an here this moment who saw him, and whose interview, by the way,
gave rise to grave speculation. There he is yonder--a strange-looking
figure to call himself the friend of Gabriel Riquetti.'

'Who or what is he?' asked she eagerly.

'It is what none of us know, though, indeed, at the moment you came up,
we had some thoughts of compelling him to declare. Need I tell you that
there is grave suspicion of foul play here; many are minded to believe
that Mirabeau has been poisoned. See how that fellow continues to stare
at you, Gabrielle. Do you know him?'

Step by step, slowly, but with eyes riveted upon the object before him,
Gerald had now approached the carriage, and stood within a few yards of
it, his eyeballs staring wildly, his lips apart, and every line of his
face betraying the most intense astonishment. Nor was Gabrielle less
moved: with her head protruded beyond the carriage-window, and her hair
pushed suddenly back by some passing impulse, she gazed wildly at the
stranger.

'_Gherardi, Gherardi mio!_' cried she at last. 'Speak, and tell me if
it be you.'

'Marietta, oh, Marietta!' said he, with a sigh, whose heartfelt cadence
seemed eloquent in sorrow.

'Come with me. Come home with me, and you shall hear all, said she, in
Italian, answering as it were the accents of his words.

The young man shook his head mournfully in reply, but never spoke.

'I tell you,' cried she, more passionately, 'that you shall hear all. It
is more than I have said to a confessor. Come, come,' and she flung open
the door as she spoke.

'If you but knew how I have longed to see you, Marietta!' whispered he,
in broken accents; 'but not thus, oh, not thus!'

'How, then, do you dare to judge me?' cried she, with flashing eyes;
'how presume to scoff at _my_ affluence, while _I_ have not dared to
reflect upon _your_ poverty? Once, and for the last time, I say, come
with me!'

Without another word he sprang to her side, the door was closed, and the
carriage drove rapidly away, ere the staring crowd could express their
amazement at what they had witnessed.

CHAPTER III. 'LA GABRIELLE'

By one of those inconsistencies which sway the popular mind in times of
trouble, the gorgeous splendour and wasteful extravagance which were not
permitted to an ancient nobility were willingly conceded to those who
now ministered to public amusement, and the costly magnificence which
aided the downfall of a monarchy was deemed pardonable in