o throw down her arms and sue for mercy. She grasped the arm of the
Counsellor.

"The end has not come yet, surely? Speak! What is to be done? You must
have some plan. I am ready for anything, now that I have nothing to
lose. No one shall ever say that that cowardly villain, the Duke de
Champdoce, insulted me with impunity. Tell me, will you help me?"

"In the name of heaven!" cried he, "do not speak so loud. You do not
know the adversary that you have to contend with."

"Are you afraid of him?"

"Yes, I do fear him; and what is more, I fear him very much. He is a
determined man, and will gain his object at any cost or risk. Do you
know that he did his best to crush me because I summoned him to court on
behalf of one of my clients? So that now, when any one comes to me and
wishes to proceed against the Duke, I am glad to decline to take up the
matter."

"And so," returned the young girl in a tone of cold contempt, "after
leading us to this compromising position, you are ready to abandon us at
the most critical moment?"

"Can you think such a thing, mademoiselle?"

"You can act as you please, Counsellor; Norbert is still left to me; he
will protect me."

Daumon shook his head with an air of deep sorrow.

"How can we be sure that at this very moment the Marquis has not given
in to all his father's wishes?"

"No," exclaimed the girl; "such a supposition is an insult to Norbert.
He would sooner die than give in. He may be timid, but he is not
a coward; the thoughts of me will give him the power to resist his
father's tyranny."

Daumon allowed himself to fall into his great armchair as though
overcome by the excitement of this interview.

"We can talk coolly enough here and with no one to threaten us; but the
Marquis, on the other hand, is exposed to all his father's violence and
ill treatment, moral as well as physical, without any defence for aid
from a soul in the world, and in such times as these the strongest will
may give way."

"Yes, I see it all; Norbert may give in, he may marry another woman, and
I shall be left alone, with my reputation gone, and the scorn and scoff
of all the neighborhood."

"But, mademoiselle, you still have--"

"All I have left is life, and that life I would gladly give for
vengeance."

There was something so terribly determined in the young girl's voice
that again Daumon started, and this time his start was sincere and not
simulated.

"Yes, you are right," said he, "and