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Show Jb&mouche (J o 6y Jkfa(? Sabalinl (Continued From Our Lat Issue ) In the background, on a settoe ut the salon's far end. sat Aline staring In bewilderment and some fear at a' faco, which. If unrecognlrble through ! tho mask of blood and dust that j smeared it, was yet familiar. And then tho man spoke, and Instantly she know the voice for that of the Marquis I de La Tour d'Azyr. In danger?" Almost he seemed: silently to laugh at the unnecessary (luestlon. ' If 1 wero to show myself openly in t he stroots Just now, I might with luck, contrive to live for five minutes!" He peeled off the shaggy greatcoat and casting it from him, stepped fort.-i In the black satin that hud been tho general livery of tfc- hundred knights who had ralliod In the Tullerlea that morning to the defense of their king. His coal was rent across the back, his neckcloth and the ruffles at his W.rlstS Were torn and bloodNtiilned ; with his smeared face and disordered headdress hi was terrible to behold. "My dear Thereio, unless you carry charitableness t' the length of giving me .i drink, you will see mo perish of thirst under your eyes before ever the canaille has a chance to fintuh mc." .She started, 'i should have thought of it"' she cried in self-reproach, and th- turned quickly. 'Aline.'' she bc-g-;.;ed , ' tell Jacques to bring Aline ho echoed. Interrupting, and swinging round In his turn Then as Aline rose into view, detaching from her background, and he at last per-e' per-e' icd her, he heaved himself abruptly abrupt-ly to his weary legs again, and stood there stiffly, bowing to her across the space of gleaming floor 'Mademoiselle, 'Mademoi-selle, I had not suspected your presence." pres-ence." he said, and seemed extraordinarily extraordin-arily ill at ease, a man startled, as If caught in an illicit act "I perceived it. monsieur," she answered, an-swered, as she advanced to do ma-dame's ma-dame's commission. She paused before be-fore him. 'From my heart, monsieur. I grieve that we should meet again in t ircustancee so very painful. 1 Not aince the day of his duel with Andrc-Louls the day which had soon the death and burial of his laat hope ol inning her had they stood face to face But Bit, monsieur I beg. Tou are fatigued." 'You are gracious to observe it. With your permission, then," And he resumed his seat. She continued on her way to the door and passed out upon her errand. M de La Tour d Azyr at last plead-ed plead-ed weariness, and withdrew that he might endeavor to take some rest. Wh n he h:id gone, madams persuaded persuad-ed Aline to go and lie down. Left slone. madame la down on a couch in tho salon itself, to be ready for any emergen The timepiece on tho overmantol chimed the hour of ten. and then, startling In the suddenees with which lit broke the immediate silence, another ! sound vibrated through the house, 'and brought madame to her feet in a ' breathless mingling of hope and dread. ; Someone vvus knocking sharply at the ' door below. Followed moments of ; agonized suspense, culminating in the abrupt invasion of the room by tho I footman Jacques. He looked round. I not seeing his mistress at first. "Madame. NLidame'" ho panted out j of breath Thero Is a man below. He Is demanding to see you at once." Bhe was perfectly composed. "Conduct "Con-duct him to me, and then beg Milt de Kercadlou to join mo if she Is t awake." 1'he door opened again, and Jacques reappeared; nfter him, stepping briskly brisk-ly past him, came a slight man In a v. Ide-brlmmed hat, aoorned by a tricolor tri-color cockade. About the waist of an olive-green riding coat ho wore a broad tri-color sash a eword hung at his aide. "Andre-Louis!" she exclaimed CHAPTER XII That gift of laughter of his seemod utterly extinguished. ' Rougano could not return," he informed her shortly. "At M. de Kcrcaoiou's request I come I Instead." 1 "You' Tou are sent to rescue us!' The note of amazement in her voice was otronger than that of her relief "That, and to make your acquaintance, acquaint-ance, madame." "To mako my acquaintance? But what do you mean, Andro-Louls?" This letter from M. de Kercadlou I will tell you." Intrlguod by his odd words and odder odd-er manner, sho took the folded sheet. She broke the seal with shaking hands, and with shaking nands approached ap-proached the written page to the light. "And so you know, my child"" Her voice was stifled, to whisper. 1 "1 know, madame. ny mother." She took one or two faltering steps toward him, hesitating. Then she opened her arms. Sobs suffocated her voice. ''Won't you come to me, Andre-Louis?" Andre-Louis?" A moment yet he stood hesitating. startled by that appeal, angered almost al-most by his heart's response to It, reason and sentiment at grips in hi soul. This was not real, his reason expostulated; this poignant emotion that she displayed and that, he experienced ex-perienced was fantastic Yet he went. Her arms enfolded him; hor wet check was pressed hard against his own, her frame, which the years had not yet succeeded In robbing of its grace, was shaken by the passionate passion-ate storm within her. "Oh, Andre-Louis, my child, if you knew how I havo hungered to hold you so' If you know how. in denying deny-ing myself this, I have atoned and suffered' Kercadlou should not have told you not even now. It was wrong most wrong, perhaps, to you. And yet como what may of thi to be able to hold you so, to be able to acknowledge you, to hear you call me mother oh! Andre-Louis, I cannot can-not now rogrct It I cannot . . . I cannot wish it otherwise." Sha sprang away from him with a startled cry. Beyond him In tho shadows by the door a palo figure shimmered ghostly. "You heard, Aline?" madame exclaimed. ex-claimed. "I could not help it, madame." ' Aline'" It wau tho countesi who 6poke. She knew tho danger of half-dl6coveriee half-dl6coveriee "I can trust you, child. I know, and Andre-Louis. I am sure will offer no objection." Sho had taken up the letter to show it to Aline. Yet first her eyos questioned him. "Oh, none, madamo," he assured her. ' It is entirely a matter for your-I your-I self." Aline looked frem one to tho other with troubled eye, hesitating to take the letter that ws now proffered. When sho had read it through, she very thoughtfully replaced It on the table. Then Impulsively she ran to madame and put her arirus about her. "Aline!" It was a cr of wonder nlmont of Joy "You do not utterly abhor I my near, sala All no, and kissed the tear-stained face that seemed to have grown years older In these last few hours. Tn the background Andre-Louis, j steeling himself against emotionalism poke with the voice of Scaramouch. "It would he well, mesdames, to postpone all transports until thoy jean be indulged at greater leisure , and in more -ecv.rlty It is growing late If we want to got out of this shambles wo should be wise to take the road without more delav " It was a tonic as effoetlvo as It was necessary. It startled them Into remembrance re-membrance of their circumstances and under spur of It they went at nnro to ror.v. their preparations They left him for perhaps a quarter quar-ter of an hour. to pace that long room alone, saved only from Impatience Impa-tience hv the turmoil of hm mind Whon at length thev returned thev were aocompanied by a tall man in a full-sklrtod ehagj?y greatooat and a broad hat, the brim of which was turned down all around Ho remained re-mained respectfully by the door in the shadows. between thern the two women had concerted It thus, or rather the countess had so concerted it when Aline had warned her that Andre-Louis' Andre-Louis' bitter hostility toward the marquis mar-quis made it unthinkable that he should move a finger consciously to save him Thoy had made thp mistake of not fully forewarning and persuading M do La Tour d'Azyr They had reckoned without the gueer sense of honor that moved uch men tut M. le Marquis, nurtured upon a code of shame. Andre-Louis, turning to scan that muffled flguro, advnaced from the light ht on his white, lean face the pseudo-footman started Tho noxt muffled figure, advanced from tho the light, and swept his broad-b broad-b rim mod hat from his brow As he did so Andre-Louis observed that his hand was fl"- and white and that a Jewel flashed from one of hie fingers. Tht-n he caught hLs breath and stiffened stif-fened in every line as he recognized the fac- rovemted to him, "Monsieur," that stem, proud man was saying, "I cannot take advantago of your ignoranc Tf thsec ladioa ran persuade you to save me tx. least it la due to you that you shall know whom you are saying." .Continued tn Our Next lame.) |
