ire with him--Colette's daughter, as I
suppose, to claim the property--the property which I have no
longer--which is blown wantonly upon every wind, rattled in other men's
pockets, paid out for laces and silks which I never wore----"

"You have been a foolish lad," said the Jesuit; "but one day, when you
have spent all, you will make a very good prodigal son to the Gesu.
Perhaps the hour is not far distant. What, then, is your intention?"

"I see nothing for it but that I must marry the girl," said Raphael
Llorient; "she is fair, and you--and the King--must help me to a
dispensation. Then her portion shall be her dower, and there is only her
husband to account to for it. I shall be that husband."

A subtle change passed over the Jesuit's face as his pupil was speaking.
He smiled.

"Softly, softly," he murmured; "to eat an egg, it is not necessary to
cook it in a silver vessel over a fire of sandalwood, and serve it upon
a platter of gold. It tastes just as well boiled in an earthenware dish
and eaten in the fingers."

"I have gone too far," said Raphael; "I cannot stand upon metaphors. My
eggs are already sucked. I have deceived the King, paid neither duty to
him nor tithes to the Church upon my cousin's portion. I must marry or
burn!"

"That you have not paid your tithes to the Church is grave," said the
Jesuit, "but the time is not too late. Perhaps you can pay in service.
We of the Society need the willing hand, the far-seeing brain more than
coined gold--though that, of course, we must have too."

"The King's arm is long," said Raphael, "and I fear he thinks I have not
done enough for his Armada. This news would end me if it were to come to
his ears."

"I judge that there will be no such need," purred the Jesuit; "is this
cousin of yours by chance a heretic, even as was her father?"

Raphael started. His netted fingers let go his knee, which in its turn
slowly relaxed and allowed the foot to sink to the ground, as through a
dense medium.

"I do not understand you, my father," he said, breathing deeply, his
eyes fixed on the priest's mild and smiling face.

"If your cousin be a Protestant, a heretic," continued the Jesuit, "I do
not see that there is any difficulty----"

"You mean----?" said Raphael, his face now of a livid paleness.

The priest beckoned him a little nearer, placed his lips, still smiling,
close to the young man's ear, and whispered two words.

"No--no--no!" gasped Raphael, starting