runs
for so many miles beside the Yonne, she told me quite a lot about
herself.

Her admiration for M'sieur Bellingham was very pronounced. It was not
difficult to see that this pretty girl, who, I supposed, had escaped
from her convent, was madly in love with the handsome Bindo. The Count
was a sad lady-killer, and where any profit was concerned was a most
perfect lover, as many a woman possessed of valuable jewels had known to
her cost. From the pretty Pierrette's bright chatter, I began to wonder
whether or not she was marked down as a victim. She had met the gay
Bindo in Paris, it seemed, but how and in what circumstances, having
regard to her religious habit, she did not inform me.

That Bindo was using the name of Bellingham showed some chicanery to be
in progress.

By dint of careful questioning I tried to obtain from her some facts
concerning her escape from the convent, but she would tell me nothing
regarding it. All she replied was--

"Ah! M'sieur Bellingham! How kind and good he is to send you for me--to
get me clean away from that hateful place!" and then, drawing a deep
breath, she added, "How good it is to be free again--free!"

The car was tearing along, the rush of wind already bringing the colour
to her soft, delicate cheeks. The bulb of a wind-horn was at her side,
and she sat with her hands upon it, sounding a warning note whenever
necessary as we flashed through the long string of villages between
Sens and Chatillon. The wintry landscape was rather dull and cheerless,
yet with her at my side I began to find the journey delightful. There is
nothing so dreary, depressing, and monotonous as to cross France alone
in a car without a soul to speak to all day through.

"I wonder when we shall arrive at Monte Carlo?" she queried presently in
English, with a rather pronounced accent, turning her fresh, smiling
face to me--a face that was typically French, and dark eyes that were
undeniably fine.

"It all depends upon accidents," I laughed. "With good fortune we ought
to be there to-morrow night--that is, if we keep going, and you are not
too tired."

"Tired? No. I love motoring! It will be such fun to go on all night,"
she exclaimed enthusiastically. "And what a fine big lamp you've got!
I've never been in Monte Carlo, and am so anxious to see it. I've read
so much about it--and the gambling. M'sieur Bellingham said they will
not admit me to the Casino, as I'm too young. Do you think they will?"