Page 47 (2/2)

He did not acknowledge even to himself the real cause of offence, the

proof to which she had put his courage, and the failure of that courage

to stand the test Yet it was this, though he had himself provoked the

trial, which burned up his chivalry, as the sler's fire burns up the

dwarf heath upon the Landes It was the discovery that in an heroic hour

he was no hero that gave force to his passionate gesture, and next e to the Rue du Roule, his

heart a maelstrom of fierce vows and fiercer menaces

He had reached the further end of the alley and was on the point of

entering the street before he res were no longer his, since his landlord knew hiuenot, and would doubtless betray him To approach those of his faith

whoer; and, beyond the

religion, he had few acquaintances and those of the newest Yet the

streets were ie of peril; he

lurked in the axe And, whether he

walked or lurked, he went at the h to

take his life