th
his death.

"Had I not made that fatal appointment," she sobbed, "he would be alive
and well now; my love has slain him as surely as if my hand had held the
steel that has pierced his heart!"

She at first thought of seeking refuge with her father, but abandoned
the idea almost immediately, for she felt that he would refuse to
enter into her grievance, or would say, "You are a duchess; you have an
enormous fortune. You must be happy; and if you are not, it must be your
own fault."

In terrible anguish the night passed away; and when her maids entered
the room, they found her lying on the floor, dressed as she had been the
night before. No one knew what to do, and messengers were dispatched in
all directions to summon medical advice.

Norbert's return was eagerly welcomed by the terrified domestics, and a
general feeling of relief pervaded the establishment.

The Duke had grown very uneasy as to what might have happened during his
absence. He questioned the servants as diplomatically as he could; and
while he was thus engaged, the doctors who had been summoned arrived.

After seeing their patient, they did not for a moment conceal their
opinion that the case was a very serious one, and that it was possible
that she might not survive this mysterious seizure. They impressed upon
Norbert the necessity of the Duchess being kept perfectly quiet and
never left alone, and then departed, promising to call again in the
afternoon.

Their injunctions were unnecessary, for Norbert had established himself
by his wife's bedside, resolved not to quit her until her health was
re-established or death had intervened to release her from suffering.
Fever had claimed her for its own, and in her delusion she uttered
many incoherent ravings, the key to which Norbert alone held, and which
filled his soul with dread and terror.

This was the second time that Norbert had been compelled to watch over
a sick-bed, guarding within his heart a terrible secret. At Champdoce
he had sat by his father's side, who could have revealed the terrible
attempt against his life; and now it was his wife that he was keeping a
watch on, lest her lips should utter the horrible secret of the death of
George de Croisenois.

Compelled to remain by his wife's side, the thoughts of his past life
forced themselves upon him, and he shuddered to think that, at the age
of twenty-five he had only to look back upon scenes of misery and crime,
which cast a cloud o