ed, of which we at the
present moment have no idea.' The Chevalier, being thus comforted at
heart, could not fail to develop again all the charms of manner which
had once been so peculiarly his own before he was led astray by his
insane, pernicious passion for gambling. His visits at old Vertua's
grew more and more frequent; Angela conceived a warmer and warmer
liking for the man whose safeguarding angel she had been, until finally
she thought she loved him with all her heart; and she promised him her
hand, to the great joy of old Vertua, who at last felt that the
settlement respecting the property he had lost to the Chevalier could
now be concluded.

"One day Angela, Chevalier Menars' happy betrothed, sat at her window
wrapped up in varied thoughts of the delights and happiness of love,
such as young girls when betrothed are wont to dwell upon. A regiment
of _chasseurs_ passed by to the merry sound of the trumpet, bound for a
campaign in Spain. As Angela was regarding with sympathetic interest
the poor men who were doomed to death in the wicked war, a young man
wheeled his horse quickly to one side and looked up at her, and she
sank back in her chair fainting.

"Oh! the _chasseur_ who was riding to meet a bloody death was none
other than young Duvernet, their neighbour's son, with whom she had
grown up, who had run in and out of the house nearly every day, and had
only kept away since the Chevalier had begun to visit them.

"In the young man's glance, which was charged with reproaches having
all the bitterness of death in them, Angela became conscious for the
first time, not only that he loved her unspeakably, but also how
boundless was the love which she herself felt for him. Hitherto she had
not been conscious of it; she had been infatuated, fascinated by the
glitter which gathered ever more thickly about the Chevalier. She now
understood, and for the first time, the youth's labouring sighs and
quiet unpretending homage; and now too she also understood her own
embarrassed heart for the first time, knew what had caused the
fluttering sensation in her breast when Duvernet had come, and when she
had heard his voice.

"'It is too late! I have lost him!' was the voice that spoke in
Angela's soul. She had courage enough to beat down the feelings of
wretchedness which threatened to distract her heart; and for that
reason--namely, that she possessed the courage--she succeeded.

"Nevertheless it did not escape the Cheva