marry another man, and therefore could not be jealous,
and that she wanted her gown embroidered.

Dorothy was not happy, and a nervous terror was always upon her which
had caused her blue eyes to look out wistfully from delicate hollows
and faded the soft pink on her cheeks; still she kept involuntarily
to her feminine ways, and wanted her gowns embroidered.

"I want no pay!" Madelon cried, hoarsely.

"I meant no harm," Dorothy faltered, again. She remembered that
Madelon Hautville had on divers occasions, for prospective brides,
turned her marvellous skill in embroidery to financial profit, but
she dared not say so for an excuse. "I could not do it myself,"
Dorothy said, further, trembling in every limb, "and--I thought
maybe--you--"

Suddenly Madelon extended her hand. "Give me this silk," she said; "I
will work the flowers on it for you, but never dare to speak to me of
pay, Dorothy Fair."

Dorothy looked at her, made a motion as to give her the silk, then
drew it back again.

"Give me the silk," said Madelon. Dorothy yielded up the silk
hesitatingly, with a scared and apologetic murmur. Then she screamed
faintly, for Eugene Hautville strode back into the room with a look
on his face which she had never seen before. He snatched the silk out
of Madelon's hand and thrust it roughly into Dorothy's.

"Take it home," he said. "My sister does no work on your
wedding-clothes!"

Dorothy gasped and looked at him with wild terror in her blue eyes,
and then he caught her in his arms, pressed her yellow head against
his breast, and stroked it softly. "Don't be afraid," he said--and
his voice had its wonderful gentle charm again. "Don't be afraid,
dear child! I could not harm you if I tried--not a hard word shall be
said to you, sweet!"

"_Eugene!_" cried Madelon, and her voice seemed to carry wrath like a
trumpet. She laid hold of his shoulders, and forced him back, and
Dorothy slipped out of his arms and stood aside, trembling and
weeping, with a little worked apron which she wore thrown over her
face. "Let me be!" Eugene cried, angrily, and would have gone to
Dorothy again to comfort her, but Madelon in her wrath was as strong
as he, and she thrust herself between them.

"You are no brother of mine, Eugene Hautville," she said, her face
all white and fierce with anger. "You dare to touch her again, and
you will find out that I can fight to keep her from you as well as
Burr could if he were here. You _dare_ to tou