paraphrasing these two lines:

 'Paraissez, Navarrois, Maures et Castilians, Et tout ce que l'Espagne a produit de vaillants, '

many opera-glasses were directed toward the spectator to whom theactress appeared to address herself, when suddenly a new object ofinterest changed the circuit of observation. The door of the large, right-hand box opened, and Zibeline appeared, accompanied by theChevalier de Sainte-Foy, an elderly gallant, carefully dressed andwearing many decorations, and whose respectable tale of years couldgive no occasion for malicious comment on his appearance in the role of'cavalier servente'. Having assisted his companion to remove her mantle, he profited by the instant of time she took to settle her slightlyruffled plumage before the mirror, to lay upon the railing of the boxher bouquet and her lorgnette. Then he took up a position behind thechair she would occupy, ready to assist her when she might deign to sitdown. His whole manner suggested a chamberlain of the ancient court inthe service of a princess. 

Mademoiselle de Vermont disliked bright colors, and wore on thisoccasion a robe of black velvet, of which the 'decolletee' bodice setoff the whiteness of her shoulders and her neck, the latter ornamentedwith a simple band of cherry-colored velvet, without jewels, as wassuitable for a young girl. Long suede gloves, buttoned to the elbow, outlined her well-modelled arms, of which the upper part emerged, without sleeves, from lace ruffles gathered in the form of epaulets. 

The men admired her; the women sought some point to criticise, and hadthe eyes of Madame Desvanneaux been able to throw deadly projectiles, her powerful lorgnette would have become an instrument of death for theobject of her resentment. 

"This morning, " said the irreconcilable matron, "she showed us herankles; this evening she allows us to see the remainder. "

"I should have been very well pleased, however--" murmured youngDesvanneaux, with regret. 

"If you had married her, Victor, " said his mother, "I should have takenfull charge of her wardrobe, and should have made some decided changes, I assure you. "

Perfectly indifferent to the general curiosity, Zibeline in her turncalmly reviewed the audience. After exploring the boxes with heropera-glass, she lowered it to examine the orchestra stalls, and, perceiving the Marquis, she fixed her gaze upon him. Undoubtedly sheknew the reason for the particular attention which he paid to the stage, because, until the end of the act, her glance was divided alternatelybetween the General and the actress. 

As the curtain fell on this act the spectators turned their backs to thefootlights, and Lenaieff, indicating Zibeline to his friend, said in hisslightly Slavonic accent:

"Who is that pretty woman, my dear Henri?"

"One of Jules Verne's personages, a product of the land of furs. "

"Do you know her?"

"Not at all. I have a prejudice against girls that are too rich. Why doyou ask?"

"Because it seems to me that she looks at you very attentively. "

"Indeed! I had not noticed it. "

In saying this, the General--exaggerated! He had been perfectly wellaware of the gaze of Mademoiselle de Vermont, but whether he stillcherished a slight resentment against the lady, or whether herappearance really displeased him, he cut the conversation short and wentto pay his respects to the occupants of several boxes. 

Evidently Zibeline knew few persons in society, for no visitor appearedin her box. However, after the next act she made a sign to M. Durand. That gentleman rejoined the Baron de Samoreau in the corridor and tookhim to meet Zibeline, and a sort of council appeared to be going on inthe rear of her box. 

"What the deuce can she be talking about to them?" said Desvanneaux tohis wife. 

"A new offer of marriage, probably. They say she declares she will marryno one of lower rank than a prince, in order to complete our chagrin!Perhaps they have succeeded in finding one for her!"

The instructions that Mademoiselle de Vermont gave to the two men musthave been easy to execute, for neither the notary nor the banker seemedto raise the least objection. The conversation was finished, and bothgentlemen saluted her, preparing to take leave, when she said to M. Durand:

"You understand that the meeting is for tomorrow?"

"At five o'clock, " he replied. 

"Very well. I will stop for you at your door at a quarter of an hourbefore that time. "

The fourth act had begun, that scene in which Adrienne accomplishes hergenerous sacrifice in furnishing herself the ransom which must deliverher unfaithful lover. The rapt attention that Zibeline paid to thisscene, and the slight movements of her head, showed her approval ofthis disinterested act. Very touching in her invocation to her "oldCorneille, " Mademoiselle Gontier was superb at the moment when thecomedienne, knowing at last who is her rival, quotes from Racine thatpassage in 'Phedre' which she throws, so to speak, in the face of thepatrician woman:

 .... Je sais ses perfidies, OEnone! et ne suis point de ces femmes hardies Qui, goutant dans la crime une honteuse paix, Ont su se faire un front qui ne rougit jamais. 

From the place she was to obliged to take in the arrangement of thescene, the apostrophe and the gestures of the actress appeared to beunconsciously directed toward Mademoiselle de Vermont, who could notrestrain a startled movement. 

"Look! One would think that Zibeline took that allusion for herself, "said Madame Desvanneaux, whom nothing escaped. 

On reentering the greenroom, after two well-deserved recalls, EugenieGontier was soon surrounded by a throng of admirers who had come tocongratulate her upon her success. 

"Were you pleased, Henri?" she said in a low tone to the General. 

"Enthusiastically!" he replied. 

"Ah, then I can die happy!" she said, laughingly. 

As she traversed the ranks of her admirers to go to change her costumefor the last act, she found herself face to face with Zibeline, who, having quickly recovered from her emotion, was advancing on the arm ofthe Chevalier de Sainte-Foy. 

"My dear child, " said the old nobleman to the actress, "I bring to youMademoiselle de Vermont, who wishes to say to you herself--"

"That Mademoiselle must be very tired of listening to our praises, "interrupted Zibeline. "But if the tribute of a foreigner can prove toher that her prestige is universal, I beg that she will accept theseflowers which I dared not throw to her from my box. "

"Really, Mademoiselle, you embarrass me!" Eugenie replied, somewhatsurprised. 

"Oh, you need not fear to take them--they are not poisoned!" addedZibeline, smiling. 

And, after a gracious inclination of her head, to which the actressresponded with a deep courtesy, Zibeline took again the arm of herescort in order to seek her carriage, without waiting for the end of theplay. 

Three-quarters of an hour later, as, the audience was leaving thetheatre, M. Desvanneaux recounted to whoever chose to listen thatMademoiselle de Vermont had passed the whole of the last 'entr'acte' inthe greenroom corridor, in a friendly chat with Eugenie Gontier. 

BOOK 2. 

CHAPTER XIII. THE INDUSTRIAL ORPHAN ASYLUM

When the prefectoral axe of the Baron Haussmann hewed its way throughthe Faubourg St. Germain in order to create the boulevard to which thisaristocratic centre has given its flame, the appropriation of privateproperty for public purposes caused to disappear numerous ancientdwellings bearing armorial devices, torn down in the interest of thepublic good, to the equalizing level of a line of tramways. In themidst of this sacrilegious upheaval, the Hotel de Montgeron, one ofthe largest in the Rue St. Dominique, had the good fortune to be hardlytouched by the surveyor's line; in exchange for a few yards slicedobliquely from the garden, it received a generous addition of air andlight on that side of the mansion which formerly had been shut in. 

The Duke lived there in considerable state. His electors, faithfulin all things, had made of their deputy a senator who sat in theLuxembourg, in virtue of the Republican Constitution, as he would havesat as a peer of France had the legitimate monarchy followed its course. He was a great lord in the true meaning of the word: gracious to thehumble, affable among his equals, inclined, among the throng of newfamilies, to take the part of the disinherited against that of theusurpers. 

In Mademoiselle de Prerolles he had found a companion animated with thesame sentiments, and the charitable organization, meeting again atthe Duchess's residence, on the day following the revival of 'AdrienneLecouvreuer', to appoint officers for the Industrial Orphan Asylum, could not have chosen a president more worthy or more devoted. 

Besides such austere patronesses as Madame Desvanneaux and her daughter, the organization included several persons belonging to the worldof fashion, such as Madame de Lisieux and Madame de Nointel, whoseinfluence was the more effective because their circle of acquaintancewas more extensive. The gay world often fraternizes willingly with thosewho are interested in philanthropic works. 

The founders of the Industrial Orphan Asylum intended that theinstitution should harbor, bring up, and instruct as great a number aspossible of the children of infirm or deceased laborers. 

The secretary, M. Andre Desvanneaux, churchwarden of Ste. -Clotilde, as was his father before him, and in addition a Roman count, hadjust finished his address, concluding by making the following doublestatement: First, the necessity for combining all available-funds forthe purchase of the land required, and for the building of the asylumitself; second, to determine whether the institution could be maintainedby the annual resources of the organization. 

"I should like to observe, " said the Duchesse de Montgeron, "that thefirst of these two questions is the only order of the day. Not countingthe purchase of the land, the architect's plan calls for an estimate offive hundred thousand francs in round numbers. "

"And we have on hand--" said the Comtesse de Lisieux. 

"One hundred and sixty-odd thousand francs from the firstsubscriptions, " said M. Desvanneaux. "It has been decided that thework shall not begin until we have disposed of half of the sum total. Therefore, the difference we have to make up at present is about onehundred and forty thousand francs. In order to realize this sum, thecommittee of action proposes to organize at the Palais de l'Industriea grand kermess, with the assistance of the principal artists fromthe theatres of Paris, including that of Mademoiselle Gontier, of theComedie Francaise, " added the secretary, with a sly smile on observingthe expression of General de Prerolles. 

"Good!" Henri promptly rejoined. "That will permit Monsieur Desvanneauxto combine very agreeably the discharge of his official duties with themaking of pleasant acquaintances!"

"The object of my action in this matter is above all suspicion, "remarked the churchwarden, with great dignity, while his wife dartedtoward him a furious glance. 

"You? Come, come!" continued the General, who took a mischievous delightin making trouble for the worthy Desvanneaux. "Every one knows quitewell that you have by no means renounced Satan, his pomps--"

"And his good works!" added Madame de Nointel, with a burst of laughtersomewhat out of place in this formal gathering for the discussion ofcharitable works. 

"We are getting outside of the question, " said the Duchess, striking herbell. "Moreover, is not the assistance of these ladies necessary?"

"Indispensable, " the secretary replied. "Their assistance will greatlyincrease the receipts. "

"What sum shall we decide upon as the price of admission?" asked Madamede Lisieux. 

"Twenty francs, " said Desvanneaux. "We have a thousand tickets printedalready, and, if the ladies present wish to solicit subscriptions, eachhas before her the wherewithal to inscribe appropriate notes of appeal. "

"To be drawn upon at sight, " said the Comtesse de Lisieux, taking a pen. "A tax on vanity, I should call it. "

She wrote rapidly, and then read aloud:

 "MY DEAR BARON:

 "Your proverbial generosity justifies my new appeal. You will accept, I am sure, the ten tickets which I enclose, when you know that your confreres, the Messieurs Axenstein, have taken double that number. "

"And here, " said the Vicomtesse de Nointel, "is a tax on gallantry. " Andshe read aloud:

 "MY DEAR PRINCE:

 "You have done me the honor to write to me that you love me. I suppose I ought to show your note to my husband, who is an expert swordsman; but I prefer to return to you your autograph letter for the price of these fifteen tickets. Go--and sin again, should your heart prompt you!"

"But that is a species of blackmail, Madame!" cried Madame Desvanneaux. 

"The end justifies the means, " replied the Vicomtesse gayly. "Besides, Iam accountable only to the Duc de Montgeron. What is his opinion?"

"I call it a very clever stroke, " said the Duke. 

"You hear, Madame! Only, of course, not every lady has a collection ofsimilar little notes!" said the Vicomtesse de Nointel. 

The entrance of M. Durand, treasurer of the society, interrupted theprogress of this correspondence. 

"Do not trouble yourselves so much, Mesdames, " said the notary. "Thepractical solution of the matter I am about to lay before you, if Madamethe president will permit me to speak. "

"I should think so!" said the Duchess. "Speak, by all means!"

"A charitable person has offered to assume all the expenses of theaffair, " said the notary, "on condition that carte blanche is granted toher in the matter of the site. In case her offer is accepted, she willmake over to the society, within three months, the title to the realestate, in regular order. "

"Do you guarantee the solvency of this person?" demanded M. Desvanneaux, who saw the project of the kermess falling to the ground. 

"It is one of my rich clients; but I have orders not to reveal her nameunless her offer is accepted. "

The unanimity with which all hands were raised did not even give time toput the question. 

"Her name?" demanded the Duchess. 

"Here it is, " replied the notary, handing her a visiting card. 

"'Valentine de Vermont, '" she read aloud. 

"Zibeline?" cried Madame de Nointel. "Bravo! I offer her the assuranceof my esteem!"

"And I also, " added Madame de Lisieux. 

"I can not offer mine, " said Madame Desvanneaux, dryly. "A young womanwho is received nowhere!"

"So generous an act should open all doors to her, beginning with mine, "said the Duchesse de Montgeron. "I beg that you will tell her so fromme, Monsieur Durand. "

"At once, Madame. She is waiting below in her carriage. "

"Why did you not say so before? I must beg her myself to join us here, "said the master of the house, leaving the room in haste. 

"See how any one can purchase admission to our world in these days!"whispered Madame Desvanneaux in her daughter's ear. 

"Heavens! yes, dear mother! The only question is whether one is able topay the price. "

We must render justice to the two titled patronesses by saying that theimmediate admission of Mademoiselle de Vermont to their circle seemed tothem the least they could do, and that they greeted her appearance, asshe entered on the arm of the Duke, with a sympathetic murmur which putthe final stroke to the exasperation of the two malicious dames. 

"You are very welcome here, Mademoiselle, " said the Duchess, advancingto greet her guest. "I am delighted to express to you, in behalf ofall these ladies, the profound gratitude with which your generous aidinspires them!"

"It is more than I deserve, Madame la Duchesse!" said Valentine. "Theimportant work in which they have taken the initiative is so interestingthat each of us should contribute to it according to his means. I amalone in Paris, without relatives or friends, and these ladies havefurnished me the means to cure my idleness; so it is I, rather, who amindebted to them. "

Whether this speech were studied or not, it was pronounced to be in verygood taste, and the stranger's conquest of the assemblage was more andmore assured. 

"Since you wish to join us, " resumed the Duchess, "allow me to presentto you these gentlemen: Monsieur Desvanneaux, our zealous generalsecretary--"

"I have already had the pleasure of seeing Monsieur at my house, " saidValentine, "also Madame Desvanneaux; and although I was unable to accedeto their wishes, I retain, nevertheless, the pleasantest recollectionsof their visit. "

"Good hit!" whispered Madame de Nointel to her neighbor. 

"The Marquis de Prerolles, my brother, " the Duchess continued. 

"The smiles of Fortune must be sweet, Mademoiselle, " said the General, bowing low. 

"Not so sweet as those of Glory, General, " Zibeline replied, with apretty air of deference. 

"She possesses a decidedly ready wit, " said Madame de Lisieux in aconfidential aside. 

"Now, ladies, " added the president, "I believe that the best thingwe can do is to leave everything in the hands of Mademoiselle and ourtreasurer. The examination of the annual resources will be the object ofthe next meeting. For to-day, the meeting is adjourned. "

Then, as Mademoiselle de Vermont was about to mingle with the otherladies, the Duchess detained her an instant, inquiring:

"Have you any engagement for this evening, Mademoiselle?"

"None, Madame. "

"Will you do us the honor to join us in my box at the opera?"

"But--I have no one to accompany me, " said Zibeline. "I dismissed mycousin De Sainte-Foy, thinking that I should have no further need of hisescort to-day. "

"That does not matter at all, " the Duchess replied. "We will stop foryou on our way. "

"I should not like to trouble you so much, Madame. If you will allow me, I will stop at your door at whatever hour will be agreeable to you, andmy carriage shall follow yours. "

"Very well. At nine o'clock, if you please. They sing Le Prophetetonight, and we shall arrive just in time for the ballet. "

"The 'Skaters' Ballet, '" said the General. 

This remark recalled to Mademoiselle her triumph of the evening before. "Do you bear a grudge against me?" she said, with a smile. 

"Less and less of one, " the General replied. 

"Then, let us make a compact of peace, " said Zibeline, holding out herhand in the English fashion. 

With these words she left the room on the arm of the Duke, who claimedthe honor of escorting her to her carriage. 

"Shall you go to the opera also?" asked the Duchess of her brother. 

"Yes, but later. I shall dine in town. "

"Then-au-revoir--this evening!"

"This evening!"

CHAPTER XIV. A WOMAN'S INSTINCT

The General had been more favorably impressed with Zibeline's appearancethan he cared to show. The generous action of this beautiful girl, herfrankness, her ease of manner, her cleverness in repartee, were likelyto attract the attention of a man of his character. He reproachedhimself already for having allowed himself to be influenced by therancorous hostility of the Desvanneaux, and, as always happens with justnatures, the sudden change of his mind was the more favorable as hisfirst opinion had been unjust. 

Such was the theme of his reflections on the route from the Hotel deMontgeron to that of Eugenic Gontie's, with whom he was engaged todine with some of her friends, invited to celebrate her success of theevening before. 

On entering her dining-room Eugenie took the arm of Lenaieff, placedHenri de Prerolles on her left and Samoreau opposite her--in hischaracter of senior member, so that no one could mistake his transitoryfunction with that of an accredited master of the house. 

The four other guests were distinguished writers or artists, includingthe painter Edmond Delorme, and, like him, all were intimate friends ofthe mistress of the house. 

Naturally the conversation turned upon the representation of Adrienne, and on the applause of the fashionable audience, usually ratherundemonstrative. 

"Never have I received so many flowers as were given to me last night, "said Eugenic, displaying an enormous beribboned basket which ornamentedthe table. "But that which particularly flattered me, " she added, "wasthe spontaneous tribute from that pretty foreigner who sought me in thegreenroom expressly to offer me her bouquet. "

"The young lady in the proscenium box, I will wager, " said Lenaieff. 

"Precisely. I know that they call her Zibeline, but I did not catch herreal name. "

"It is Mademoiselle de Vermont, " said Edmond Delorme. "She is, in myopinion, the most dashing of all the Amazons in the Bois de Boulogne. The Chevalier de Sainte-Foy brought her to visit my studio last autumn, and I am making a life-size portrait of her on her famous horse, Seaman, the winner of the great steeplechase at Liverpool, in 1882. "

"What were you pencilling on the back of your menu while you weretalking?" asked the actress, curiously. 

"The profile of General de Prerolles, " the painter replied. "I thinkthat his mare Aida would make a capital companion picture for Seaman, and that he himself would be an appropriate figure to adorn a canvashung on the line opposite her at the next Salon!"

"Pardon me, dear master!" interrupted the General. "Spare me, I pray, the honor of figuring in this equestrian contradance. I have not themeans to bequeath to posterity that your fair model possesses--"

"Is she, then, as rich as they say?" inquired one of the guests. 

"I can answer for that, " said the Baron de Samoreau. "She has a letterof credit upon me from my correspondent in New York. Last night, duringan entr'acte, she gave me an order to hold a million francs at herdisposal before the end of the week. "

"I know the reason why, " added Henri. 

"But, " Lenaieff exclaimed, "you told me that you did not know her!"

"I have made her acquaintance since then. "

"Ah! Where?" Eugenie inquired, with interest. 

"At my sister's house, during the meeting of a charitable society. "

"Had it anything to do with the society for which Monsieur Desvanneauxasked me to appear in a kermess?"

"Well, yes. In fact, he has gone so far as to announce that he isassured of your cooperation. "

"I could not refuse him, " said Eugenie. "Under the mantle of charity, the holy man paid court to me!"

"I knew well enough that he had not yet laid down his arms forever, "said the General. 

"Oh, he is not the only one. His son-in-law also honored me with anattack. "

"What, Monsieur de Thomery? Well, that is a good joke!"

"But what is funnier yet, " continued the actress, "is the fact thatthe first-named gentleman was on his knees, just about to make me adeclaration, apparently, when the second was announced! Immediately thefather-in-law jumped to his feet, entreating me not to allow them tomeet. I was compelled to open for him the door leading to the servants'stairway--"

"And what did you do with the other man?" asked Lenaieff, laughingloudly. 

"I rid myself of him in the same way. At a sign from me, my maidannounced the name of the father-in-law, and the alarmed son-in-lawescaped by the same road! Oh, but I know them! They will come back!"

"Under some other pretext, however, " said the General. "BecauseMademoiselle de Vermont's million francs have destroyed their amorousdesigns. "

"So now we see Zibeline fairly launched, " remarked the banker. "Sincethe Duchesse de Montgeron has taken her up, all the naughty tales thathave been fabricated about her will go to pieces like a house of cards. "

"That is very probable, " the General concluded, "for she has made acomplete conquest of my sister. "

At these words a slight cloud passed over the actress's face. Theimagination of a jealous mistress sees rivals everywhere; especiallythat of an actress. 

After dinner, while her other guests went into the smoking-room, Eugenicmade a sign to her lover to remain with her, and seated herself besidehim. 

"I wish to ask you a question, Henri, " said she. 

"What is it?"

"Do you still love me?"

"What reason have you to doubt it?"

"None that warrants me in reproaching you for anything. But so manythings separate us! Your career, to which you owe everything! Yoursocial standing, so different from mine! Oh, I know that you aresincere, and that if you ever have a scruple regarding our liaison, youwill not be able to hide it from me. It is this possibility of which Ithink. "

"You are quite wrong, I assure you. Did I hide myself last night inorder to prove openly my admiration for you? Did I appear to disclaimthe allusions which you emphasized in seeming to address me in thecourse of your role?"

"No, that is true. Shall I make a confession? When I am on the stage, I fear nothing, because there the points of comparison are all in myfavor, since you can say to yourself: 'This woman on whom all eyes arefixed, whose voice penetrates to the depths of the soul--this woman, beautiful, applauded, courted, belongs to me--wholly to me, ' and yourmasculine vanity is pleasantly flattered. But later, Henri! When therouge is effaced from my lips, when the powder is removed from mycheeks--perhaps revealing some premature line caused by study andlate hours--if, after that, you return to your own circle, and thereencounter some fresh young girl, graceful and blooming, the object, inher turn, of the fickle admiration of the multitude, forgetful alreadyof her who just now charmed them--tell me, Henri! do you not, as dothe others, covet that beautiful exotic flower, and must not the poorcomedienne weep for her lost prestige?"

"It is Mademoiselle de Vermont, then, who inspires you with thisapprehension, " said the General, smiling. 

"Well, yes, it is she!"

"What childishness! Lenaieff will tell you that I have never even lookedat her. "

"Last night, perhaps--but to-day?"

"We exchanged no more than a dozen words. "

"But the more I think of her visit to the greenroom, the moreinexplicable it appears to me. "

"You need not be surprised at that: she does nothing that any one elsedoes. "

"These things are not done to displease you. "

"I may agree as to that; but what conclusion do you draw?"

"That she is trying to turn your head. "

"My head! You jest! I might be her father. "

"That is not always a reason--"

Nevertheless, Henri's exclamation had been so frank that Eugenie feltsomewhat reassured. 

"Are you going so soon?" she said, seeing him take his hat. 

"I promised my sister to join her at the opera. Besides, this is yourreception night, and I leave you to your duties as hostess. To-morrow, at the usual hour-and we will talk of something else, shall we not?"

"Ah, dearest, that is all I ask!" said Eugenie. 

He attempted to kiss her hand, but she held up her lips. He pressed hisown upon them in a long kiss, and left her. 

CHAPTER XV. DEFIANCE OF MRS. GRUNDY

For more than fifty years the first proscenium box on the ground floor, to the left, at the Opera, had belonged exclusively to ten members ofthe jockey Club, in the name of the oldest member of which the box istaken. When a place becomes vacant through any cause, the nine remainingsubscribers vote on the admission of a new candidate for the vacantchair; it is a sort of academy within the national Academy of Music. 

When this plan was originated, that particular corner was called"the infernal box, " but the name has fallen into desuetude since thededication of the fine monument of M. Gamier. Nevertheless, as it iscounted a high privilege to be numbered among these select subscribers, changes are rare among them; besides, the members are not, as a rule, men in their first youth. They have seen, within those walls, theblooming and the renewal of several generations of pretty women; andthe number of singers and dancers to whom they have paid court in thecoulisses is still greater. 

From their post of observation nothing that occurs either before orbehind the curtain escapes their analysis--an analysis undoubtedlybenevolent on the part of men who have seen much of life, and who accordwillingly, to their younger fellow-members, a little of that indulgenceof which they stand in need themselves. 

An event so unexpected as the enthronement of Zibeline in one of thetwo large boxes between the columns, in company with the Duchesse deMontgeron, Madame de Lisieux, and Madame de Nointel, did not escapetheir observation and comment. 

"The Duchess is never thoughtless in her choice of associates, " said oneof the ten. "There must be some very powerful motive to induce her toshield with her patronage a foreigner who sets so completely at defianceanything that people may say about her. "

"Nonsense! What is it, after all, that they say about this young woman?"demanded the senior member of the party. "That she rides alone onhorseback. If she were to ride with a groom, some one would be sureto say that he was her lover. They say that she drives out without anyfemale chaperon beside her in the carriage. Well, if she had one, theywould probably find some other malicious thing to say. Paris has becomelike a little country town in its gossip. "

"And all this, " added a third member, "because she is as lovely as adream, and because she drives the handsomest turnout in the Bois. Ifshe were ugly, and contented herself with a hired carriage, she would beabsolved without confession!"

"Where the deuce does Christian charity come in, in all this gossip?"said Henri de Prerolles to himself, who had just entered the box andoverheard the last remarks. "Will you grant me your hospitality untilthe beginning of the next act, gentlemen?" he said aloud. "My sister'sbox is full of guests and transient visitors; she can not admit evenme!"

The General was a great favorite with the members of the club. One ofthem rose to offer him his place. 

"I shall stay only a moment, to escape a cloud of questioners in thefoyer. Every one that stops me asks--"

"About the new recruit in the Duchess's box, eh?" said a member. "We, too, wish to inquire about her; we are all leagued together. "

"Thank you, no, " said the General. 

"But if it is a secret--"

"There is no secret about it, " the General replied; and in a few wordshe explained the enigma. 

"Why, then, " exclaimed the senior member, "she is indeed the fowl thatlays the golden eggs! What a lucky bird will be the one that mates withher!"

The rising curtain sent the spectators back to their places. The augursof the Duchess's box reinstalled themselves before it where they couldexamine at their ease through their lorgnettes the fair stranger of whomso much had been said; and, mounting to the next floor, the General wasat last able to find room among his sister's guests. 

"You can see for yourself that our young friend is altogether charming, "whispered Madame de Nointel, behind the shelter of her fan, andindicating Zibeline. 

"If you pronounce her so, Madame, she can receive no higher praise, "said Henri. 

"Say at once that you think me exasperating, " laughed the lady. 

"Was it not you that first called her Zibeline?" Henri inquired. 

"Yes, but she calls herself Valentine--which rhymes, after all. Notrichly enough for her, I know, but her means allow her to do without thesupporting consonant. See how beautiful she is to-night!"

In fact, twenty-four hours had sufficed to change the lonely strangerof the day before into the heroine of this evening, and the satisfactionthat shone in her face tempered the somewhat haughty and disdainfulexpression that had hitherto characterized her. 

"You have not yet said 'good-evening' to Mademoiselle de Vermont, Henri, " said the Duchess to her brother, and he changed his place inorder to act upon her hint. 

"Ah, is it you, General?" said Zibeline, affecting not to have seen himuntil that moment. "It seems that music interests you less than comedy. "

"What has made you form that opinion, Mademoiselle?"

"The fact that you arrive much later at the opera than at the ComedieFrancaise. "

"Have you, then, kept watch upon my movements?"

"Only a passing observation of signs--quite allowable in warfare!"

"But I thought we had made a compact of peace. "

"True enough, we did make it, but suppose it were only an armistice?"

"You are ready, then, to resume hostilities?" said Henri. 

"Now that I have Madame la Duchesse, your sister, for an ally, I fear noenemies. "

"Not even if I should call for aid upon the camp of Desvanneaux?"

"Alceste leagued with Tartufe? That idea never occurred to Moliere, "said Zibeline, mischievously. 

"Take care!" said the Duchess, interrupting this skirmishing, "you willfall over into the orchestra! It is growing late, and if Mademoiselle deVermont does not wish to remain to see the final conflagration, we mightgo now, before the crowd begins to leave. "

"I await your orders, Madame la Duchesse, " said Zibeline, rising. 

The other ladies followed her example, receiving their cloaks from thehands of their cavaliers, and the occupants of the box made their exitin the following order: Zibeline, on the arm of the Duke; the Comtessede Lisieux, leaning upon M. De Nointel; Madame de Nointel with theGeneral; the Duchess bringing up the procession with M. De Lisieux. 

As soon as they reached the outer lobby their footmen ran to find theircarriages, and that of the Duc de Montgeron advanced first. 

"I beg, Madame, that you will not trouble yourself to wait here untilmy carriage comes, " said Mademoiselle de Vermont to the Duchess, whohesitated to leave her guest alone. 

"Since you wish it, I will leave you, then, " said the Duchess, "andwe thank you for giving us your society this evening. My brother willaccompany you to your carriage. "

When Zibeline's vehicle drove up to the entrance in its turn, theGeneral conducted his charge to the door of a marvellously equippedbrougham, to which was harnessed a carriage-horse of powerful frame, well suited to the kind of vehicle he drew. 

A thaw had begun, not yet transforming the gutters into yellow torrentsrushing toward the openings of the sewer, but covering the streets withthick, black mud, over which the wheels rolled noiselessly. 

"Your carriage is late, is it not?" said Zibeline, after the General hadhanded her into the brougham. 

"My carriage?" said the General. "Behold it!"

He pointed to a passing fiacre, at the same time hailing the driver. 

"Don't call him. I will take you home myself, " said Zibeline, as if sucha suggestion were the most natural thing in the world. 

"You know that in France it is not the custom, " said the General. 

"What! Do you bother yourself with such things at your age?"

"If my age seems to you a sufficient guaranty, that is different. Iaccept your invitation. "

"To the Hotel de Montgeron, " said Zibeline to her footman. 

"I never shall forget your sister's kindness to me, " she continued, asthe carriage rolled away. "She fulfils my idea of the great lady betterthan any other woman I have seen. "

"You may be proud of her friendship, " said Henri. "When once she likesa person, it is forever. I am like her in that respect. Only I am ratherslow in forming friendships. "

"And so am I. "

"That is obvious, else you would have been married ere this. "

"No doubt--to some one like young Desvanneaux, perhaps. You are veryflattering! If you think that I would sacrifice my independence for aman like that--"

"But surely you do not intend to remain unmarried. "

"Perhaps I shall--if I do not meet my ideal. "

"All women say that, but they usually change their minds in the end. "

"Mine is one and indivisible. If I do not give all I give nothing. "

"And shall you wait patiently until your ideal presents himself?"

"On the contrary, I am always looking for him. "

"Did you come to Europe for that purpose?"

"For that and for nothing else. "

"And suppose, should you find your ideal, that he himself raisesobstacles?"

"I shall try to smooth them away. "

"Do you believe, then, that the power of money is irresistible?"

"Far from it! A great fortune is only a trust which Providence hasplaced in our hands, in order that we may repair, in its name, theinjustices of fate. But I have another string to my bow. "

"What is it?"

"The force of my will. "

"You have plenty of that! But suppose, by some impossible chance, yourideal resists you even then?"

"Then I know what will remain for me to do. "

"You will resort to the pistol?"

"Not for him, but for myself, " she replied, in a tone so resolute as toexclude any suggestion of bravado. 

Zibeline's horse, which was a rapid trotter, now stopped before theHotel de Montgeron, arriving just in advance of the Duchess's carriage, for which the Swiss was watching at the threshold of the open Portecochere. He drew himself up; the brougham entered the gate at a swiftpace, described a circle, and halted under the marquee at the mainentrance. The General sprang lightly to the ground. 

"I thank you, Mademoiselle, " bowing, hat in hand, to his charmingconductor. 

"Call me Valentine, please, " she responded, with her usual ease ofmanner. 

"Even in the character of a stage father, that would be rather toofamiliar, " said the Marquis. 

"Not so much so as to call me Zibeline, " said Mademoiselle de Vermont, laughing. 

"Ha! ha! You know your sobriquet, then?"

"I have known it a long time! Good-night, General! We shall meet again. "

Then, addressing her footman, she said in English: "Home!"

CHAPTER XVI. FRATERNAL ADVICE

Like all residences where the owners receive much company, the Hotel deMontgeron had a double porte-cochere. Just as the Swiss opened theouter gate to allow the departure of Mademoiselle de Vermont, the twocarriages crossed each other on the threshold. In fact, Henri had hadhardly time to cross the courtyard to mount to his own apartments beforehis brother-in-law and his sister stopped him at the foot of the steps. He rejoined them to say good-night. 

"Won't you come and take a cup of tea with us in the little salon?" theyasked. 

"Willingly, " was his response. He followed them, and all three seatedthemselves beside a table which was already laid, and upon which theboiling water sang in the kettle. 

"Leave us, " said the Duchess to the butler. "I will serve tea myself. Did Mademoiselle de Vermont bring you home?" she asked, when the servanthad retired. 

"Well, " said Henri, "in proposing to do so she mentioned my discreetage, which appeared to her to make the thing all right! If I haddeclined her invitation, I should have seemed to pose as a compromisingperson! That is the reason why I accepted. "

"You did quite right. What do you really think of her?"

"She is very different from what I had fancied her: I find her frank, intellectual, full of originality. I have only one fault to mention: sheis too rich. "

"Well, surely, you do not expect her to ruin herself to please you. "

"I should think not! Besides, what would be the object?"

"To permit you to fall in love with her. "

"Oh, that is what you are thinking of, is it?"

"Certainly, for, if need be, perhaps you would make a sacrifice to yourfeelings. "

"In what way?"

"In the toleration of a few remaining millions which she might retain, so that when you marry her neither of you will be reduced to absolutebeggary!"

"Marry her!--I?" cried the General, astonished. 

"What is there to prevent your doing so?"

"The past, my dear sister. To speculate upon my title and my rank inorder to make a wealthy marriage? To quit my nomad's tent for a fixedresidence other than that where the Prerolles have succeeded one anotherfrom generation to generation? Never! Of all our ancient prejudices, that is the only one I cherish. Besides, I am free at present to servemy country under any form of government which it may please her toadopt. But, with his hereditary estates lost, through his own fault, shall he who has nothing left to him but his name form a mere branch ofanother family? He has no right to do so. "

This declaration was categorical. Madame de Montgeron bent her head; herjesting vein was quenched in a moment. 

After a moment of silence the Duke spoke. 

"There are scruples that one does not discuss, " he said. "But, on theother hand, if I do not deceive myself, there are others which can beadjusted to suit circumstances. "

"What circumstances?" said the General. 

"The subject is rather delicate--especially to mention before you, mydear Jeanne. "

"I was just about to propose that I should retire, " said the Duchess. "Good-night, Henri!" And she bent to kiss him. 

"You are not vexed?" said her brother, embracing her tenderly. 

"What an idea! Good-night!"

"Am I always to be considered as occupying the stool of repentance?"Henri inquired, as soon as his sister had left the room. 

"Yes, but you will not be offended if I interrogate you a little, afterthe manner of a judge?" said the Duke. 

"Quite the contrary. Go on; I will listen. "

"Had you not just now expressed yourself very distinctly in disfavor ofany project of marriage because of perfectly unimpeachable principles, I should not permit myself to make any allusion to your private life. Every man is his own master in his choice of liaisons, and on that headis answerable only to his own conscience. In these days, moreover, artis on a level with birth, and talent with military glory. You see that Iam quite modern in my ideas! However--"

"Ah, there is a reserve?"

"Without liability. Mademoiselle Gontier is surrounded by great luxury. She maintains an expensive house and keeps an open table. Her annualsalary and her income can not possibly cover these expenses. Whence doesshe obtain further resources?"

"From the investments made for her by the Baron de Samoreau. "

"Without her having to pay a commission of any kind? A most remarkablecase of disinterestedness!"

"I never have sought to examine the matter particularly, " said Henri. 

"And is that the way you keep yourself informed? A futuregeneral-in-chief!"

"I was not aware that I am in an enemy's country. "

"No, but you are in a conquered country, which is still more dangerous. Oh, no one will attack you face to face at the point of the sword. Butbehind your back, in the shadow, you have already massed against youvarious rejected swains, the Desvanneaux of the coulisses, jealous ofa preference which wounds their own vanity, and the more ready to throwdiscredit--were they able--upon a man of your valor, because they arebetter armed against him with the logic of facts. "

"What logic, in heaven's name?"

"That which emanates from the following dilemma: Either Danae is obligedto hide from Jupiter--or, rather, from Maecenas--her intimacy withyou--and you are only a lover who simply loves her--or else Maecenas isan epicurean who has no objection to share his fortune philosophically;so that ostensibly you sit at the feast without paying the cost--whichis worse yet. "

"Does any one dare to say that of me?" cried the General, springing fromhis chair. 

"They are beginning to say it, " the Duke replied, his eyes fixed on hisbrother-in-law, who paced to and fro, gnawing his moustache. "I ask yourpardon for throwing such a bucket of ice-water on you, but with men ofyour constitution--"

"Pleurisy is not mortal, " Henri interrupted briefly. "I know. Don'tworry about me. "

"I knew you would understand, " said the Duke, going toward the doorof his own apartments. "That is the reason why I have not spared you athorough ducking!"

"I thank you, " said the General, as he was about to leave the room. "Iwill talk to you about this tomorrow. The night brings counsel. "

Wrapped in thought, he made his way to the little suite of apartmentsbetween the ground floor and the first story which he occupied, andwhich had a separate door opening on the Rue de Bellechase. 

At the foot of the stairs, in a coach-house which had been transformedinto a chamber, slept the orderlies beneath the apartment of theirchief. This apartment, composed of four rooms, was of the utmostsimplicity, harmonizing with the poverty of its occupant, who made it apoint of honor not to attempt to disguise his situation. 

The ante-chamber formed a military bureau for the General and his chieforderly. 

The salon, hung with draperies to simulate a tent, had no otherdecoration than some trophies of Arabian arms, souvenirs of raids uponrebellious tribes. 

More primitive still was the bedroom, furnished with a simple canteenbed, as if it were put up in a temporary camp, soon to be abandoned. 

The only room which suggested nothing of the anchorite was thedressing-room, furnished with all the comforts and conveniencesnecessary to an elegant and fastidious man of the world. 

But his real luxury, which, by habit and by reason of his rank, theGeneral had always maintained, was found among his horses, as he devotedto them all the available funds that could be spared from his salary. Hence the four box-stalls placed at his disposal in the stables of hisbrother-in-law were occupied by four animals of remarkably pure blood, whose pedigrees were inscribed in the French stud-book. Neither years, nor the hard service which their master had seen, had deteriorated anyof his ability as a dashing horseman. His sober and active life havingeven enabled him to preserve a comparatively slender figure, he wouldhave joined victoriously in the races, except that his height made hisweight too heavy for that amusement. 

Entering his own domain, still overwhelmed, with the shock of therevelations and the gossip of which he never had dreamed, he felthimself wounded to the quick in all those sentiments upon which his'amour propre' had been most sensitive. 

The more he pondered proudly over his pecuniary misfortunes, themore grave the situation appeared to him, and the more imperious thenecessity of a rupture. 

When it had been a question of dismissing Fanny Dorville, an actress ofhumble standing, his parting gift, a diamond worth twenty-five thousandfrancs, had seemed to him a sufficient indemnity to cancel all accounts. 

But now, in the presence of an artiste of merit, who had given herselfwithout calculation and who loved him for himself alone, how, withoutwounding her heart and her dignity, could he break violently a chain solight yesterday, so heavy to-day?

To indulge in tergiversation, to invent some subterfuge to cover hisretreat--he did not feel himself capable of such a course; moreover, his manoeuvre would be quickly suspected by a clever woman whom nothingescaped. 

To ask to be sent back to Africa, just at the time when his intelligentand practical instruction in the latest grand manoeuvres had drawnall eyes upon him, would compromise, by an untimely retirement, theadvantages of this new office, the object of his ambition. 

For the first time this nobleman, always prompt and radical in hisdecisions, found himself hesitating; and, such is the power of humanegotism even in generous natures, he felt almost incensed againstEugenie, the involuntary cause of his hesitation. 

After weighing everything carefully in his mind, he finally said tohimself that an open confession, sincere and unrestricted, would be thebest solution of the difficulty; and just as the first light of day cameto dissipate the shadow that overcast his mind, when his orderly enteredto open the blinds in his chamber, he formed a fixed resolution as tohis course. 

CHAPTER XVII. THE LADY BOUNTIFUL

Valentine de Vermont was not yet twenty-two years old. 

Her birth had cost the life of her mother, and, brought up by anactive and enterprising man, her education had been directed by plaincommon-sense, rather masculine, perhaps, but without injury to herpersonal attractions, nor to those of her delicate and lofty spirit. 

Her father, who was endowed with a veritable genius for commercialaction, had monopolized more than the fur-trade of Alaska and ofHudson's Bay. From year to year he had extended the field of hisoperations: in Central America, dealing in grains and salt meats; inEurope in wines and brandy; commodities always bought at the right time, in enormous quantities, and, without pausing in transshipment from onecountry to another, carried in vessels belonging to him and sailingunder the English flag. 

Without giving her any unnecessary instruction as to the management ofhis affairs, he wished his daughter to possess sufficient knowledge ofthem to handle herself the wealth that she would receive as a dowry andat his death; and he decided that she should not contract a marriageexcept under the law of the separation of goods, according to the customgenerally adopted in the United States. 

An attack of paralysis having condemned him to his armchair, heconsecrated the remainder of his days to settling all his enterprises, and when he died, about two years before the arrival of Valentine inParis, that young lady found herself in the possession of more thanone hundred and twenty million francs, nearly all invested in English, American, and French State bonds. 

At the expiration of her period of mourning, the wealthy heiress couldthen live in London, New York, or Paris, at her pleasure; but the Frenchblood that ran in her veins prevented her from hesitating a moment, andshe chose the last named of the three cities for her abode. 

Being passionately fond of saddle and driving-horses, she did not stopin England without taking the necessary time to acquire everythingof the best for the fitting-up of a stable, and after a time sheestablished herself temporarily in a sumptuous apartment in the Place del'Etoile, furnished with a taste worthy of the most thorough Parisian. 

On the evening after her appearance at the Opera, just as she left herbreakfast-table, M. Durand presented himself at her dwelling with thearchitect's plan for the building of the orphan asylum, and declaredhimself ready to take her orders regarding the plan, as well as on thesubject of the gift of money to the Society. 

"I have resolved, " said Zibeline, "to transform into an asylum, following a certain plan, the model farm belonging to the estate thatI have recently purchased through you. If I required carte blanche inchoosing the site, it was because I desire that Monsieur Desvanneauxshall have nothing to do with the matter until the day when I shall putthe committee in possession of the building and its premises, which Ihave engaged to furnish, free of all expense to the Society. I shallemploy my own architect to execute the work, and I shall ask you toindemnify, for me, the architect who has drawn up this first plan, whichwill remain as the minimum expense incurred on my part. But I wish tobe the only person to superintend the arrangements, and to be free tointroduce, without control, such improvements as I may judge suitable. Should the committee demand a guaranty, I have on deposit with Monsieurde Samoreau a million francs which I intend to use in carrying out theseoperations. Half of that sum may be consigned to the hands of some onethey may wish to choose; the other half will serve to pay the laborersin proportion to their work. In order to insure even greater regularity, have the kindness to draw up, to cover the interval that will elapsebefore I make my final definite donation, a provisionary document, setting forth the engagement that I have undertaken to carry out. "

"Here it is, " said the notary; "I have already prepared it. "

Having examined the document carefully, to assure herself that allstatements contained therein were according to her intentions, Zibelinetook her pen and wrote at the foot of the page: "Read and approved, " andsigned the paper. 

"Mademoiselle appears to be well accustomed to business habits, "observed M. Durand, with a smile. 

"That is because I have been trained to them since childhood, " shereplied. "My plan is to place this document myself in the hands ofMadame la Duchesse de Montgeron. "

"You can do so this very afternoon, if you wish. Thursday is herreception day, " said the notary, rising with a bow, preparatory totaking his leave. 

"I shall take good care not to fail to call, " earnestly replied the fairLady Bountiful. 

She telephoned immediately to her head-groom, ordering ham to bringaround her brougham at three o'clock. 

CHAPTER XVIII. A MODERN TARTUFE

At the same hour that the elegant carriage of Zibeline was conductingher to the Hotel de Montgeron, M. Desvanneaux descended from a modestfiacre at the gate of the hotel occupied by Eugenie Gontier. 

The first impulse of the actress--who was engaged in studying a new rolein her library--was not to receive her importunate visitor; but a suddenidea changed her determination, and she gave the order to admit him. 

"This is the first time that I have had the high favor of being admittedto this sanctuary, " said the churchwarden, kissing with ardor the handthat the actress extended to him. 

"Don't let us have so great a display of pious manifestations, " shesaid, withdrawing her hand from this act of humility, which was rathertoo prolonged. "Sit down and be sensible, " she added. 

"Can one be sensible when he finds himself at your feet, dearMademoiselle? At the feet of the idol who is so appropriately enthronedamong so many artistic objects!" replied the honey-tongued Prudhomme, adjusting his eyeglasses. "The bust of General de Prerolles, no doubt?"he added, inquiringly, scrutinizing a marble statuette placed on thehigh mantelpiece. 

"You are wrong, Monsieur Desvanneaux; it is that of Moliere!"

"I beg your pardon!--I am standing so far below it! I, too, have on mybureau a bust of our great Poquelin, but Madame Desvanneaux thinks thatthis author's style is somewhat too pornographic, and has ordered meto replace his profane image by the more edifying one of our charitablepatron, Saint Vincent de Paul. "

"Is it to tell me of your family jars that you honor me with thisvisit?" said Eugenie. 

"No, indeed! It was rather to escape from them, dear Mademoiselle! Butalas! my visit has also another object: to release you from the promiseyou were so kind as to make me regarding the matter of our kermess; aproject now unfortunately rendered futile by that Zibeline!"

"Otherwise called 'Mademoiselle de Vermont. '"

"I prefer to call her Zibeline--that name is better suited to acourtesan. "

"You are very severe toward her!"

"I can not endure hypocrites!" naively replied the worthy man. 

"She appeared to me to be very beautiful, however, " continued EugenieGontier, in order to keep up the conversation on the woman who she feltinstinctively was her rival. 

"Beautiful! Not so beautiful as you, " rejoined M. Desvanneaux, gallantly. "She is a very ambitious person, who throws her money at ourheads, the better to humiliate us. "

"But, since it is all in the interest of the Orphan Asylum--"

"Say, rather, in her own interest, to put herself on a pedestal becauseof her generosity! Oh, she has succeeded at the first stroke! Already, at the Hotel de Montgeron they swear by her; and if this sort of thinggoes on, I shall very soon be regarded only as a pariah!"

"Poor Monsieur Desvanneaux!"

"You pity me, dear Mademoiselle? I thank you! The role of consoler istruly worthy of your large heart, and if you do not forbid me to hope--"said this modern Tartufe, approaching Eugenie little by little. 

"Take care!" said she; "suppose the General should be hidden under thattable, like Orgon!"

"The General!" exclaimed Desvanneaux; "he is too much occupiedelsewhere!"

"Occupied with whom?"

"With Zibeline, probably. He never left her side all the evening, lastnight at the Opera. "

"Pardon me! He was here until after ten o'clock. "

"Yes, but afterward--when the opera was over?"

"Well, what happened when the opera was over?" Eugenie inquired, forcingherself to hide her emotion. 

"They went away together! I saw them--I was watching them from behind acolumn. What a scandal!"

"And your conclusion on all this, Monsieur Desvanneaux?"

"It is that the General is deceiving you, dear Mademoiselle. "

"With that young girl?"

"A bold hussy, I tell you! A Messalina! Ah, I pity you sincerely in myturn! And should a devoted consoler, a discreet avenger, be able to makeyou forget this outrage to your charms, behold me at your feet, devotingto you my prayers, awaiting only a word from you to become the mostfortunate among the elect--"

A loud knock at the outer door spared Mademoiselle Gontier the troubleof repelling her ridiculous adorer, who promptly scrambled to his feetat the sound. 

"A visitor!" he murmured, turning pale. "Decidedly, I have no luck--"

"Monsieur le Marquis de Prerolles is in the drawing-room, " a domesticannounced. 

"Beg him to wait, " said Eugenie, reassured by this visit, which wasearlier than the usual hour. "You see that you are badly informed, Monsieur Desvanneaux, " she added. 

"For heaven's sake, spare me this embarrassing meeting!" said theinformer, whose complexion had become livid. 

"I understand. You fear a challenge?"

"Oh, no, not that! My religious principles would forbid me to fighta duel. But the General would not fail to rally me before my wiferegarding my presence here, and Madame Desvanneaux would be pitiless. "

"Own, however, that you richly deserve a lesson, Lovelace that you are!But I will take pity on you, " said Eugenie, opening a door at the endof the room. "The servants' stairway is at the end of that corridor. Youknow the way!" she added, laughing. 

"I am beginning to know it, dear Mademoiselle!" said the pitifulbeguiler, slipping through the doorway on tiptoe. 

CHAPTER XIX. BROKEN TIES

After picking up a chair which, in his alarm, the fugitive hadoverturned in his flight, Mademoiselle Gontier herself opened the doorleading to the drawing-room. 

"Come in, Henri!" said she, lifting the portiere. 

"Do I disturb you?" the General inquired, entering the library. 

"Never! You know that well! But how gravely you asked the question!"

"For the reason that I wish to speak to you about serious matters, mydear Eugenie. "

The image of Zibeline passed before the eyes of the actress. Thatwhich Desvanneaux had revealed, in accusing the girl of debauchery, nowappeared plausible to her, if considered in another way. 

"You are about to marry!" she exclaimed. 

They were the same words pronounced by Fanny Dorville in similarcircumstances. 

"Never! You know that well enough!" he replied, in his turn. 

"Speak, then!" said she, sinking upon a chair and motioning him to aseat before her. 

He obeyed, and sitting so far forward upon his chair that his kneestouched her skirt, he took both her hands in his own, and said gently:

"You know how much I love you, and how much I esteem you. You know, too, the story of my life: my past follies, and also the honorable careerI have run in order to atone for them morally, for in a material sensethey are irreparable--according to my ideas, at least. This careerhas been fortunate. I have reached the highest rank that a soldier canattain to-day. But my rapid promotion, however justifiable it may be, has none the less awakened jealousy. The nature of my services beingabove all possibility of suspicion, calumny has sought another quarterat which to strike, and at this moment it is my delicacy which isimpugned. "

"Your delicacy, Henri! What do you mean?" asked Eugenie, in an alteredvoice. 

"Our friendship is well known. You are rich, and I have only my pay:the antithesis is flagrant! The gossips comment upon it, and exploit thefact against me. "

"Against you!" cried Eugenie, indignantly. 

"Against me--yes. I have proof of it. A man in private life wouldbe justified in ignoring such gossip, but for a man in my professionambiguity has no place, nor has compromise. Himself a severe judge ofthe conduct of others, he must not afford them a single instance wherebythey can accuse him of not following his own precepts. "

And, as his companion remained silent and startled before an explanationso unexpected, he added:

"You say nothing, my love. You must divine the depth of my chagrinat the prospect of a necessary separation, and you are sufficientlycharitable not to remind me that I ought to have made these tardyreflections before I yielded to a fascination which made me close myeyes to facts. "

"I reproach you with nothing, Henri, " said Eugenie in a trembling voice. "I myself yielded to the same enchantment, and in abandoning myselfto it, I did not foresee that some day it might be prejudicial to yourhonor. A singular moral law is that of the world!" she pursued, growingmore excited. "Let General de Prerolles be the lover of Madame deLisieux or of Madame de Nointel; let him sit every day at theirtables--if there be only a husband whose hand he may clasp in greeting, no one will call this hospitable liaison a crime! But let him feelanything more than a passing fancy for Eugenie Gontier, who violatesno conjugal vow in loving him, but whose love he is not rich enough tobuy--even were that love for sale--oh, then, everyone must point at himthe finger of scorn! As for myself, it seems that it was useless for meto resist so many would-be lovers in order to open my door more freelyto the man of my choice--an action which no one holds against me, however, because I am only an actress, and the public classes us ina separate category, so that they may more readily offer up to us theincense with which they smother us! Be it so! There are also in myprofession disinterested hearts which may serve as examples--and Ipretend to the very highest rank as an actress in every role I assume, even in this city. Take back your liberty, Henri!"

"I have most unwillingly offended you, " said he, sadly. 

"You? Ah, no! I know that you are loyal and sincere, and I could notharbor resentment against you after your avowal. You would have lackedself-confidence had you acted otherwise. But, " she continued, "have youindeed told me all?"

"All!" he replied, without hesitation. 

"Will you give me your word of honor that no other woman stands betweenyou and me?"

"I swear it to you!"

"I thank you! You are incapable of lying. Whatever happens, you neverwill have a better friend than I, for your just pride is still more dearto me than my own. If you cease to come to the theatre, and appear nomore at my receptions, that will be sufficient to insure the silence ofgossip concerning us. Go without remorse, Henri! But come back to see mesometimes--quietly, without the knowledge of the envious--will you not?"

"Do you doubt it?" he responded, folding her tenderly in his arms. 

"Yes and no! But if this is our supreme farewell, do not tell me so!"

BOOK 3. 

CHAPTER XX. ZIBELINE RECEIVES

The Duchesse de Montgeron had no children, and her most tenderaffections were concentrated upon her husband and her brother. Thescruples which caused the latter to forswear matrimony grieved herdeeply, for, knowing the inflexibility of his character, she was surethat no one in the world could make him alter his decision. 

Thus, on one side the title of the Duc de Montgeron was destined to passto a collateral branch of the family; and on the other, the title ofMarquis de Prerolles would become extinct with the General. 

But, although she now considered it impossible to realize the projectwhich she had momentarily cherished, she continued to show the samekindness to Mademoiselle de Vermont. She would have regarded any othercourse as unworthy of her, since she had made the first advances;moreover, the young girl's nature was so engaging that no one whoapproached her could resist her charm. 

Very reserved or absolutely frank, according to the degree of confidencewith which she was treated, Valentine had sufficient intuition to avoida lack of tact. 

She was, in feminine guise, like 'L'Ingenu' of Voltaire, struck, as wasHuron, with all that was illogical in our social code; but she did notmake, after his fashion, a too literal application of its rules, andknew where to draw the line, if she found herself on the point of makingsome hazardous remark, declaring frankly: "I was about to say somethingfoolish!" which lent originality to her playful conversation. 

After receiving from Valentine's hands the contract signed in presenceof the notary, for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum, the president ofthe society did not fail to give a dinner in honor of the new patroness. 

As she was a foreigner she was placed in the seat of honor at the table, to the great displeasure of Madame Desvanneaux, who was invited to takethe second place, in spite of her title of vice-president. 

"It is because of her millions that she was placed before me, " she saidin an undertone to her husband, as soon as the guests had returnedto the drawing-room. And, giving orders that her carriage should besummoned immediately, she left the house without speaking to any one, and with the air of a peeress of England outraged in her rights ofprecedence!

This was, for the hostile pair, a new cause of grievance againstZibeline. When she, in her turn, gave at her home a similar dinner, afortnight later, she received from them, in reply to her invitation, which was couched in the most courteous terms, a simple visiting card, with the following refusal: "The Comte and the Comtesse Desvanneaux, not being in the habit of accepting invitations during Lent, feelconstrained to decline that of Mademoiselle de Vermont. "

The dinner was only the more gay and cordial. 

Valentine's household was conducted on a footing more elegant thansumptuous. 

The livery was simple, but the appearance of her people wasirreproachable. The butler and the house servants wore the ordinarydress-coat and trousers; the powdered footmen wore short brown coats, ornamented, after the English fashion, with metal buttons and a falsewaistcoat; the breeches were of black velveteen, held above the knee bya band of gold braid, with embroidered ends, which fell over black silkstockings. At the end of the ante-chamber where this numerous personnelwas grouped, opened a long gallery, ornamented with old tapestriesrepresenting mythological subjects in lively and well-preservedcoloring. This room, which was intended to serve as a ballroom at need, was next to two large drawing-rooms. The walls of one were covered witha rich material, on which hung costly paintings; the furniture and theceiling of the other were of oak, finely carved, relieved with touchesof gold in light and artistic design. 

Everywhere was revealed an evident desire to avoid an effect ofheaviness and ostentation, and this was especially noticeable in thedining-room, where the pure tone of the panels and the mouldingdoubled the intensity of the light thrown upon them. Upon the tablethe illumination of the apartment was aided by two large candelabra ofbeautifully chiselled silver, filled with candles, the light of whichfiltered through a forest of diaphanous little white shades. 

The square table was a veritable parterre of flowers, and was laid fortwelve guests, three on each side. 

The young mistress of the house was seated on one side, between the Ducde Montgeron and the Marquis de Prerolles. Facing her sat theDuchesse de Montgeron, between General Lenaieff and the Chevalier deSainte-Foy. --Laterally, on one hand appeared Madame de Lisieux, betweenM. De Nointel and the painter Edmond Delorme; on the other, Madame deNointel, between M. De Lisieux and the Baron de Samoreau. 

Never, during the six weeks that Valentine had had friendly relationswith the Duchess, had she appeared so self-possessed, or amongsurroundings so well fitted to display her attractions of mind and ofperson. She was a little on the defensive on finding herself in this newand unexpected society, but she felt, this evening, that she was in themidst of a sympathetic and admiring circle, and did the honors of herown house with perfect ease, finding agreeable words and showing adelicate forethought for each guest, and above all displaying towardher protectress a charming deference, by which the Duchess felt herselfparticularly touched. 

"What a pity!" she said to herself, glancing alternately at Zibelineand at her brother, between whom a tone of frank comradeship had beenestablished, free from any coquetry on her side or from gallantry onhis. 

The more clearly Henri divined the thoughts of his sister, the more heaffected to remain insensible to the natural seductions of his neighbor, to whom Lenaieff, on the contrary, addressed continually, in his softand caressing voice, compliments upon compliments and madrigals uponmadrigals!

"Take care, my dear Constantin!" said Henri to him, bluntly. "You willmake Mademoiselle de Vermont quite impossible. If you go on thus, shewill take herself seriously as a divinity!"

"Fortunately, " rejoined Zibeline, "you are there, General, to remindme that I am only a mortal, as Philippe's freedman reminded his masterevery morning. "

"You can not complain! I serve you as a confederate, to allow youto display your erudition, " retorted the General, continuing hispersiflage. 

But he, too, was only a man, wavering and changeable, to use Montaigne'sexpression, for his eyes, contradicting the brusqueness of his speech, rested long, and not without envy, on this beautiful and tempting fruitwhich his fate forbade him to gather. The more he admired her freshness, and the more he inhaled her sweetness, the more the image of EugenieGontier was gradually effaced from his memory, like one of thosetableaux on the stage, which gauze curtains, descending from the flies, seem to absorb without removing, gradually obliterating the pictures asthey fall, one after another. 

CHAPTER XXI. A DASHING AMAZON

On leaving the table, the fair "Amphitryonne" proposed that thegentlemen should use her private office as a smoking-room, and theladies followed them thither, pretending that the odor of tobacco wouldnot annoy them in the least, but in reality to inspect this new room. 

Edmond Delorme had finished his work that very morning, and the enormouscanvas, with its life-size subject, had already been hung, lighted fromabove and below by electric bulbs, the battery for which was cleverlyhidden behind a piece of furniture. 

The portrait, bearing a striking resemblance to the original, was indeedthat of "the most dashing of all the Amazons on the Bois, " to quotethe words of the artist, who was a better painter of portraits than ofanimals, but who, in this case, could not separate the rider from hersteed. 

Seaman, a Hungarian bay, by Xenophon and Lena Rivers, was drawn inprofile, very erect on his slender, nervous legs. He appeared, on theside nearest the observer, to be pawing the ground impatiently with hishoof, a movement which seemed to be facilitated by his rider, who, drawnin a three-quarters view and extending her hand, allowed the reins tofall over the shoulders of her pure-blooded mount. 

"What do you think of it?" Zibeline inquired of General de Prerolles. 

"I think you have the air of the commander of a division of cavalry, awaiting the moment to sound the charge. "

"I shall guard her well, " said Zibeline, "for she would be sure to beput to rout by your bayonets. "

"Not by mine!" gallantly exclaimed Lenaieff. "I should immediately lowermy arms before her!"

"You!--perhaps! But between General de Prerolles and myself thedeclaration of war is without quarter. Is it not, General?" saidValentine, laughing. 

"It is the only declaration that fate permits me to make to you, Mademoiselle, " Henri replied, rather dryly, laying emphasis on thedouble sense of his words. 

This rejoinder, which nothing in the playful attack had justified, irritated the Duchess, but Valentine appeared to pay no attention to it, and at ten o'clock, when a gypsy band began to play in the long gallery, she arose. 

"Although we are a very small party, " she said, "would you not like toindulge in a waltz, Mesdames? The gentlemen can not complain of beingcrowded here, " she added, with a smile. 

M. De Lisieux and M. De Nointel, as well as Edmond Delorme, hastened tothrow away their cigarettes, and all made their way to the long gallery. The Baron de Samoreau and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy remained alonetogether. 

The Duchess took the occasion to speak quietly to her brother. 

"I assure you that you are too hard with her, " she said. "There isno need to excuse yourself for not marrying. No one dreams of such athing--she no more than any one else. But she seems to have a sentimentof friendship toward you, and I am sure that your harshness wounds her. "

A more experienced woman than Madame de Montgeron, who had known onlya peaceful and legitimate love, would have quickly divined that beneathher brother's brusque manner lurked a budding but hopeless passion, whence sprang his intermittent revolt against the object that hadinspired it. 

This revolt was not only against Zibeline's fortune; it included herall-pervading charm, which penetrated his soul. He was vexed at hissister for having brought them together; he was angry with himselfthat he had allowed his mind to be turned so quickly from his formerprejudices; and, however indifferent he forced himself to appear, hewas irritated against Lenaieff because of the attentions which thatgentleman showered upon Zibeline, upon whom he revenged himself byassuming the aggressive attitude for which the Duchess had reproachedhim. 

In a still worse humor after the sisterly remonstrance to which he hadjust been compelled to listen, he seated himself near the entrance ofthe gallery, where the gypsy band was playing one of their alluringwaltzes, of a cadence so different from the regular and monotonousmeasure of French dance music. 

The three couples who were to compose this impromptu ball, yieldedquickly to the spell of this irresistible accompaniment. 

"Suppose Monsieur Desvanneaux should hear that we danced on the eve ofPalm Sunday?" laughingly pro-tested Madame de Lisieux. 

"He would report it at Rome, " said Madame de Nointel. 

And, without further regard to the compromising of their souls, each ofthe two young women took for a partner the husband of the other. 

Mademoiselle de Vermont had granted the eager request of Lenaieff thatshe would waltz with him, an occupation in which the Russian officeracquitted himself with the same respectful correctness that had formerlyobtained for him the high favor of some grand duchess at the balls inthe palace of Gatchina. 

He was older and stouter than his brother-in-arms, Henri de Prerolles, and a wound he had received at Plevna slightly impeded his movements, so that he was unable to display the same activity in the dance as theother waltzers, and contented himself with moving a 'trois temps', in anevolution less in harmony with the brilliancy of the music. 

Henri, on the contrary, who had been a familiar friend of the Austrianambassador at the time when the Princess de Metternich maintained a sortof open ballroom for her intimates, had learned, in a good school, allthe boldness and elegance of the Viennese style of dancing. 

But he sat immovable, as did also Edmond Delorme, because of the lack ofpartners; and, not wishing to take the second place after Lenaieff, hisrival, he would not for the world abandon his role of spectator, unlesssome one forced him to it. 

"Suppose we have a cotillon figure, in order to change partners?" saidValentine suddenly, during a pause, after she had thanked her partner. 

And, to set the example, she took, from a basket of flowers, a rosebud, which she offered to Henri. 

"Will you take a turn with me?" she said, with the air of the mistressof the house, who shows equal courtesy to all her guests. 

"A deux temps?" he asked, fastening the rosebud in his buttonhole. 

"Yes, I prefer that, " she replied. 

He passed his arm around her waist, and they swept out upon the polishedfloor, he erect and gallant, she light and supple as a gazelle, herchin almost resting upon her left hand, which lay upon her partner'sshoulder, her other hand clasped in his. 

At times her long train swirled in a misty spiral around her, when theywhirled about in some corner; then it spread out behind her like a greatfan when they swept in a wide curve from one end of the gallery to theother. 

During the feverish flight which drew these two together, their breaststouched, the bosom of the enchantress leaned against the broad chestof the vigorous soldier, her soft hair caressed his cheek, he inhaled asubtle Perfume, and a sudden intoxication overflowed his heart, which hehad tried to make as stern and immobile as his face. 

"How well you waltz!" murmured Zibeline, in his ear. 

"I am taking my revenge for my defeat on the ice, " he replied, claspingher a little closer, in order to facilitate their movements. 

"The prisoners you take must find it very difficult to escape from yourhands, " she said, with a touch of malice. 

"Does that mean that already you wish to reclaim your liberty?"

"Not yet--unless you are fatigued. "

"Fatigued! I should like to go thus to the end of the world!"

"And I, too, " said Zibeline, simply. 

By common consent the other waltzers had stopped, as much for thepurpose of observing these two as for giving them more space, while thewearied musicians scraped away as if it were a contest who should movethe faster, themselves or the audacious couple. 

"What a pity!" again said the Duchess to her husband, whosesole response was a shrug of his shoulders as he glanced at hisbrother-in-law. 

At the end of his strength, and with a streaming brow, the gypsy leaderlowered his bow, and the music ceased. 

Henri de Prerolles, resuming his sang-froid, drew the hand ofMademoiselle de Vermont through his arm, and escorted her to her placeamong the other ladies. 

"Bravo, General!" said Madame de Lisieux. "You have won your decoration, I see, " she added, indicating the rosebud which adorned his buttonhole. 

"What shall we call this new order, ladies?" asked Madame de Nointel ofthe circle. 

"The order of the Zibeline, " Valentine replied, with a frank burst oflaughter. 

"What?--do you know--" stammered the author of the nickname, blushing upto her ears. 

"Do not disturb yourself, Madame! The zibeline is a little animal whichis becoming more and more rare. They never have been found at all in mycountry, which I regret, " said Mademoiselle de Vermont graciously. 

The hour was late, and the Duchess arose to depart. The Chevalier deSainte-Foy, exercising his function as a sort of chamberlain, went tosummon the domestics. Meanwhile Valentine spoke confidentially to Henri. 

"General, " said she, "I wish to ask a favor of you. "

"I am at your orders, Mademoiselle. "

"I am delighted with the success of this little dinner, " Valentinecontinued, "and I wish to give another after Easter. My great desire isto have Mademoiselle Gontier--with whom I should like to become betteracquainted--recite poetry to us after dinner. Would you have thekindness to tell her of my desire?"

"I!" exclaimed the General, amazed at such a request. 

"Yes, certainly. If you ask her, she will come all the more willingly. "

"You forget that I am not in the diplomatic service, Mademoiselle. "

"My request annoys you? Well, we will say no more about it, " saidZibeline. "I will charge Monsieur de Samoreau with the negotiations. "

They rejoined the Duchess, Zibeline accompanying her to the vestibule, always evincing toward her the same pretty air of deference. 

The drive home was silent. The Duke and the Duchess had agreed not topronounce the name of Mademoiselle de Vermont before Henri, who rackedhis brain without being able to guess what strange motive prompted theyoung girl to wish to enter into closer relations with the actress. 

A letter from Eugenie was awaiting him. He read:

 "Two weeks have elapsed since you have been to see me. I do not ask whether you love me still, but I do ask you, in case you love another, to tell me so frankly. 

 "ARIADNE. "

"So I am summoned to the confessional, and am expected to accuse myselfof that which I dare not avow even to my own heart! Never!" said Henri, crushing the note in his hand. "Besides, unless I deceive myself, Ariadne has not been slow in seeking a consoling divinity! Samoreau isat hand, it appears. He played the part of Plutus before; now he willassume that of Bacchus, " thought the recreant lover, in order to smotherhis feeling of remorse. 

CHAPTER XXII. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING

The life of General de Prerolles was uniformly regulated. He arose atdawn, and worked until the arrival of his courier; then he mounted hishorse, attired in morning military costume. 

After his ride, he visited the quartermaster-general of his division, received the report of his chief of staff, and gave necessary orders. It was at this place, and never at the General's own dwelling, thatthe captains or subaltern officers presented themselves when they hadoccasion to speak to him. 

At midday he returned to breakfast at the Hotel de Montgeron where, morning and evening, his plate was laid; and soon after this meal heretired to his own quarters to work with his orderly, whose duty itwas to report to him regarding the numerous guns and pieces of heavyordnance which make the object of much going and coming in militarylife. 

After signing the usual number of documents, the General would mountanother of his horses, and at this hour would appear in civilian attirefor an afternoon canter. After this second ride he would pass an hour athis club, but without ever touching a card, no matter what game was inprogress. 

He dined at different places, but oftenest with his sister, where bythis time a studied silence was preserved on the subject of Zibeline. This, however, did not prevent him from thinking of her more and more. 

Mademoiselle de Vermont had not been seen again in the Bois de Boulognesince the night of her dinner, although Henri had sought in vain to meether in the mornings in the bridle-path, and afternoons in the Avenue desAcacias. 

He decided that probably she did not wish to ride during Holy Week; butwhen several days had passed after Easter, and still she was not seenamusing herself in her usual fashion, he said to himself that perhaps itwould be the proper thing to make what is called "a dinner-call. "

There are some women whose fascination is so overwhelming as to causethe sanest of lovers to commit themselves, whence comes the slightlyvulgar expression, "He has lost his bearings. " Henri began to feel thathe was in this state when he presented himself at Zibeline's home. Adomestic informed him that Mademoiselle had been absent a week, but wasexpected home that evening. He left his card, regretting that he had notwaited twenty-four hours more. 

It was now the middle of April, the time when the military governorof Paris is accustomed to pass in review the troops stationed on theterritory under his command, and this review was to take place the nextmorning. 

The order for the mobilizing of his own division having been receivedand transmitted, Henri's evening was his own, and he resolved to pass itwith Lenaieff, feeling certain that his colleague at least would speakto him of Zibeline. 

The aide-de-camp general lived at the Hotel Continental, much frequentedby Russians of distinction. Henri found his friend just dressing fordinner, and well disposed to accept his proposition. 

As they descended the stairs, they passed an imposing elderly man, withwhite moustache and imperial, still very erect in his long redingotewith military buttons--a perfect type of the German officer who getshimself up to look like the late Emperor William I. This officer andthe French general stopped on the stairs, each eyeing the other withoutdeciding whether he ought to salute or not, as often happens with peoplewho think they recognize some one, but without being able to recallwhere or in what circumstances they have met before. 

It was Henri whose memory was first revived. 

"Captain, you are my prisoner!" he said, gayly, seizing the stranger bythe collar. 

"What! The Commandant de Prerolles!" cried the elderly man, ina reproachful tone, from which fifteen years had not removed thebitterness. 

"I know who he is!" said Lenaieff. "Monsieur is your former jailer ofthe frontier fortress!"

The officer of the landwehr attempted to withdraw from the hand thatheld him. 

"Oh, I don't intend to let you escape! You are coming to dine withus, and we will sign a treaty of peace over the dessert, " said Henri, clasping the officer's hand affectionately. 

His tone was so cordial that the stranger allowed himself to bepersuaded. A quarter of an hour later all three were seated at a tablein the Cafe Anglais. 

"I present to you General Lenaieff, " said Henri to his guest. "Youshould be more incensed against him than against me, for, if he had donehis duty, you would probably have had me imprisoned again. "

"Not imprisoned--shot!" the Captain replied, with conviction. 

"In that case I regret my complicity still less, " said Lenaieff, "forotherwise I should have lost an excellent friend, and, had Prerollesbeen shot, he never could have made me acquainted with the deliciousMademoiselle de Vermont!"

"Ah! So that is what you are thinking of?" Henri said to himself. 

"I do not know the young lady of whom you speak, " the Germaninterrupted; "but I know that, for having allowed the Commandant toescape, I was condemned to take his place in the prison, and was shutup there for six months, in solitary confinement, without even seeing mywife!"

"Poor Captain! How is the lady?" Henry inquired. 

"Very well, I thank you. "

"Will you permit us to drink her health?"

"Certainly, Monsieur. "

"Hock! hoch!" said Henri, lifting his glass. 

"Hock! hoch!" responded the ex-jailer, drinking with his formerprisoner. 

This delicate toast began to appease the bitterness of the good man;while the memories of his escape, offering a diversion to Henri's mind, put him in sympathetic humor with the stranger. 

"'Ah! There are mountains that we never climb but once, '" he said. "Wethree, meeting in Paris, can prove the truth of that proverb. "

"Not only in Paris, " said Lenaieff. "If you were in Saint Petersburg, Henri, you might, any evening, see your old flame, Fanny Dorville. "

"Does she keep a table d'hote?"

"No, indeed, my boy. She plays duenna at the Theatre Michel, as thatfat Heloise used to do at the Palais-Royal. She must have died long ago, that funny old girl!"

"Not at all. She is still living, and is a pensioner of the Associationof Dramatic Artists! But, pardon me, our conversation can hardly beamusing to our guest. "

"No one can keep a Frenchman and a Russian from talking about women! Thehabit is stronger than themselves!" said the old officer, with a heartylaugh. 

"Well, and you, Captain, " said Lenaieff: "Have you not also trodden theprimrose path in your time?"

"Gentlemen, I never have loved any other woman than my own wife, "replied the honest German, laying his large hand upon his heart, as ifhe were taking an oath. "That astonishes you Parisians, eh?" he addedbenevolently. 

"Quite the contrary! It assures us peace of mind!" said Lenaieff. "Toyour health, Captain!"

"And yours, Messieurs!"

And their glasses clinked a second time. 

"Apropos, " said Lenaieff to Henri, "the military governor has asked meto accompany him to-morrow to the review at Vincennes. I shall then havethe pleasure of seeing you at the head of your division. "

"Teufel!" exclaimed the German officer; "it appears that the Commandantde Prerolles has lost no time since we took leave of each other. "

"Thanks to you, Monsieur! Had you not allowed me to withdraw from yoursociety, I should certainly not have reached my present rank! To yourhealth, Captain!"

"To yours, General!"

Succeeding bumpers finally dissipated entirely the resentment of theformer jailer, and when they parted probably never to meet again--he andhis prisoner had become the best friends in the world. 

"Meine besten complimente der Frau Hauptmannin!" said Henri to him, inleaving him on the boulevard. 

"Lieber Gott! I shall take good care not to own to her that I dined withyou. "

"And why, pray?"

"Because there is one thing for which she never will forgive you. "

"What is that?"

"The fact that you were the cause of her living alone for six months!"

CHAPTER XXIII. THE MILITARY REVIEW

The different troops, assembled for review, were massed on theparade-ground at Vincennes, facing the tribunes. 

In the centre, the artillery brigade, surrounded by two divisions ofinfantry, was drawn up in two straight columns, connected by regiments;each division of infantry, in double columns, was connected by brigades. 

These six columns were separated by spaces varying from twenty totwenty-five metres. 

In the background, the cavalry division was lined up in columns; behindthat was its artillery, in the same order of formation. 

At a given signal, the troops advanced five hundred metres, and, as soonas they halted, drums, clarinets and trumpets beat and sounded from allparts of the field, saluting the arrival of the military governor ofParis. 

This functionary, followed by his staff, in the midst of which groupglittered the brilliant Russian uniform of the aide-decamp GeneralLeniaeff, rode slowly past the front and the flanks of the massed body, the troops facing to the left or the right as he passed. 

This inspection finished, he took up his stand before the pillars at theentrance, and the march past began by battalions en masse, in the midstof the acclamations of numerous spectators who had come to witness thisimposing display, well calculated to stir patriotic pride. 

The enthusiasm increased; the Prerolles division marched past after itsartillery, and, as always, the martial and distinguished profile of itsgeneral produced its usual effect on the public. 

He rode Aida, his favorite mare, an Irish sorrel of powerful frame, withsolid limbs, whose horizontal crupper and long tail indicated her race;she was one of those animals that are calm and lively at the same time, capable of going anywhere and of passing through all sorts of trials. 

After its parade, the infantry, whose part in the affair was finished, retraced their steps and took up a position on the other side of thefield of manoeuvres, facing the north, and in front of rising ground, inpreparation for the discharge of musketry. 

During this time the artillery brigade, re-formed in battle array onthe parade-ground, detached six batteries, which advanced at a trotto within one hundred and fifty metres of the tribunes, where theydischarged a volley. The long pieces were run rapidly to right andleft, unmasking the cavalry, which, after a similar volley from itsown batteries, appeared behind them in battle order, and executed agalloping march, its third line held in reserve. 

A few moments later all the troops rejoined the infantry on the groundset apart for rest and for the purpose of partaking of a cold repast, consisting of potted meats, with which each man was furnished. 

Nothing more picturesque could be imagined than this temporary camp, with its stacked arms, knapsacks lying on the ground, holes dug in theground in which to kindle fires, and the clattering of cans. On theother side of the field the artillerymen and cavalrymen ate, holdingtheir reins under their arms, while their officers stood around sometemporary table, served by canteen men of the united divisions. Tinycolumns of blue smoke rose where coffee was making, and everywhere werethe swift movement and sprightly good-fellowship in which the soldierfeels himself in his natural element. 

The curious spectators crowded themselves in front of the banner, whilein the centre of the square the military governor of Paris, and theother officers, talked with some privileged persons who had been able topresent themselves among them. 

Descending from his mount a little apart from the group, and plunged inthought, the former sub-lieutenant of 'chasseurs a pied' gazed at theold fortress, the sight of which recalled so many sad memories. 

Vincennes had been his first garrison, and its proximity to Paris hadbeen disastrous for him. There he had entered one morning, stripped ofhis fortune!

And what a series of disasters had followed! But for his heavy lossesupon that fatal night, he would not have been compelled to sellPrerolles, the income of which, during his long absence, would havesufficed to lessen the tax on the land, transmissible, had events turnedout otherwise, to some heir to his name. If only fate had not made PaulLandry cross his path!

"Good morning, General!" came the sound of a fresh, gay voice behind, which sent a thrill through him. 

He turned and saw Zibeline, who had just stopped a few steps distantfrom him, sitting in her carriage, to which was harnessed a pretty pairof cobs, prancing and champing their bits. 

"Ah, it is you, Mademoiselle!" he said, carrying his hand to the visorof his kepi, fastened under his chin. 

"I found your card last night, " said Zibeline, "and I have come herethis morning to return your call!"

Then, leaning back in her driving-seat in order to reveal Edmond Delormeinstalled beside her, she added:

"I have brought also my painter-in-ordinary. We have watched the reviewtogether, and he is as enthusiastic as I over the picturesque effectof this improvised bivouac. See! He is so much occupied with his sketchthat I can not get a word out of him. "

It was Aida, whose bridle was held by a dragoon, that served as a modelfor the artist's pencil. 

"Will you permit me?" he said to Henri. 

"It appears decidedly, that my mare has caught your eye, " replied theGeneral, approaching the carriage and resting his spurred foot on itsstep. 

"She has superb lines, " said the painter, without interrupting hisdrawing. 

"Well, I am curious to know whether she could beat Seaman, " saidZibeline. "Are you willing to run a race with me, General?"

"As you please--some morning when you return to the Bois. "

"You noticed my absence, then?"

"I assure you that I did, " Henri replied, earnestly. 

Then, fearing that he had said too much, he added:

"I, and many others!"

"Good! You were almost making a pretty speech to me, but, as usual, thedisavowal was not slow in coming. Fortunately, here comes your friendLenaieff, who is hastening to make amends to me. "

"What good fortune to meet you here, Mademoiselle!" cried Constantin, who, having perceived Valentine from a distance, had taken an abruptleave of his general-in-chief. 

"I know that you have called to see me several times, " said she, "but Iwas in the country. "

"So early in the month of April?"

"Oh! not to live there. Monsieur de Perolles knows that I have promisedto build our Orphan Asylum at a certain distance from Paris, and hardlythree weeks remain to me before I must hand over the property. If I amnot ready on the day appointed, Monsieur Desvanneaux will be sure toseize my furniture, and I could not invite you any more to dinner, Messieurs! A propos, General, Monsieur de Samoreau has failed in hisnegotiations. Mademoiselle Gontier refuses to come to recite at my nextsoiree!"

"What necessity is there for you to make her acquaintance?" demandedHenri. 

"Ah, that is my secret!"

During this conversation a hired fiacre, well appointed, had stoppedbeside the road, and Eugenie Gontier descended from it, inquiring ofan officer belonging to the grounds where she could find General dePrerolles. When the officer had pointed out the General to her, shestarted to walk toward him; but, on seeing her former lover leaningfamiliarly against the door of Zibeline's carriage, she immediatelyretraced her steps and quickly reentered her own. 

"There is no longer any doubt about it!" said Mademoiselle de Vermont, who had been observing Eugenie's movements. "Mademoiselle Gontier hasmade a fixed resolution to avoid meeting me. "

"That is because she is jealous of you!" said Lenaieff naively. 

"Jealous? And why?" said Zibeline, blushing. 

Visibly embarrassed, Henri drew out his watch in order to avert hiscountenance. 

"Midday!" he cried. "This is the hour for the return of the troops totheir barracks. You would do well not to delay in starting for home, Mademoiselle. The roads will be very crowded, and your horses will notbe able to trot. I beg your pardon for taking away your model, my dearDelorme, but I really must be off. "

"It is all the same to me; I have finished my sketch, " said the painter, closing his portfolio. 

At this moment, as the military governor passed near them, on his way tothe crossway of the Pyramid, Henri made a movement as if to rejoin him. 

"Do not disturb yourself, General de Prerolles, " said the militarygovernor. "The compliments which I have made you on the fine appearanceof your troops are probably not so agreeable to you as those to whichyou are listening at present!"

And saluting Mademoiselle de Vermont courteously, he went his way. 

"Now you are free, Henri. Suppose we accompany Mademoiselle back toParis?" suggested Lenaieff, seeming to read his friend's mind. 

"What an honor for me!" Valentine exclaimed. 

The General made a sign to his orderly, who approached to receive hisinstructions. 

"Tell the brigadier-generals that I am about to depart. I need no moreescort than two cavalrymen for General Lenaieff and myself. Now I amready, Mademoiselle, " Henri continued, turning toward Valentine. "If youwill be guided by me, we should do well to reach the fortifications byway of the Lake of Saint-Mande. "

She made a little sound with her tongue, and the two cobs set off inthe direction indicated, the crowds they passed stopping to admire theirhigh action, and asking one another who was that pretty woman who wasescorted by two generals, the one French, the other a foreigner. 

"I must look like a treaty of peace in a Franco-Russian alliance!" saidZibeline, gayly. 

The sun shone brightly, the new leaves were quivering on the trees, thebreeze bore to the ear the echo of the military bands. 

Animated by the sound, the two cobs went ahead at a great pace, but theywere kept well in hand by their mistress, who was dressed this morningin a simple navy-blue costume, with a small, oval, felt hat, ornamentedwith two white wings, set on in a manner that made the wearer resemble avalkyrie. Her whip, an unnecessary accessory, lay across the seat at herright, on which side of the carriage Henri rode. 

The General's eyes missed none of the graceful movements of the younggirl. And his reflections regarding her, recently interrupted, returnedin full force, augmenting still more his regret at the inexorable fatethat separated him from her. "What a pity!" he thought in his turn, repeating unconsciously the phrase so often uttered by his sister. 

Arrived at the Place du Trene, Valentine stopped her horses a moment, and addressed her two cavaliers:

"I thank you for your escort, gentlemen. But however high may be yourrank, I really can not go through Paris looking like a prisoner betweentwo gendarmes! So good-by! I shall see you this evening perhaps, butgood-by for the present. "

They gave her a military salute, and the carriage disappeared in theFaubourg St. Antoine, while the two horsemen followed the line of thequays along the Boulevard Diderot. 

CHAPTER XXIV. THE CHALLENGE

That person who, in springtime, between ten o'clock and midday, neverhas walked beside the bridle-path in the Bois de Boulogne, underthe deep shade of the trees, can form no idea of the large number ofequestrians that for many years have been devoted to riding along thatdelightful and picturesque road. 

To see and to be seen constitutes the principal raison d'etre of thisexercise, where the riders traverse the same path going and coming, aman thus being able to meet more than once the fair one whom he seeks, or a lady to encounter several times a cavalier who interests her. 

On this more and more frequented road, the masculine element displayeddifferent costumes, according to the age and tastes of each rider. Theyoung men appeared in careless array: leggins, short coats, and smallcaps. The older men, faithful to early traditions, wore long trousers, buttoned-up redingotes, and tall hats, like those worn by their fathers, as shown in the pictures by Alfred de Dreux. 

For the feminine element the dress is uniform. It consists of ariding-habit of black or dark blue, with bodice and skirt smoothlymolded to the form by one of the two celebrated habit-makers, Youss orCreed. The personal presence alone varied, according to the degree ofperfection of the model. 

A cylindrical hat, a little straight or turned-over collar, a cravattied in a sailor's knot, a gardenia in the buttonhole, long trousers andvarnished boots completed the dress of these modern Amazons, who, havingnothing in common with the female warriors of ancient times, are notdeprived, as were those unfortunates, of any of their feminine charms. 

The military element is represented by officers of all grades fromgenerals to sub-lieutenants, in morning coats, with breeches and highboots, forbidden under the Second Empire, but the rule at present. 

At the top of the Pre-Catelan, the path is crossed by the Bagatelle roadto the lakes, a point of intersection situated near a glade where theladies were fond of stopping their carriages to chat with those passingon horseback. A spectator might have fancied himself at the meet of ahunting-party, lacking the whippers-in and the dogs. 

A few days after the review at Vincennes, on a bright morning in May, a file of victorias and pony-chaises were strung out along this sylvanglade, and many persons had alighted from them. Announcing their arrivalby trumpet-blasts, two or three vehicles of the Coaching Club, headedby that of the Duc de Mont had discharged a number of pretty passengers, whose presence soon caused the halt of many gay cavaliers. 

Several groups were formed, commenting on the news of the day, thescandal of the day before, the fete announced for the next day. 

More serious than the others, the group surrounding Madame de Montgeronstrolled along under the trees in the side paths which, in theirwindings, often came alongside of the bridle-path. 

"What has become of Mademoiselle de Vermont, Duchess?" inquired Madamede Lisieux, who had been surprised not to find Zibeline riding withtheir party. 

"She is in the country, surrounded by masons, occupied in the buildingof our Orphan Asylum. The time she required before making over theproperty to us expires in two weeks. "

"It is certainly very singular that we do not know where we are to gofor the ceremonies of inauguration, " said Madame Desvanneaux, in herusual vinegary tones. 

"I feel at liberty to tell you that the place is not far away, and thejourney thence will not fatigue you, " said the president, with the airof one who has long known what she has not wished to reveal heretofore. 

"The question of fatigue should not discourage us when it is a matter ofdoing good, " said M. Desvanneaux. "Only, in the opinion of the foundersof the Orphan Asylum, it should be situated in the city of Parisitself. "

"The donor thought that open fields and fresh air would be better forthe children. "

"Land outside of Paris costs very much less, of course; that is probablythe real reason, " said M. Desvanneaux. 

"Poor Zibeline! you are well hated!" Madame de Nointel could not helpsaying. 

"We neither like nor dislike her, Madame. We regard her as indifferentlyas we do that, " the churchwarden replied, striking down a branch withthe end of his stick, with the superb air of a Tarquin. 

Still gesticulating, he continued:

"The dust that she throws in the eyes of others does not blind us, thatis all!"

The metaphor was not exactly happy, for at that instant the unlucky manreceived full in his face a broadside of gravel thrown by the hoofs of ahorse which had been frightened by the flourishing stick, and which hadresponded to the menace by a violent kick. 

This steed was none other than Seaman, ridden by Mademoiselle deVermont. She had recognized the Duchess and turned her horse back inorder to offer her excuses for his misconduct, the effects of whichMadame Desvanneaux tried to efface by brushing off the gravel with thecorner of her handkerchief. 

"What has happened?" asked General de Prerolles, who at that momentcantered up, mounted on Aida. 

"Oh, nothing except that Mademoiselle has just missed killing my husbandwith that wicked animal of hers!" cried the Maegera, in a fury. 

"Mademoiselle might turn the accusation against him, " Madame de Nointelsaid, with some malice. "It was he who frightened her horse. "

The fiery animal, with distended veins and quivering nostrils, snortedviolently, cavorted sidewise, and tried to run. Zibeline needed all herfirmness of grasp to force him, without allowing herself to be thrown, to stand still on the spot whence had come the movement that had alarmedhim. 

"Your horse needs exercise, " said Henri to the equestrienne. "You oughtto give him an opportunity to do something besides the formal trotaround this path. "

"I should be able to do so, if ever we could have our match, " saidZibeline. "Will you try it now?"

"Come on!"

She nodded, gave him her hand an instant, and they set off, side byside, followed by Zibeline's groom, no less well mounted than she, andwearing turned-over boots, bordered with a band of fawn-colored leather, according to the fashion. 

CHAPTER XXV. THE AMAZON HAS A FALL

They were a well-matched pair: he, the perfect type of the elegant andalways youthful soldier; she, the most dashing of all the Amazons in theBois, to quote the words of Edmond Delorme. 

Everyone was familiar with the personal appearance of both riders, andrecognized them, but until now Mademoiselle de Vermont had always riddenalone, and now to see her accompanied by the gallant General, whoseembroidered kepi glittered in the sunlight, was a new spectacle for thegallery. 

The people looked at them all the more because Seaman was stillprancing, but without unseating his mistress, who held him at any gaitor any degree of swiftness that pleased her. 

"What a good seat you have!" said Henri. 

"That is the first real compliment you ever have paid me. I shallappropriate it immediately, before you have time to retract it, "Zibeline replied. 

At the circle of Melezes, Henri proposed to turn to the right, in orderto reach Longchamp. 

"A flat race! You are joking!" Zibeline cried, turning to the left, toward the road of La Vierge, "You don't intend that we shall run a steeplechase, I hope. "

"On the contrary, that is exactly my intention! You are not afraid totry it, are you?"

"Not on my own account, but on yours. "

"You know very well that I never am daunted by any obstacle. "

"Figuratively, yes; but in riding a horse it is another matter. "

"All the more reason why I should not be daunted now, " Zibelineinsisted. 

When they arrived at the public square of the Cascades, in front of theAuteuil hippodrome, she paused a moment between the two lakes, uncertainwhich course to take. 

It was Thursday, the day of the races. The vast ground, enclosed on allsides by a fence, had been cleared, since early morning, of the boardscovering the paths reserved for pedestrians on days when there was noracing; but it was only eleven o'clock, and the place was not yet opento the paying public. Several workmen, in white blouses, went along thetrack, placing litters beside the obstacles where falls occurred mostfrequently. 

"Do you think the gatekeeper will allow us to enter at this hour?"Zibeline asked. 

"I hope not!" Henri replied. 

"Well, then, I shall enter without his permission! You are free todeclare me the winner. I shall be left to make a walkover, I see!" Andsetting off at a gallop along the bridle-path, which was obstructed alittle farther on by the fence itself, she struck her horse resolutely, and with one audacious bound sprang over the entrance gate. She was nowon the steeplechase track. 

"You are mad!" cried the General, who, as much concerned for her safetyas for his own pride, urged on his mare, and, clearing the fence, landedbeside Zibeline on the other side. 

"All right!" she cried, in English, dropping her whip, as the starterdrops the flag at the beginning of a race. 

The die was cast. Henri bent over Aida's neck, leaning his hands uponher withers in an attitude with which experience had made him familiar, and followed the Amazon, determined to win at all hazards. 

Zibeline's groom, an Englishman, formerly a professional jockey, hadalready jumped the fence, in spite of the cries of the guard, who ranto prevent him, and coolly galloped after his mistress, keeping at hisusual distance. 

The first two hedges, which were insignificant obstacles for suchhorses, were crossed without effort. 

"Not the brook, I beg of you!" cried Henri, seeing that, instead ofrunning past the grand-stand, Zibeline apparently intended to attemptthis dangerous feat. 

"Come on! Seaman would never forgive me if I balk at it!" she cried, riding fearlessly down the slope. 

The good horse gathered up his four feet on the brink, took one vigorousleap, appearing for a second to hover over the water; then he felllightly on the other side of the stream, with a seesaw movement, towhich the intrepid Amazon accommodated herself by leaning far back. Therebound threw her forward a little, but she straightened herself quicklyand went on. 

The General, who had slackened his pace that he might not interferewith her leap, gave vent to a sigh of relief. He pressed Aida's flanksfirmly, and the big Irish mare jumped after her competitor, with themajestic dignity of her race. 

Reassured by the 'savoir-faire' of his companion, the former winner ofthe military steeplechase felt revive within himself all his ardor forthe conflict, and he hastened to make up the distance he had lost. 

The two horses, now on the west side of the racetrack, were almostneck-and-neck, and it would have been difficult to prognosticate whichhad the better chance of victory. Zibeline's light weight gave Seamanthe advantage, but Aida gained a little ground every time she leaped anobstacle; so that, after passing the hurdles and the third hedge, thechampions arrived simultaneously at the summit of the hill, from whichpoint the track extends in a straight line, parallel with the Allee desFortifications. 

Feeling himself urged on still harder, the English horse began to layback his ears and pull so violently on the rein that his rider had allshe could do to hold him, and lacked sufficient strength to direct hiscourse. Seeing Zibeline's danger, Henri hastened to slacken his horse'space, but it was too late: the almost perpendicular declivity of theother side of the hill added fresh impetus to the ungovernable rush ofSeaman, who suddenly became wild and reckless. 

The situation was all the more critical for the reason that the nextobstacle was a brook, only two metres wide, but of which the passage wasobstructed on the farther side of the track by heavy beams, laid oneon top of another, solidly riveted and measuring one metre and tenmillimetres from the base to the summit. The excited horse chargedobliquely toward this obstruction with all his might. Paying no moreattention to the pressure upon his bit, he rose in the air, but as hehad not given himself sufficient time to take plenty of room for theleap, his hoofs struck violently against the top beam, the force ofresistance of which threw him over on one side; his hindquarters turnedin the air, and he fell in a heap on the other side of the obstacle, sending up a great splash of water as he went into the brook. 

Had Zibeline been crushed by the weight of the horse in this terriblefall, or, not having been able to free herself from him, had she beendrowned under him? Henri uttered a hoarse cry, struck his spurs into thesides of his mare, crossed the brook breathlessly, stopping on the otherside as soon as he could control his horse's pace; then, rushing back, he leaped to the ground to save the poor girl, if there was still timeto do so. 

Zibeline lay inanimate on the grass, her face lying against the earth. By a lucky chance, the horse had fallen on his right side, so that hisrider's limbs and skirt had not been caught. Unhorsed by the violenceof the shock, Zibeline had gone over the animal's head and fallen on theother side of the brook. Her Amazon hat, so glossy when she had set out, was now crushed, and her gloves were torn and soiled with mud; whichindicated that she had fallen on her head and her hands. 

Henri knelt beside her, passed his arm around her inert and charmingbody, and drew her tenderly toward him. Her eyes were half-open anddull, her lips pale; her nose, the nostrils of which were usually welldilated, had a pinched look; and a deadly pallor covered that face whichonly a moment before had been so rosy and smiling. 

These signs were the forerunners of death, which the officer hadrecognized so many times on the battlefield. But those stricken ones hadat least been men, devoting themselves to the risks of warfare; whilein the presence of this young girl lying before him, looking upon thisvictim of a reckless audacity to which he felt he had lent himself tooreadily, the whole responsibility for the accident seemed to him to restupon his own shoulders, and a poignant remorse tore his heart. 

He removed her cravat, unhooked her bodice, laid his ear against herbreast, from which an oppressed breathing still arose. 

Two laborers hurried to open the gate and soon arrived at the spotwith a litter, guided by the groom, whose horse had refused to jumpthe brook, and who since then had followed the race on foot outside thetrack. While the General placed Zibeline on the litter, the groom tookAida by the bridle, and the sad procession made its way slowly towardthe enclosure surrounding the weighing-stand. 

As for Seaman, half submerged in the stream, and with an incurablefracture of the leg, nothing was left to do for the poor animal but tokill him. 

CHAPTER XXVI. AN UNCONSCIOUS AVOWAL

Walking slowly, step by step, beside her whose power had so quicklyand so wholly subjugated him, watching over her removal with more thanpaternal solicitude, Henri de Prerolles, sustained by a ray of hope, drew a memorandum-book from his pocket, wrote upon a slip of paper aname and an address, and, giving it to the groom, ordered him to goahead of the litter and telephone to the most celebrated surgeon inParis, requesting him to go as quickly as possible to the domicileof Mademoiselle de Vermont, and, meantime, to send with the greatestdespatch one of the eight-spring carriages from the stables. 

It was noon by the dial on the grand-stand when the litter was finallydeposited in a safe place. The surgeon could hardly arrive in less thantwo hours; therefore, the General realized that he must rely upon hisown experience in rendering the first necessary aid. 

He lifted Valentine's hand, unbuttoned the glove, laid his finger on herpulse, and counted the pulsations, which were weak, slow, and irregular. 

While the wife of the gate-keeper kept a bottle of salts at the nostrilsof the injured girl, Henri soaked a handkerchief in tincture of arnicaand sponged her temples with it; then, pouring some drops of the liquidinto a glass of water, he tried in vain to make her swallow a mouthful. Her teeth, clenched by the contraction of muscles, refused to allow itto pass into her throat. At the end of half an hour, the inhalationof the salts began to produce a little effect; the breath came moreregularly, but that was the only symptom which announced that the swoonmight soon terminate. The landau with the high springs arrived. TheGeneral ordered the top laid back, and helped to lift and place upon thecushions on the back seat the thin mattress on which Zibeline lay; thenhe took his place on the front seat, made the men draw the carriage-topback into its proper position, and the equipage rolled smoothly, and without a jar, to its destination. On the way they met the firstcarriages that had arrived at the Auteuil hippodrome, the occupants ofwhich little suspected what an exciting dramatic incident had occurredjust before the races. Zibeline's servants, by whom she was adored, awaited their mistress at the threshold, and for her maids it was anaffair of some minutes to undress her and lay her in her own bed. Duringthis delay, the surgeon, who had hastened to answer the call, foundHenri nervously walking about from one drawing-room to the other; and, having received information as to the details of the fall, he soonentered the bedchamber. While awaiting the sentence of life or of deathwhich must soon be pronounced, he who considered himself the chief causeof this tragic event continued to pace to and fro in the gallery--thatgallery where, under the intoxication of a waltz, the demon oftemptation had so quickly demolished all his resolutions of resistance. A half-hour--an age!--elapsed before the skilled practitionerreappeared. "There is no fracture, " he said, "but the cerebral shockhas been such that I can not as yet answer for the consequences. If thepowerful reactive medicine which I have just given should bring her backto her senses soon, her mental faculties will suffer no harm. If not, there is everything to fear. I will return in three hours, " he added. Without giving a thought to the conventionalities, Henri entered thebedchamber, to the great astonishment of the maids, and, installinghimself at the head of the bed, he decided not to leave that spot untilValentine had regained her senses, should she ever regain them. Anhour passed thus, while Henri kept the same attitude, erect, attentive, motionless, with stray scraps of his childhood's prayers running throughhis brain. Suddenly the heavy eyelids of the wounded girl were lifted;the dulness of the eyes disappeared; her body made an involuntaryattempt to change its position; the nostrils dilated; the lips quiveredin an effort to speak. Youth and life had triumphed over death. Withpainful slowness, she tried to raise her hand to her head, the seat ofher pain, where, though half paralyzed, thought was beginning to return. Her eyes wandered to and fro in the shadowy room, seeking to recognizethe surroundings. A ray of light, filtering through the window-curtains, showed her the anxious face bending tenderly over her. "Henri!" shemurmured, in a soft, plaintive voice. That name, pronounced thus, thefirst word uttered after her long swoon, revealed her secret. Never hada more complete yet modest avowal been more simply expressed; was it notnatural that he should be present at her reentrance into life, sinceshe loved him? With women, the sentiment of love responds to the mostdiverse objects. The ordinary young girl of Zibeline's age, eitherbefore or after her sojourn in a convent, considers that a man of thirtyhas arrived at middle age, and that a man of forty is absolutely old. Should she accept a man of either of these ages, she does it because afortune, a title, or high social rank silences her other tastes, andher ambition does the rest. But, with an exceptional woman, likeMademoiselle de Vermont, brought up in view of wide horizons, in themidst of plains cleared by bold pioneers, among whom the most valorousgoverned the others, a man like General de Prerolles realized her idealall the more, because both their natures presented the same strikingcharacteristics: carelessness of danger, and frankness carried toits extremest limit. Therefore, this declaration--to use the commonexpression--entirely free from artifice or affectation, charmed Henrifor one reason, yet, on the other hand, redoubled his perplexity. Howcould he conciliate his scruples of conscience with the aspirationsof his heart? The problem seemed then as insoluble as when it had beenpresented the first time. But Valentine was saved. For the moment thatwas the essential point, the only one in question. The involuntaryrevelation of her secret had brought the color to her cheeks, the lightto her eyes, a smile to her lips, in spite of the leaden band thatseemed still pressing upon her head. "How you have frightened me!" saidHenri, in a low voice, seating himself on the side of the bed andtaking her hand. "Is that true?" she asked, softly pressing his fingers. "Hush!" he said, making a movement to enjoin silence. She obeyed, andthey remained a few moments thus. Nevertheless, he reflected thatthe account of the accident would soon be spread everywhere, thatValentine's new friends would hear about it as soon as they arrived atthe race-track that day, and that he could no longer prolong his staybeside her. 

"Are you leaving me so soon?" Valentine murmured, when he said that hemust go. 

"I am going to tell my sister and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy of yourmishap. "

"Very well, " she replied, as if already she had no other desire than tofollow his wishes. 

He gave the necessary orders, and again took his place beside the bed, awaiting the second visit of the doctor, whose arrival was simultaneouswith that of the Duchess. 

This time the verdict was altogether favorable, with no mention ofthe possibility of any aggravating circumstances. An inevitablefeverishness, and a great lassitude, which must be met with absoluterepose for several days, would be the only consequences of thisdangerous prank. 

The proprieties resumed their normal sway, and it was no longer possiblefor Henri to remain beside the charming invalid. 

CHAPTER XXVII. DISTRACTION

The Duchesse de Montgeron, who had passed the rest of the day withMademoiselle de Vermont, did not return to her own dwelling until eighto'clock that evening, bearing the most reassuring news. 

Longing for fresh air and exercise, Henri went out after dinner, walkedthrough the Champs-Elysees, and traversed the crossing at l'Etoile, inorder to approach the spot where Zibeline lay ill. 

If one can imagine the feelings of a man of forty-five, who is loved forhimself, under the most flattering and unexpected conditions, one cancomprehend the object of this nocturnal walk and the long pause thatHenri made beneath the windows of Zibeline's apartment. A small garden, protected by a light fence, was the only obstacle that separated them. But how much more insuperable was the barrier which his own principleshad raised between this adorable girl and himself. 

Had he not told his sister, confided to Eugenie Gontier, and reiteratedto any one that would listen to him, the scruples which forbade him everto think of marriage? To change this decision, in asking for the hand ofMademoiselle de Vermont, would-in appearance, at least--sacrifice to theallurement of wealth the proud poverty which he had long borne so nobly. 

But the demon of temptation was then, as always, lurking in the shadow, the sole witness of this duel to the death between prejudice and love. 

When he returned to his rooms he found another note from his formermistress:

 "You have just had a terrible experience, my dear friend. Nothing that affects you can be indifferent to me. I beg you to believe, notwithstanding the grief which our separation causes me, in all the prayers that I offer for your happiness. 

 "ARIADNE. "

"My happiness? My torture, rather!" he said, the classic name of Ariadnesuggesting the idea that the pseudonym of Tantalus might well be appliedto himself. 

But he had long kept a rule to write as little as possible, andwas guarded in making reply to any letter, especially to such acommunication as this. 

When he left the house the next morning, on his way to attend tomilitary duties, he learned that his sister had gone away early on anexcursion to one of the suburbs, and that she would not return untilevening. As the Duchess was the only person who had been initiated intothe mystery surrounding Zibeline on the subject of the building of theOrphan Asylum, it was evident that she had gone to take her place in thedirecting of the work. 

In the afternoon Henri called to inquire for the invalid, and wasreceived by the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy. She had had a quiet night; alittle fever had appeared toward morning, and, above all, an extremeweakness, requiring absolute quiet and freedom from any excitement. Onan open register in the reception-room were inscribed the names of allthose persons who had called to express their interest in Mademoisellede Vermont: Constantin Lenaieff, the Lisieux, the Nointels, EdmondDelorme, the Baron de Samoreau, and others. Only the Desvanneaux hadshown no sign of life. Their Christian charity did not extend so far asthat. 

Henri added his name to the list, and for several days he returned eachmorning to inscribe it anew, feeling certain that, as soon as Valentinewas able to be placed half-reclining on a couch, she would give ordersthat he should be admitted to her presence. But nothing of the kindoccurred. 

On the evening of the fifth day after the accident, the Duchess informedher brother that their young friend had been taken to the country, whereit was thought a complete cure would sooner be effected. 

This hasty departure, made without any preliminary message, caused Henrito feel the liveliest disappointment. 

Had he deceived himself, then? Was it, after all, only by chancethat she had so tenderly pronounced his name, and had that familiarappellative only been drawn from her involuntarily because of hersurprise at beholding his unexpected presence at her bedside?

Regarding the matter from this point of view, the whole romance that hehad constructed on a fragile foundation had really never existed save inhis own imagination!

At this thought his self-esteem suffered cruelly. He felt a naturalimpulse to spring into a carriage and drive to the dwelling ofEugenie Gontier, and there to seek forgetfulness. But he felt that hisbitterness would make itself known even there, and that such a coursewould be another affront to the dignity of a woman of heart, whoseloyalty to himself he never had questioned. 

Try to disguise it as he would, his sombre mood made itself apparent, especially to his brother-in-law, who had no difficulty in guessing thecause, without allowing Henri to suspect that he divined it. 

The date for the formal transfer of the Orphan Asylum to the committeehad been fixed for the fifteenth day of May. 

On the evening of the fourteenth, at the hour when the General wassigning the usual military documents in his bureau, a domestic presentedto him a letter which, he said, had just been brought in great haste bya messenger on horseback:

The superscription, "To Monsieur the General the Marquis de Prerolles, "was inscribed in a long, English hand, elegant and regular. The orderlygave the letter to his chief, who dismissed him with a gesture beforebreaking the seal. The seal represented, without escutcheon or crown, asmall, wild animal, with a pointed muzzle, projecting teeth, and shaggybody, under which was a word Henri expected to find: Zibeline!

The letter ran thus:

 "MY DEAR GENERAL:

 "An officer, like yourself, whose business it is to see that his orders are obeyed, will understand that I have not dared, even in your favor, to infringe on those imposed upon me by the doctor. But those orders have been withdrawn! If you have nothing better to do, come to-morrow, with your sister, to inspect our asylum, before Monsieur Desvanneaux takes possession of it!

 "Your military eye will be able to judge immediately whether anything is lacking in the quarters. Yours affectionately, "VALENTINE DE VERMONT. 

 "P. S. --Poor Seaman is dead! I beg you to carry this sad news to his friend Aida. V. "

If a woman's real self is revealed in her epistolary style, finesse, good-humor, and sprightliness were characterised in this note. Zibeline's finesse had divined Henri's self-deception; her good-humorsought to dissipate it; and her sprightliness was evidenced by herallusions to M. Desvanneaux and the loss of her horse. 

When they found themselves reunited at the dinner-hour, the Duchess saidsimply to her brother:

"You must have received an invitation to-day from Mademoiselle deVermont. Will you accompany us tomorrow?"

"Yes, certainly. But where? How? At what hour?"

"We must leave here at one o'clock. Don't disturb yourself about anyother detail--we shall look after everything. "

"Good! I accept. "

As he was not so curious as the Desvanneaux, it mattered little to himto what place they took him, so long as he should find Zibeline at theend of the journey. 

At the appointed hour the brother and sister drove to the Gare du Nord. The Duke, a director of the road, who had been obliged to attend aconvocation of the Council until noon, had preceded them. He was waitingfor them beside the turnstile at the station, having already procuredtheir tickets and reserved a carriage in one of the omnibus trains fromParis to Treport which make stops at various suburban stations. 

"Will it be a very long journey?" Henri asked, on taking his place inthe carriage. 

"Barely three-quarters of an hour, " said the Duke, as the train startedon its way. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE VOW REDEEMED

The third road, constructed between the two lines which met at Creil, passing, the one by way of Chantilly, the other, by Pontoise, was notin existence in 1871, when, after the war, Jeanne and Henri de Prerolleswent to visit the spot, already unrecognizable, where they had passedtheir childhood. L'Ile-d'Adam was at that time the nearest station; today it is Presles, on the intermediate line, which they now took. 

"This is our station, " said Madame de Montgeron, when the train stoppedat Montsoult. They descended from the carriage, and found on theplatform two footmen, who conducted them to a large char-a-banc, towhich were harnessed four dark bay Percherons, whose bridles were heldby postilions in Zibeline's livery, as correct in their appearance asthose belonging to the imperial stables, when the sojourn of the courtwas at Compiegne or at Fontainebleau. 

"Where are we going now, Jeanne?" asked Henri, whose heart seemed to himto contract at the sight of Maffliers, which he knew so well. 

"A short distance from here, " his sister replied. 

The horses set off, and, amid the sound of bells and the cracking ofwhips, the carriage reached the national road from Paris to Beauvais, which, from Montsoult, passes around the railway by a rapid descent, from the summit of which is visible, on the right, the Chateau ofFranconville; on the left, the village of Nerville perched on its crest. 

One of the footmen on the rear seat held the reins, and a quarter ofan hour later the carriage stopped just before arriving at the foot ofValpendant. 

Valpendant had formerly been a feudal manor within the confines ofIle-de-France, built midway upon a hill, as its name indicated. On theside toward the plain was a moat, and the castle itself commanded theview of a valley, through which ran the little stream called Le Roi, which flows into the river Oise near the hamlet of Mours. Acquiredin the fifteenth century by the lords of Prerolles, it had become anagricultural territory worked for their profit, first by forced labor, and later by farmers. 

Even recently, the courtyard, filled with squawking fowls and domesticanimals of all kinds, and the sheds crowded with agricultural implementspiled up in disorder, presented a scene of confusion frequent amongcultivators, and significant of the alienation of old domains from theirformer owners. 

"We have arrived!" said the Duchess, alighting first. 

"What, is it here?" Henri exclaimed, his heart beating more quickly. 

"Your old farm was for sale just at the time that Mademoiselle deVermont was seeking an appropriate site for the Orphan Asylum. This spotappeared to her to combine all the desirable conditions, and she haswrought the transformation you are about to behold. It might as well bethis place as another, " the Duchess added. "In my opinion, it is a sortof consolation offered to us by fate. "

"Be it so!" said Henri, in a tone of less conviction. 

He followed his sister along the footpath of a bluff, which as childrenthey had often climbed; while the carriage made a long detour in orderto reach the main entrance to the grounds. 

The footpath, winding along near the railway embankment, ended ata bridge, where Zibeline awaited the three visitors. A significantpressure of her hand showed Henri how little cause he had had for hisapprehensions. 

They entered. Seen from the main entrance, the metamorphosis of theplace was complete. 

The old tower that had served as a barn alone remained the same; it wassomewhat isolated from the other building, and had been repaired inthe style of its period, making a comfortable dwelling for the futuredirector of the Asylum. Mademoiselle de Vermont occupied it temporarily. 

On each side of the grounds, standing parallel, rose two fine buildings:on the ground floor of each were all the customary rooms and accessoriesfound on model farms; on the upper floors were dormitories arrangedto receive a large number of children of both sexes. There wereschoolrooms, sewing-rooms, a chapel-in short, nothing was lacking toassist in the children's intellectual and manual education. 

"You have done things royally, " said the Duke to the happy donor, when, having finished the inspection of the premises, they returned to thedirectors' room, indicated by a plate upon its door. 

As for Henri, silent and absorbed, he hesitated between the dread offacing a new emotion and the desire to go once more to gaze upon thetower of Prerolles, hardly more than two kilometres distant. 

"What is the matter with you, General?" Zibeline asked, observing thathe did not appear to take pleasure in the surprise she had prepared. 

"I lived here many years a long time ago, " he replied. "I am thinkingof all that it recalls to me; and, if you would not consider itdiscourteous on my part, I should like to leave you for a little time tomake a pilgrimage on foot around the neighborhood. "

"Would you like to have me take you myself? I have a little English cartwhich can run about anywhere, " said Zibeline. 

The proposition was tempting. The sweetness of a tete-a-tete mightdiminish the bitterness of recollections. He accepted. 

She ordered the cart brought around, and they climbed into the smallvehicle, which was drawn by a strong pony, driven by Zibeline herself. 

"Which way?" she asked, when they had passed through the gates. 

"To the right, " he said, pointing to a rough, half-paved slope, anabandoned part of what had been in former days the highway, which nowjoins the new road at the Beaumont tunnel. 

Passing this point, and leaving on their left the state roadof l'Ile-d'Adam, they drove through a narrow cross-cut, betweenembankments, by which one mounts directly to the high, plateau thatoverlooks the town of Presles. 

The hill was steep, and the pony was out of breath. They were compelledto stop to allow him to rest. 

"It is not necessary to go any farther, " said Henri to his companion. "Ineed only to take a few steps in order to see what interests me. "

"I will wait for you here, " she replied, alighting after him. "Don'tbe afraid to leave me alone. The horse will not move; he is used tostopping. "

He left her gathering daisies, and walked resolutely to the panoramicpoint of view, where a strange and unexpected sight met his eyes!

All that had once been so dear to him had regained its former aspect. The kitchen-gardens had given place to the rich pastures, where yearlingcolts frisked gayly. The factory had disappeared, and the chateau hadbeen restored to its original appearance. The walls enclosing the parkhad been rebuilt, and even several cleared places indicated the sites ofcottages that had been pulled down. 

Henri de Prerolles could hardly believe his eyes! Was he the sport of adream or of one of those mirages which rise before men who travel acrossthe sandy African deserts? The latitude and the position of the sunforbade this interpretation. But whence came it, then? What fairy hadturned a magic ring in order to work this miracle?

A crackling of dry twigs under a light tread made him turn, and hebeheld Zibeline, who had come up behind him. 

The fairy was there, pale and trembling, like a criminal awaitingarrest. 

"Is it you who have done this?" Henri exclaimed, with a sob which nohuman strength could have controlled. 

"It is I!" she murmured, lowering her eyes. "I did it in the hope thatsome day you would take back that which rightfully belongs to you. "

"Rightfully, you say? By what act?"

"An act of restitution. "

"You never have done me any injury, and nothing authorizes me to acceptsuch a gift from Mademoiselle de Vermont. "

"Vermont was the family name of my mother. When my father marriedher, he obtained leave to add it to his own. I am the daughter of PaulLandry. "

"You!"

"Yes. The daughter of Paul Landry, whose fortune had no other originthan the large sum of which he despoiled you. "

Henri made a gesture of denial. 

"Pardon me!" Zibeline continued. "He was doubly your debtor, since thissum had been increased tenfold when you rescued him from the Mexicanswho were about to shoot him. 'This is my revenge!' you said to him, without waiting to hear a word from him. Your ruin was the remorseof his whole life. I knew it only when he lay upon his deathbed. Otherwise--"

She paused, then raised her head higher to finish her words. 

"Never mind!" she went on. "That which he dared not do while living, Iset myself to do after his death. When I came to Paris to inquire whathad become of the Marquis de Prerolles, your glorious career answeredfor you; but even before I knew you I had become the possessor of thesedivided estates, which, reunited by me, must be restored to your hands. You are proud, Henri, " she added, with animation, "but I am none lessproud than you. Judge, then, what I have suffered in realizing oursituation: I, overwhelmed with riches, you, reduced to your officer'spay. Is that a satisfaction to your pride? Very well! But to my own, itis the original stain, which only a restitution, nobly accepted by you, ever can efface!"

She paused, looking at him supplicatingly, her hands clasped. As heremained silent, she understood that he still hesitated, and continued:

"To plead my cause, to vanquish your resistance, as I am trying now totriumph over it, could be attempted with any chance of success only bya dear and tender friend; that is the reason why I sought to establishrelations with--"

"With Eugenie Gontier?"

"But she would not consent to it--all the worse for her! For, sincethen, you and I have come to know each other well. Your prejudices havebeen overcome one by one. I have observed it well. I am a woman, andeven your harshness has not changed my feelings, nor prevented me frombelieving that, in spite of yourself, you were beginning to love me. Have I been deceiving myself?--tell me!"

"You know that you have not, since, as I look at you and listen to you, I know not which I admire more-your beauty or the treasures of yourheart!"

"Then come!"

"Whither?"

"To Prerolles, where all is ready to receive you. "

"Well, since this is a tale from the Arabian Nights, let us follow it tothe end! I will go!" said Henri. 

Browsing beside the road, the pony, left to himself, had advanced towardthem, step by step, whinnying to his mistress. Valentine and Henriremounted the cart; which soon drew up before the gates of the chateau, where, awaiting them, reinstated in his former office, stood the oldsteward, bent and white with years. 

The borders of the broad driveway were of a rich, deep green. Rose-bushes in full bloom adorned the smooth lawns. The birds trilled awelcome in jumping from branch to branch, and across the facade of thechateau the open windows announced to the surrounding peasantry thereturn of the prodigal master. 

At the top of the flight of steps Valentine stepped back to allow Henrito pass before her; then, changing her mind, she advanced again. 

"No, you are at home, " she said. "It is I that must enter first!"

He followed her docilely, caring no longer to yield to any other willthan hers. 

Within the chateau, thanks to the complicity of the Duchess, thefurnishings resembled as closely as possible those of former days. Thegood fairy had completed successfully two great works: the restorationof the chateau and the building of the asylum. The inhabitants of theone would be so much the better able to foresee the needs of the other. 

Having explored one of the wings, they returned to the central hall. Mademoiselle de Vermont made a sign to the steward to remain there, andbeckoned to Henri to accompany her to the historic gallery. After theyhad entered it, she closed the door. The family portraits had beenrehung in their former places, in chronological order, and, in itsproper place, figured that of the General of Division the Marquis dePrerolles, in full uniform, mounted on Aida, the portrait being the workof Edmond Delorme. 

At this sight, touched to the depths of his heart, Henri knelt beforeValentine, and carried her hand to his lips. 

"I adore you!" he said, without attempting to hide the tears ofgratitude that fell upon those generous hands. 

"Do you, indeed?" Zibeline murmured. 

"You shall see!" he replied, rising. "Come, in your turn. "

He led her before the portrait of the ancestral marshal of France, andsaid:

"Twenty-three years ago I vowed before that portrait either to vanquishthe enemy or to regain with honor all that I had lost at play. I havekept my word. Will you be my wife?"

"Ah, you know my heart is yours!" Zibeline whispered, hiding her faceupon his shoulder. 

The door at the end of the gallery opened; the Duc and the Duchesse deMontgeron appeared. Henri took Zibeline's hand and approached them. 

"The Marquise de Prerolles!" he said, presenting her to his sister andher husband. 

CHAPTER XXIX. THE MARQUISE DE PREROLLES

The next day a special train landed the fair patronesses at the stationof Presles, whence Zibeline's carriages conducted them to Valpendant. 

The deed of gift was signed before M. Durand and his colleague, a notaryof Pontoise. 

This formality fulfilled, M. Desvanneaux, whose own role, for a momentovershadowed, appeared to him to renew its importance, took the floorand said:

"It remains to us, Mesdames, to assure the support of the Orphan Asylumby means of an annual income. "

"The Marquis and the Marquise de Prerolles assume this responsibility, "said the ministerial officer, treasurer of the Asylum. "This mutualengagement will form the object of a special clause in the drawing up oftheir contract. "

In this way was the news of the approaching marriage between Valentineand Henri announced to the Society. 

"The little intriguer!" murmured the churchwarden, nudging the elbow ofhis Maegera. 

The General, who noted the effect which this announcement had producedupon the peevish pair, divined the malicious words upon the hypocriticallips. He drew the husband aside, and put one hand upon his shoulder. 

"Desvanneaux, " he said, "you have known me twenty-five years, and youknow that I am a man of my word. If ever a malevolent word from youregarding my wife should come to my ears, I shall elongate yours to sucha degree that those of King Midas will be entirely eclipsed! Rememberthat!"

The ceremony took place six weeks later, in the church of St. Honore-d'Eylau, which was not large enough to hold the numerous publicand the brilliant corps of officers that assisted. 

The witnesses for the bridegroom were the military governor of Paris andthe Duc de Montgeron. Those of the bride were the aide-de-camp GeneralLenaieff, in full uniform, wearing an astrachan cap and a white cloakwith the Russian eagle fastened in the fur; and the Chevalier deSainte-Foy. 

On the evening before, a last letter from his former mistress had cometo the General:

 "I have heard all the details of your romance, my dear Henri. Its conclusion is according to all dramatic rules, and I congratulate you without reserve. 

 "If, on the eve of contracting this happy union, an examination of your conscience should suggest to you some remorse for having abandoned me so abruptly, let me say that no shadow, not even the lightest, must cloud the serenity of this joyous day: I am about to leave the stage forever, to become the wife of the Baron de Samoreau!

 "Always affectionately yours, "EUGENIE GONTIER. "

 ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

 All that was illogical in our social code Ambiguity has no place, nor has compromise But if this is our supreme farewell, do not tell me so! Chain so light yesterday, so heavy to-day Every man is his own master in his choice of liaisons If I do not give all I give nothing Indulgence of which they stand in need themselves Life goes on, and that is less gay than the stories Men admired her; the women sought some point to criticise Only a man, wavering and changeable Ostensibly you sit at the feast without paying the cost Paris has become like a little country town in its gossip The night brings counsel Their Christian charity did not extend so far as that There are mountains that we never climb but once You are in a conquered country, which is still more dangerous