re. Captain Ferragant, if you will excuse me,--"

The Captain, with a shrug, swaggered off to the furthest corner of the
hall.

"You have been acquainted," I began, "with a certain Monsieur de Merri."

The Count's face seemed to jump. I had certainly caught his attention.
But his speech was perfectly controlled as he said:

"Yes. And what of him?"

"He had the misfortune to be killed in a sudden duel four days ago at La
Fleche."

He was plainly startled; but, after a moment's silence, he only said,
"You astonish me," and waited for me to continue.

"I feared I should," said I, "for it turned out, after the duel, that
Monsieur de Merri was on his way to see you, upon some matter of great
urgency."

"On his way to see me! How do you know that?"

I thought it best to tell as much truth as possible.

"I learned from his servant that he was bound in great haste for
Montoire. Coming to Montoire, I inquired, and was informed that his only
tie in this neighbourhood was his acquaintance with you. Therefore it
must have been you he was coming to see, and his haste implied the
urgency of his reasons, whatever they may have been. Thinking you might
be depending upon his arrival, I resolved to tell you of his death."

"It is a little odd that you should put yourself out to do that."

"It might be, if I were not responsible for his failure to come to you."

"Oh, then it was you who killed him?"

"Yes; and thought it only the proper act of a gentleman to carry the
news to the person who may have expected him."

"H'm. No doubt. But why did you not come directly and tell me?"

"I heard you made yourself entirely inaccessible to strangers. So when
Monsieur de Pepicot spoke of asking you to lend us chessmen, I thought
it might lead to some breaking down of your reserve,--as it did."

"But why did you wait a day before telling me?"

"I hoped that chance might enable me to see you alone. But you were so
deeply engrossed in your chess. And I hesitated lest you might think
yourself bound, as Monsieur de Merri's friend, to deliver me up for
having violated the edict."

These were certainly sufficient reasons, though, as you know, I had not
thought of telling him of Monsieur de Merri till after I had heard the
Countess's story, and therefore they were not the true answer to his
question. But I no longer found safe standing on the ground of truth,
and so fell back upon the soil of invention, uncertain as it was. The
Count