tcome of that would be a foregone
conclusion, and his acquittal would raise him to a pinnacle of popularity
to which he had surely never aspired, even in the days when ambition had
been the ruling passion of his life.

Undoubtedly he would be the hero of the hour, if he could be found. But
where was he? Everyone was asking the question. None knew the answer.
Some said he was in England, awaiting the turn of events, abiding his
opportunity; others that he was already in France, lying hidden in Paris,
or even risking arrest at Valpre itself. The police were uniformly
reticent upon the subject, but it was generally believed that there would
be small difficulty in finding him when the moment arrived. Some went so
far as to assert that he had actually been arrested, and was being kept a
close prisoner by the authorities, who were plainly in fear of serious
rioting. Whatever the truth of the matter, the fact remained that the
tide of public opinion had set very strongly in his favour, and was
likely to wax to a tumultuous enthusiasm exceedingly difficult to cope
with when the object thereof should present himself.

With all of this Trevor Mordaunt was well acquainted; but he, on his
part, was firmly convinced that Bertrand would keep away until he himself
had left France. To come to Valpre now would be to court a meeting with
him, and this, he was convinced, Bertrand would do his utmost to avoid.
The break between them had been quite final. Moreover, he probably
believed that Chris was at Valpre also, and he had apparently determined
not to see her again. But here an evil thought forced its way. Might they
not, quite possibly, be in communication with one another? It had
presented itself many times before, that thought, and he had sought to
put it from him. But to-night it would not be denied. It conquered and
possessed him. Was it at all likely that the parting between them had
been final?

Only that afternoon evidence had been given of the episode that had led
to the duel on the Valpre sands more than four years before. He had
listened with a set face to the account of the insult and the subsequent
challenge, and though no name had been mentioned, he had known and faced
the fact that the woman in the case had been his wife. Even then,
Bertrand had regarded her as his peculiar charge, as under his exclusive
protection. And she--had she not told him with burning unrestraint that
she had always loved this man, would love him