ire it?"

"Oh! then you would prove that I made the greatest possible mistake when
I made you a promise of any kind; and I should beg you to leave me in
peace."

The General's face grew white; he was about to spring to her side, when
Mme de Langeais rang the bell, the maid appeared, and, smiling with a
mocking grace, the Duchess added, "Be so good as to return when I am
visible."

Then Montriveau felt the hardness of a woman as cold and keen as a steel
blade; she was crushing in her scorn. In one moment she had snapped
the bonds which held firm only for her lover. She had read Armand's
intention in his face, and held that the moment had come for teaching
the Imperial soldier his lesson. He was to be made to feel that though
duchesses may lend themselves to love, they do not give themselves, and
that the conquest of one of them would prove a harder matter than the
conquest of Europe.

"Madame," returned Armand, "I have not time to wait. I am a spoilt
child, as you told me yourself. When I seriously resolve to have that of
which we have been speaking, I shall have it."

"You will have it?" queried she, and there was a trace of surprise in
her loftiness.

"I shall have it."

"Oh! you would do me a great pleasure by 'resolving' to have it. For
curiosity's sake, I should be delighted to know how you would set about
it----"

"I am delighted to put a new interest into your life," interrupted
Montriveau, breaking into a laugh which dismayed the Duchess. "Will you
permit me to take you to the ball tonight?"

"A thousand thanks. M. de Marsay has been beforehand with you. I gave
him my promise."

Montriveau bowed gravely and went.

"So Ronquerolles was right," thought he, "and now for a game of chess."

Thenceforward he hid his agitation by complete composure. No man is
strong enough to bear such sudden alternations from the height of
happiness to the depths of wretchedness. So he had caught a glimpse of
happy life the better to feel the emptiness of his previous existence?
There was a terrible storm within him; but he had learned to endure,
and bore the shock of tumultuous thoughts as a granite cliff stands out
against the surge of an angry sea.

"I could say nothing. When I am with her my wits desert me. She does not
know how vile and contemptible she is. Nobody has ventured to bring her
face to face with herself. She has played with many a man, no doubt; I
will avenge them all."

For the first time, it may b