ll acquainted with the value of discretion and, therefore,
will withdraw!"

As he uttered those words, Leon kissed the tips of his fingers to Louise
and Joliette, and lightly ran from the salon. When he had disappeared
the Captain folded Mlle. d'Armilly in his arms and kissed her tenderly
upon the forehead.

"Oh! Louise," said he, enthusiastically, "I love you more and more every
day!"

The former artiste gently disentangled herself from his embrace and,
smiling archly, led him to a chair; then she sat down upon another at a
short distance from him.

"No, no," said Joliette, warmly; "come and sit beside me on the sofa.
Even Leon sees that I adore you, and all my friends in Paris are aware
that I am seeking your hand in marriage. Why will you be so formal and
distant with me!"

She arose and did as he requested; Joliette, seated at her side, put his
arm about her waist. Louise did not resist, but still maintained an air
of coquetry that was displeasing to the ardent young soldier.

"Albert," she said, in a low, musical voice, "do you, indeed, love me as
you say?"

"Love you, Louise!" cried Joliette. "I would lay down my life for you!"

"Are you quite sure you love me for myself and not because of the
resemblance you say I bear to the woman you once so ardently admired?
What was her name?--ah! Eugenie Danglars!" said she, looking at him with
a piercing gaze.

"Quite sure, Louise, quite sure. Besides, Mlle. Danglars has
disappeared, has not been seen or heard of for several years, and, no
doubt, is dead."

"And yet you do not mourn for her! How strange!"

"I never loved her as I love you, Louise. Eugenie Danglars was a
capricious and eccentric girl, and had she lived would have been a
capricious and eccentric woman. It was well for me she vanished when she
did! But, by the way, another singular and inexplicable coincidence is
that Louise d'Armilly, the name you bear, was also the name of Mlle.
Danglars' music teacher. I cannot understand it at all!"

"There is no necessity for you to understand it. Anyhow, it is a
coincidence, as you say--nothing more."

"Well, Louise, let us speak no further about either the resemblance or
the coincidence. Suffice it that I love you, and you alone--that I love
you for yourself."

"Your words make me very happy, Albert," replied Mlle. d'Armilly, and
her full red lips looked so luscious, ripe and alluring, that Joliette
could not resist the temptation to bestow a long, bu