if she could win that of having damned
an abbe."

"Count," said the duchess, "upon my word, you frighten me."

"Alas!" continued Athos, "the poor abbe was not a St. Ambroise, and I
repeat, Marie Michon was an adorable creature."

"Monsieur!" cried the duchess, seizing Athos's hands, "tell me this
moment how you know all these details, or I will send to the convent of
the Vieux Augustins for a monk to come and exorcise you."

Athos laughed. "Nothing is easier, madame. A cavalier, charged with
an important mission, had come an hour before your arrival, seeking
hospitality, at the very moment that the cure, summoned to the bedside
of a dying person, left not only his house but the village, for the
entire night. The priest having all confidence in his guest, who,
besides, was a nobleman, had left to him his house, his supper and his
chamber. And therefore Marie came seeking hospitality from the guest of
the good abbe and not from the good abbe himself."

"And that cavalier, that guest, that nobleman who arrived before she
came?"

"It was I, the Comte de la Fere," said Athos, rising and bowing
respectfully to the Duchess de Chevreuse.

The duchess remained a moment stupefied; then, suddenly bursting into
laughter:

"Ah! upon my word," said she, "it is very droll, and that mad Marie
Michon fared better than she expected. Sit down, dear count, and go on
with your story."

"At this point I have to accuse myself of a fault, madame. I have told
you that I was traveling on an important mission. At daybreak I left
the chamber without noise, leaving my charming companion asleep. In the
front room the follower was also still asleep, her head leaning back
on the chair, in all respects worthy of her mistress. Her pretty face
arrested my attention; I approached and recognized that little Kitty
whom our friend Aramis had placed with her. In that way I discovered
that the charming traveler was----"

"Marie Michon!" said Madame de Chevreuse, hastily.

"Marie Michon," continued Athos. "Then I went out of the house; I
proceeded to the stable and found my horse saddled and my lackey ready.
We set forth on our journey."

"And have you never revisited that village?" eagerly asked Madame de
Chevreuse.

"A year after, madame."

"Well?"

"I wanted to see the good cure again. I found him much preoccupied
with an event that he could not at all comprehend. A week before he had
received, in a cradle, a beautiful little boy three