d in their names, but as they had
said they had come to inquire about the duke, she suspected them of
having been in league with the chevalier in the attempt to ruin her
reputation, perhaps they had even promised to help him to carry her
off, but she knew nothing positive about them or their plans. The duke,
contrary to his wont, did not allow himself to be easily convinced by
these lame explanations, but unfortunately for him the lady knew how to
assume an attitude favourable to her purpose. She had been induced, she
said, with the simple confidence born of love, to listen to people who
had led her to suppose they could give her news of one so dear to her
as the duke. From this falsehood she proceeded to bitter reproaches:
instead of defending herself, she accused him of having left her a
prey to anxiety; she went so far as to imply that there must be some
foundation for the hints of the chevalier, until at last the duke,
although he was not guilty of the slightest infidelity, and had
excellent reasons to give in justification of his silence, was soon
reduced to a penitent mood, and changed his threats into entreaties for
forgiveness. As to the shriek he had heard, and which he was sure had
been uttered by the stranger who had forced his way into her room
after the departure of the others, she asserted that his ears must have
deceived him. Feeling that therein lay her best chance of making things
smooth, she exerted herself to convince him that there was no need for
other information than she could give, and did all she could to blot the
whole affair from his memory; and her success was such that at the end
of the interview the duke was more enamoured and more credulous than
ever, and believing he had done her wrong, he delivered himself up to
her, bound hand and foot. Two days later he installed his mistress in
another dwelling....

Madame Rapally also resolved to give up her rooms, and removed to a
house that belonged to her, on the Pont Saint-Michel.

The commander took the condition of Charlotte Boullenois very much to
heart. The physician under whose care he had placed her, after examining
her wounds, had not given much hope of her recovery. It was not that
de Jars was capable of a lasting love, but Charlotte was young and
possessed great beauty, and the romance and mystery surrounding their
connection gave it piquancy. Charlotte's disguise, too, which enabled de
Jars to conceal his success and yet flaunt it in t