the town, while her
brother had his quarters in the Chateau, and the King of France at St.
Cloud, I stayed my party in a by-road, a hundred paces farther on, and,
springing from the Cid, went to my mistress's knee.

'Mademoiselle,' I said formally, and so loudly that all my men might
hear, 'the time is come. I dare not go farther with you. I beg you,
therefore, to bear me witness that as I took you so I have brought you
back, and both with your good-will. I beg that you will give me this
quittance, for it may serve me.'

She bowed her head and laid her ungloved hand on mine, which I had
placed on, the pommel of her saddle. 'Sir,' she answered in a broken
voice, 'I will not give you this quittance, nor any quittance from me
while I live.' With that she took off her mask before them all, and I
saw the tears running down her white face. 'May God protect you, M. de
Marsac,' she continued, stooping until her face almost touched mine,
'and bring you to the thing you desire. If not, sir, and you pay too
dearly for what you have done for me, I will live a maiden all my days.
And, if I do not, these men may shame me!'

My heart was too full for words, but I took the glove she held out to
me, and kissed her hand with my knee bent. Then I waved--for I could not
speak--to madame to proceed; and with Simon Fleix and Maignan's men to
guard them they went on their way. Mademoiselle's white face looked back
to me until a bend in the road hid them, and I saw them no more.

I turned when all were gone, and going heavily to where my Sard stood
with his head drooping, I climbed to the saddle, and rode at a foot-pace
towards the Chateau. The way was short and easy, for the next turning
showed me the open gateway and a crowd about it. A vast number of people
were entering and leaving, while others rested in the shade of the wall,
and a dozen grooms led horses up and down. The sunshine fell hotly on
the road and the courtyard, and flashed back by the cuirasses of the
men on guard, seized the eye and dazzled it with gleams of infinite
brightness. I was advancing alone, gazing at all this with a species
of dull indifference which masked for the moment the suspense I felt at
heart, when a man, coming on foot along the street, crossed quickly to
me and looked me in the face.

I returned his look, and seeing he was a stranger to me, was for passing
on without pausing. But he wheeled beside me and uttered my name in a
low voice.

I checked t