Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1902-08-19
NUMBER SO.

y
wise, you will put hundred leagues
between yourself and Perigord after
this. And now be off-fool"
The man dropped his sword Into its
sheath and stammered out: Your par
don. monseigneur! did not know.
Come, boys" he said, with an afecta'
ton of unconcern, "these ladies COM
plain that the place is too crowded.
We will go elsewhere. At your serv-
ice, mesdames." And. making bow
that had sort of faded grace about 1t,
he staggered of, followed by bis men.
who took his lead with surprising alac.
rity. The people in the inn and our
servants raised a cheer and were fos
going after them, doubtless to admin.
lister the stoning, but De Clermont put
a stop to this, saying in a peremptory
tone: Let them 60. will see that
they are dealt with"
AS may be imagined, we were In no
mood for much supper after this. Ny
knees felt very weak under me. and
Nine. de Termes was trembling all
over, but she thanked De Clermont
very gracefully, and he made some
modest answer with his eyes fixed on
me, and IL could say nothing We
would have retired Mt once, but De
Clermont pressed US to stay, and ma.
dame, with little smile. agreed, say
ing, II am afraid even after all these
years I am not quite soldiers wife,"
So we fingered yet little longer and
found our nerves come back to us.
After that we sat in the garden, where
the moonlight was full and bright and
the breeze brought Us the scent OF the
roses. Then De Clermont, bringing oue
his lutte. sang to US. He had voice
such as neither I nor any one else !
knew who had listened to 1t had ever
heard equaled So perhaps sang his
old troubador ancestors, and the sweet
notes had died with the days Of chiv.
airy to be born again In RaOul de Ciers
mont. The song he chose was one
that was perchance written by one OF
bis minstrel forbears and described In
that old tongue that we no longer use as
q lovers agony at being separated for.
ever from his mistress. The words
were perhaps poor. but there was gen.
uine feeling in them, and sung by De
Clermont 1t might have been the wall
Of an angel shut out from paradise.
Never did I hear the like. Never
would care to hear the like again,
and as the last Of the glorious notes
died away in liquid stream Of in.
effable melody I saw madame's face
buried In her hands. and there was
great sob behind me that came from
the broad chest Of Lalande. who had
stolen up to hear and was blubberins
like a child. Then Nine. de Termes
rose and hurried off. followed by La
lande, and we were alone, | sitting
still with my whole soul full Of that
wondrous song and every nerve strung
to its highest pitch. while De Cler.
mont remained standing. his lutte, slung
by it's silken sash, in the loop OF his
arm.
Denise" he said, you understand,
dear"
"Yes." I could barely whisper the
word. and then he bent down and kiss.
ed me softly on the forehead, and the
touch of his lips seemed to burn into
me like redhot seal. With a little
cry rose to my feet and, hardly know
Ing what | was doing, ran past him,
never stopping until reached my
room. Here remained as If lost In
dream, with q hundred mad thoughts
dancing In my brain. | tried to pray,
but my lips could only frame words,
for there was nothing in my heart. and
then thought l would seek forsetful-
ness in sleep, but sleep would not
come, and | lay awake watching the
broad banner Of moonlight that came
in through the open window ana al!
the memories Of the past awake within
me. De Clermont's kiss still burned on
nv face. and | shivered with the shame
and the sin of it. for | was another's
wife-and heaven help me! thought
then that loved De Clermont. Oh. the
misery Of those hours, when | tossed
from side to side, with dry. burning
eyes and bitter shame in my heart! At
last, as the moon was paling, could
endure it no longer and, rising from
my bed, began to pace the room. l felt
that what needed was motion. move
ment-I could not be still. II could
only pray! And as the thought came ID
me once more l heard a little clink
and, STOPPING. picked up small locket
containing miniature Of my mother
which | wore round my neck. the gold
chain by which it was suspended hav-
ing broken in my restless movements.
I opened the locket and, standing near
the window, looked ut the picture. and,
as live, It seemed to tighten so that l
could see each feature, with the soft
eyes bent on me in pity, and then g
yoice-it was her yoice-said:
Denise, pray!
And then my eyes were blinded with
tears, and. flinging myself on my knees,
with my hands clasped on the mullions
of the window, sobbed out, God
dear God. have pity on me-"
could say no more, but my whole
soul went out with these words. and I
knelt there, still and motionless with
the sense Of great peace falling upon
me. Then 1t was as II the very heavens
grew bright as day. and the ligEt filed
my room so that my eyes were dazzled
and could not see. and l covered my
face with my hands to shield my eyes
from the splendor.
When l looked up again. the glory
was gone, but my soul was ut rest l
stood at the window and let the cool
breeze fan me. while peered out into
the darkness, for the moon had sunk
and it was now the black hour that
touches the dawn. AS l watched I
heard the bells Of st. Etienne calling
the lauds across the grave Of night,
and knew that In two hours 1t would
be daylight and felt that the unseen
God had heard my prayer.
[To BE CONTINUED,