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The Countess sat up in the darkness of the chas of reer

The slow declension of the day, the evening light, the signs of co

tempest which had driven her company to the shelter of the inn at the

crossroads, all had racked her, by re, and that soon the fault she had committed would be irreparable

One impulsive attempt to redee her suspect, had made reparation more difficult Still, by

daylight it had seemed possible to rest content with the trial ht had fallen, and the cries of little children and the

haggard eyes of mothers peopled the darkness of her cha te which played at intervals across the heavens,

Madame St Lo, who shared the room, had covered the ith a cloak;

and the place was dark To exclude the dull roll of the thunder was less

easy, for the night was oppressively hot, and behind the cloak the

case fall of

heavy rain, began towhich proved that Madame St Lo slept

Assured of this fact, the Countess presently heaved a sigh, and slipped

froroped in the darkness for her cloak, found it, and

donned it over her night gear Then, taking her bearings by her bed,