t do you say, Clara?"

"It is a dangerous speculation," replied Mme de Serizy.

"Is it permissible to ask His Majesty the King of Sorcerers when I made
the mistake of touching the axe, since I have not been to London as
yet?----"

"_Not so_," he answered in English, with a burst of ironical laughter.

"And when will the punishment begin?"

At this Montriveau coolly took out his watch, and ascertained the hour
with a truly appalling air of conviction.

"A dreadful misfortune will befall you before this day is out."

"I am not a child to be easily frightened, or rather, I am a child
ignorant of danger," said the Duchess. "I shall dance now without fear
on the edge of the precipice."

"I am delighted to know that you have so much strength of character," he
answered, as he watched her go to take her place in a square dance.

But the Duchess, in spite of her apparent contempt for Armand's dark
prophecies, was really frightened. Her late lover's presence weighed
upon her morally and physically with a sense of oppression that scarcely
ceased when he left the ballroom. And yet when she had drawn freer
breath, and enjoyed the relief for a moment, she found herself
regretting the sensation of dread, so greedy of extreme sensations is
the feminine nature. The regret was not love, but it was certainly akin
to other feelings which prepare the way for love. And then--as if the
impression which Montriveau had made upon her were suddenly revived--she
recollected his air of conviction as he took out his watch, and in a
sudden spasm of dread she went out.

By this time it was about midnight. One of her servants, waiting with
her pelisse, went down to order her carriage. On her way home she fell
naturally enough to musing over M. de Montriveau's prediction. Arrived
in her own courtyard, as she supposed, she entered a vestibule almost
like that of her own hotel, and suddenly saw that the staircase was
different. She was in a strange house. Turning to call her servants, she
was attacked by several men, who rapidly flung a handkerchief over her
mouth, bound her hand and foot, and carried her off. She shrieked aloud.

"Madame, our orders are to kill you if you scream," a voice said in her
ear.

So great was the Duchess's terror, that she could never recollect how
nor by whom she was transported. When she came to herself, she was lying
on a couch in a bachelor's lodging, her hands and feet tied with silken
cords. In spite of hers