d to Pierre for one or two dances, and many a friendly, many a half
envious guess was made as to the probable Chatelaine of Belmont.

CHAPTER XXII. SO GLOZED THE TEMPTER.

The lamps burned brightly in the boudoir of Angelique des Meloises
on the night of the fete of Pierre Philibert. Masses of fresh flowers
filled the antique Sevres vases, sending delicious odors through the
apartment, which was furnished in a style of almost royal splendor. Upon
the white hearth a few billets of wood blazed cheerfully, for, after
a hot day, as was not uncommon in New France, a cool salt-water breeze
came up the great river, bringing reminders of cold sea-washed rocks and
snowy crevices still lingering upon the mountainous shores of the St.
Lawrence.

Angelique sat idly watching the wreaths of smoke as they rose in shapes
fantastic as her own thoughts.

By that subtle instinct which is a sixth sense in woman, she knew that
Le Gardeur de Repentigny would visit her to-night and renew his offer of
marriage. She meant to retain his love and evade his proposals, and she
never for a moment doubted her ability to accomplish her ends. Men's
hearts had hitherto been but potter's clay in her hands, and she had no
misgivings now; but she felt that the love of Le Gardeur was a thing she
could not tread on without a shock to herself like the counter-stroke of
a torpedo to the naked foot of an Indian who rashly steps upon it as it
basks in a sunny pool.

She was agitated beyond her wont, for she loved Le Gardeur with a
strange, selfish passion, for her own sake, not for his,--a sort of love
not uncommon with either sex. She had the frankness to be half ashamed
of it, for she knew the wrong she was doing to one of the most noble
and faithful hearts in the world. But the arrival of the Intendant had
unsettled every good resolution she had once made to marry Le Gardeur
de Repentigny and become a reputable matron in society. Her ambitious
fantasies dimmed every perception of duty to her own heart as well as
his; and she had worked herself into that unenviable frame of mind
which possesses a woman who cannot resolve either to consent or deny, to
accept her lover or to let him go.

The solitude of her apartment became insupportable to her. She sprang
up, opened the window, and sat down in the balcony outside, trying to
find composure by looking down into the dark, still street. The voices
of two men engaged in eager conversation reached her ear