he released his arm.

"Does he come to-night?" she asked.

"They will be here to-morrow, madame. I rode on to tell you so."

"An odd fancy, this of his. But"--and a sudden smile overspread her
face--"we may find a more useful purpose for one of these monks."

An hour ago she would willingly have set mademoiselle at liberty in
exchange for the assurance that Marius had been successful in the
business that had taken him over the border into Savoy. She would have
done it gladly, content that Marius should be heir to Condillac. But
now that Condillac was assured her son, she must have more for him; her
insatiable greed for his advancement and prosperity was again upon
her. Now, more than ever--now that Florimond was dead--must she have La
Vauvraye for Marius, and she thought that mademoiselle would no longer
be difficult to bend. The child had fallen in love with that mad
Garnache, and when a woman is crossed in love, while her grief lasts
it matters little to her where she weds. Did she not know it out of the
fund of her own bitter experience? Was it not that--the compulsion her
own father had employed to make her find a mate in a man so much older
than herself as Condillac--that had warped her own nature, and done much
to make her what she was?

A lover she had had, and whilst he lived she had resisted them, and
stood out against this odious marriage that for convenience' sake they
forced upon her. He was killed in Paris in a duel, and when the news of
it came to her, she had folded her hands and let them wed her to whom
they listed.

Of just such a dejection of spirit had she observed the signs in
Valerie; let them profit by it while it lasted. They had been long
enough without Church ceremonies at Condillac. There should be two
to-morrow to make up for the empty time--a wedding and a burial.

She was going down the stairs, Fortunio a step behind her, when her mind
reverted to the happening at La Rochette.

"Was it well done?" she asked.

"It made some stir," said he. "The Marquis had men with him, and had the
affair taken place in France ill might have come of it."

"You shall give me a full account of it," said she, rightly thinking
that there was still something to be explained. Then she laughed
softly. "Yes, it was a lucky chance for us, his staying at La Rochette.
Florimond was born under an unlucky star, I think, and you under a lucky
one, Fortunio."

"I think so, too, as regards myself," he answered g