The herald., 1898-12-25

daughter of M. D'Ayen, I, like a fool
was flattered by the attentions of this
gay and brilliant cavalier, and day by
day we were thrown together more and
more, and sort of confidence was es-
tablished between us that was almost
more than friendship. There was, as
have said, that in his masterful way
that had the effect CT leaving me pow
erless; and though he could put all its
light in his eyes and all it's tones in his
voice, 1 felt instinctively that he did
not love me, but was merely playing
with me to exercise his strength, and
dragging me toward him with a resist
less force. In short, the influence of
de Clermont on me was never for my
good, and our intercourse always left
me with the conviction that had sunk
little lower than before; and it was
at times like these, when 1 met de
IIorgnac's grave eyes that I felt the
unspoken reproach in their glance, and
would struggle to rise again, and then
in the consciousness of my own folly,
, felt I fairly hated him for seeing my
weakness. What right had de Lorgnac
even to think of me? What did it mat
ter to him what 7 did or said? So
used to argue with myself; yet in my
iiSoA VI iCii 10 ltIl tIldL lily SlduudEu
of right and wrong was being meas
ured by what I imagined man to
whom 1 had hardly ever spoken might
think.
When make this confession, and say
that the influence of de Clermont over
me was never for my good, 1 do not
mean to imply that 1 was guilty of
anything more than foolishness; but
effect IN Il; ,;rrt,
ideas, and l now know that this man,
aided by his surroundngs-and they
were all to his advantage-took the
pleasure of devil in lowering my
moral nature and in molding me to be-
come "of the world" as he would put
it. God be thanked that the world is
not as he would have made it. At that
time, however, I was dazzled-all but
overpowered by him, and day by day
my struggles were growing weaker,
like that of some poor fly caught in a
pitiless web. The knowledge of all this
was to come to me later, when. by
Gods help, I escaped; but then 1 was
blind and foolish and mad.
My companions song was interrupt
ed by Lalande, who came galloping
back in hot haste and in no good tenn
per to say that the whole party had
halted to wait for me, and, quicken
ing our pace, we hurried onward and
found them about mile further on
To say that Madame de Termes was
surprised at seeing de Clermont is 70
say little, and could see, too, that she
was not very well pleased; but he
spoke to her so fairly and gracefully
that, in spite of herself, she thawed; !;
and half an hour later he was riding
at her bride hand, bringing smiles that
had long been absent to her face. He
was overjoyed to hear of the Vicomtes S
recovery and said many fiattering
things about him, for he knew him
WELL having served under him in the
campaign Of Languedoc, and then he
went on to become more communica-
tive about himself, saying that he was
the bearer of a dispatch to the King of
Navarro, adding, with laugh, "a
duplicate, you know-the original being
carried by NJ Norreys, the English
freelance. Ma fol! But I should not
be surprised if reached the Bearnnois
before the sluggish islander"
Hardly. if you loiter here, Monsieur
lie Marquis" l said.
you must bear the blame for that
madame; but I will add that my orders
are to pass through Peregueux as WELL
and so, madame" and he turned to
my friend, eff you will permit Raoul de
Clermont to be your escort there, he
will look upon it as the most sacred
trust of his life"
He bowed to his saddle-bow, and
looked so winning and handsome that
madame replied most graciously in the
affirmative. A little beyond La JON
chere something very like an adventure
befell us-the first on this hitherto un-
eventful journey. At the cross road
leading to Bourganeuf we met with a
party of six or eight men who did not
require a second glance to make us see
that they were capable of any mis-
chief. They had halted to bait their
horses. and, flung about in picturesque
attitudes, were resting under the trees
as Unlocking a set of fellows as the
pleasant shade of the planes had ever
fallen upon. Had they known before
hand that we were travelling this way
they would very probably have ar
ranged an attack on us; but as it was
we came upon them rather suddenly,
and as our party-which had been add
ed to by de Clermont's two lackeys-
was somewhat too strong to assault
openly without the risk of broken
heads and hard knocks-things which
gentry of this kind do not much affect
they let us alone. contenting them
selves with gathering into a group to
watch us as we went by; and this we
did slowly, our men with their arms
ready. AS we approached, however, and
saw their truculent faces, had doubts
as to whether we should pass them
without bloodshed, and begged de Cler-
mont in a low voice to prevent any
such thing. He had drawn light
rapier that he wore; but as I spoke he
put it back with a snap, and holding
out his hand asked for the loan of my
riding whip-a little, delicate, agate.
handled thing.
"It will be enough" he said as I gave
it to him, and he began to swing it
backward and forward, as if using it
to flick off flies from his horse. To my
joy they made no attempt to molest
US, though at one time a quarrel hung
on a cobweb. For as we passed, the
leader of the troop, a big burly man,
with a very long sword trailing at his
side, and a face as red as the constant
dipping of his nose into a wine cup
could make it, advanced a step into the
wood, and wishing us the day, tried
deliberately to get a better look at me,
with an unspeakable expression in his
eyes. I saw de Clermont's face grow
cold and hard, and he quietly put his
horse between me and the man, and
checking it slightly, stretched out the
whip and touched a not very clean
white scarf the creature wore over his
choI11dar wing.