tyrant I am
going to marry. Come, and show them what an obstinate, unreasonable,
wearisome--"

Her voice suddenly failed her; she shuddered, and turned faint.
Danville's hand had in one instant grown cold as death in hers; the
momentary touch of his fingers, as she felt their grasp loosen, struck
some mysterious chill through her from head to foot. She glanced
round at him affrightedly, and saw his eyes looking straight into the
drawing-room. They were fixed in a strange, unwavering, awful stare,
while, from the rest of his face, all expression, all character, all
recognizable play and movement of feature, had utterly gone. It was
a breathless, lifeless mask--a white blank. With a cry of terror, she
looked where he seemed to be looking; and could see nothing but the
stranger standing in the middle of the drawing-room. Before she could
ask a question--before she could speak even a single word--her father
came to her, caught Danville by the arm, and pushed her roughly back
into the library.

"Go there, and take the women with you," he said, in a quick, fierce
whisper. "Into the library!" he continued, turning to the ladies,
and raising his voice. "Into the library, all of you, along with my
daughter."

The women, terrified by his manner, obeyed him in the greatest
confusion. As they hurried past him into the library, he signed to the
notary to follow; and then closed the door of communication between the
two rooms.

"Stop where you are!" he cried, addressing the old officers, who had
risen from their chairs. "Stay, I insist on it! Whatever happens,
Jacques Berthelin has done nothing to be ashamed of in the presence of
his old friends and companions. You have seen the beginning, now stay
and see the end."

While he spoke, he walked into the middle of the room. He had never
quitted his hold of Danville's arm; step by step they advanced together
to the place where Trudaine was standing.

"You have come into my house, and asked me for my daughter in
marriage--and I have given her to you," said the general, addressing
Danville, quietly. "You told me that your first wife and her brother
were guillotined three years ago in the time of the Terror--and I
believed you. Now look at that man--look him straight in the face. He
has announced himself to me as the brother of your wife, and he asserts
that his sister is alive at this moment. One of you two has deceived me.
Which is it?"

Danville tried to speak, but no sound pa