Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-10-10


passed US; and henceforth forestalled
us. One of these messengers-who
learned from the talk about me was
bound for Cahors With letters for the
lieutenant governor and the count
bishop-the vidame interviewed and
stopped. How it was managed l do
not know. but fear the count bishop
never got his letters, which l fancy
would have given him some joint au-
thority. Certainly we left the messen-
ger-a prudent fellow with a care for
his sllin-in comfortable quarters al
Limoges, whence l do not doubt he
presently returned to Paris at his
leisure.
The strangeness of the journey, how
ever, arose from none of these things
but from the relations of our party to
one another. After the first day We
four rode together, unmolested, SO long
as we kept near the center of the strag-
Cling cavalcade. The vidame always
rode alone, and in front, brooding with
bent head and somber face over his re-
Nenge. as I supposed. He would ride
In this fashion, speaking to no one and
giving no orders, for Il day together.
AT times l came near to plying him.
He had loved Kit in his masterful way.
the way of one not wont to be thwart-
ed, and he had lost har-lost her, what
SSSk iIliSal lltlHpSl. lie Mouiu SGl
Ing after all by his revenge. Nothing
but ashes in the mouth. And so L saw
In softer moments something ineNpres-
sibly melancholy in that solitary giant
figure pacing always alone.
He seldom spoke to US. More rarely
to Louis. When he did the harshness
of his voice and his cruel eyes betrayed
the gloomy hatred in which he held
him. AT meals he ate at one end of the
t9tN 1ns ,,f
US had done on the first evening in
Paris. And sometimes the covert
looks, the grim sheer he shot at his
rival--his prisoner-made me SILVER
even in the sunshine. Sometimes. on
the other hand, when took him I'M
awares, found an expression on his
face could not read.
told Croisette, but warily, my sus
PIGEONS of his purpose. He heard me,
less astounded to all appearance than
had expected. Presently 1 learned
the reason. He had his own VIEW
DO you not think it possible. Anne"
he suggested, timidly-we We're, of
course, alone at the time-"that he
thinks to make Louis resign mad
emoiselle?"
Resign bert" exclaimed, obtusely.
"How?"
by giving him choice-you under
stand?"
1 did underestimate saw it in a mo-
ment. had been dull not to see 1t
before; Beers might put it in this
way: Let NJ. de Pavannes resign his
mistress and live, or die and lose her.
II see," l answered. But Louis
would not give her up. Not to him."
He would lose her either way" crois-
cite answered, in a low tone. That is
not, however, the worst of it. Louis
&c In, Isl 4. a.
make Kit the arbiter, Anne and puts
Louis up to ransom, setting Kit for the
price? And gives her the option of ac-
cepting himself and saving Louis life;
or refusing, and leaving Louis to dep
st. CroiX!" l exclaimed. fiercely.
He would not be SO basel" And yet
was not even this better than the blind
vengeance l had myself attributed to
him?
Perhaps not" Croisette answered,
while he gazed EDWARDS through the
twilight; We We're at the time the fore
most of the party, save the vidame;
and there was nothing to interrupt our
View of his gigantic figure as he
moved on alone before us with bowed
shoulders. Perhaps not" Croisette
repeated, thoughtfully. Sometimes
think we do not understand him, and
that after all there may be worse peo-
PIE III Cne MOTlQ IMAM l5eZefS.
looked hard at the lad, for that was
not what / had meant. "Worse?s' L
said. Y don't think SO. Hardly"
Yes, WORSE" he replied, shaking his
head do you remember lying under
the curtain in the box-bed at Mire-
poix's?'
"of course 1 do! Do you think /
shall ever forget it?"
And Nine. d'O coming in?"
With the coadjutor?" l said with a
shudder. Yes"
mo. the second time" he answered
when she came back alone 1T was
pretty dark, you remember and Mime
dc PaNannes was at the window, and
her sister did not see herr"
We'll, we'll, / remember" l said i'm
patiently. l knew from the tone of his
voice that he had something to tell me
about Nine. d'O and was not anxious
to hear 1t. shrank, as a wounded man
shrinks from the cautery, from hearing
anything about that woman; herself so
beautiful, yet moving in an atmosphere
Of suspicion and horror. Was it shame,
or fear, or some chiNalrous feeling hav-
ing its origin in that moment when
had fancied myself her knight? l am
not sure, for / had not made up my
mind even now, whether I ought to pity
or detest her; whether she had made q
tool of me. or i had been false to her.
"She came up to the bed, you remeln-
We're next to her. She saw you ndis-
tinctly, and took you for her sister
And then I sprang from the bed"
II know you did," / exclaimed sharp
ly. All this time / had forgotten that
grievance. You nearly frightened
her out of her wits, st. Croix. cannot
think what possessed you-why you did
it?"
ITO save your life, Anne" he am
crime-an unutterable and unnatural
crime. She had come back to-I can
hardly tell 1t to you-to murder her sis
ter. You start. You do not believe me-
1t sounds too horrible. But l could see
better than you could. She was ex-
actly between you and the light.
saw the knife raised. saw her wicked
face. If l had not startled her as 1
did. she would have stabbed you. She
picked it up and have it. See"
looked furtively, and turned away
again. shivering. why" 1 muttered
why did she do it?''
"She had failed, you know. to get her
sister back to Pavannes house, where
she would have fallen an easy victim.
Beers. who knew Mime. do, prevented
tEat. Then that lend slipped back
with her knife; thinking that in the
common butchery the crime would be
overlooked, and never investigated, and
that Mirepox would be SILENT"
I said nothing. 1 was stunned. Yet
believed the story. When went over
the facts In my mind / found that a
dozen things. overlooked at the time,
and almost forgotten in the hurry of
events, sprang up to confirm it. NJ. de
Pavannes'-the other NJ de Pavannes'
-suspicions had been we'll founded.
Worse than Beers. was she? Aye.
worse hundred times. AS much worse