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She dropped her eyes before the passion of uile in her words; there were the dictates of the intuitions of her sex, and nothing more

"But it is possible, reat world of Lesperon, in Gascony?" I interrupted

"No, no; the great world you have inhabited at Paris and elsewhere I can understand that at Lavedan you should find little of interest, and--and that your inactivity should render you ione"

"If there were so little to interest ht be as you say But, oh, mademoiselle--" I ceased abruptly Fool! I had almost fallen a prey to the seductions that the tiuorous eventide, the broad, se, the shadows on the water, her presence, and our isolation as, had aler and of h, and--otten--"You see," she said, "how your iination deserts you when you seek to draw upon it for proof of what you protest You were about to tell me of--of the interests that hold you at Lavedan, and when you co Is it--is it not so?" She put the question very tiht provoke

"No; it is not so," I said

I paused a moment, and in that moment I wrestled with myself Confession and avowal--confession of what I had undertaken, and avowal of the love that had so unexpectedly co away in fear

Have I not said that this Bardelys was becoht I would leave Lavedan I would return to Paris and to Chatellerault, owning defeat and paying er It was the only course open to me My honour, so tardily aroused, demanded no less Yet, not so much because of that as because it was suddenly revealed to me as the easier course, did I deterht becoony did it seem to matter overmuch

"There is much, mademoiselle, much, indeed, to hold ations demand of me that I depart"

"You mean the Cause," she cried "But, believeTo sacrifice yourself cannot profit it Infinitely better you can serve the Duke by waiting until the time is ripe for another blow And how can you better preserve your life than by re at Lavedan until the persecutions are at an end?"