Count Vavel.

"You certainly have heard more about him," returned the baroness, a
trifle impatiently. "His domestic troubles were in all the
newspapers--it was a _cause celebre_. He was a major in the French army,
under the Directory, but entered our service when the Empire was
established. The domestic troubles I referred to occurred while he was
still in France. His young and beautiful wife ran away with another
man--a man who is unknown to Barthelmy, who is pursuing the fugitives
over the whole world--"

"Ah! I remember now reading something about it. That is why his name
seemed familiar to me."

"I thought you must have heard something about him," responded the
baroness, in a peculiar tone. Then, with a sudden movement, she seized
his hand and whispered:

"And you are the unknown who abducted Colonel Barthelmy's wife."

"I?" in boundless amazement ejaculated the count. Then he laughed
heartily.

"Yes, you; and you are living here in seclusion with the lovely woman
whose face no one is permitted to see."

Ludwig ceased laughing, and replied very seriously; "Gracious baroness,
were I the person you believe me to be, I should have been glad to meet
the man who compelled me to live here in seclusion. A skilful
sword-thrust or a well-aimed bullet would have released me from this
prison."

"And yet, everybody believes Count Vavel to be Ange Barthelmy's lover,"
responded the baroness.

"Do _you_ believe it, baroness?"

"I? Perhaps--not. But Colonel Barthelmy believes it all the more firmly
because you refused to see him."

"And suppose he had seen me?"

"He would have asked you to introduce him to your--family."

"Then he would have learned that I have no family."

"But you could not have refused to tell him what relation you bear to
the lady at the castle."

"My answer would have been very brief had he asked the question," was
the count's grim response.

"I know what men mean by a 'brief' answer; the result is usually fatal."

"And does your ladyship imagine that I fear such a result?"

"So far as courage is concerned, I should not give any one precedence to
Count Vavel. A regular duel, however, requires more than courage.
Colonel Barthelmy is a soldier by profession; you are a philosopher who
lives amid his studies, and whose right hand is unable to hold a pen,
let alone a sword or a pistol!"

Count Vavel was touched on the spot where men are most susceptible.

"Who can tell whether I have alw