!"

Yet it is to be feared that even in that moment the Abbe John thought
more of the process (as outlined in his mind with Claire as
instructress) than of the very desirable result.

What the thoughts of Valentine la Nina were when she left the presence
of her uncle could hardly be defined even to her own mind. But seeing
this young man so easy, so debonair in spite of his dishevelled
appearance, the girl only held out her left hand. A faint smile, like
the sun breaking momentarily through the thunder-clouds, appeared on her
lips.

"I was wrong," she said; "let me help you only--I ask no more. Come!"

And without another word she led him into a narrow passage, between two
high walls. They passed door after door, all closed, one of them being
the chamber of Mariana, in which he sat like a spider spinning webs for
the Society of the Gesu. What might have happened if that door had been
suddenly opened in their faces also remains a mystery. For Valentine's
arm was strong, and the dagger her hand held was sharp.

However, as it chanced, the doors remained shut, so that when they came
to a little wicket, of solid iron like all the rest, the steel blade of
the dagger still shone bright.

Then Valentine la Nina snatched from a nail the long black mantle, with
which any who left the House of the Holy Office by that door concealed
from the curious their rank or errand. She flung it about John
d'Albret's shoulders with a single movement of her arm.

"I do what I can," she said, "yield me the justice to allow that. I am
giving you a chance to return to her. There--take it--now you are
armed!"

She gave him the knife, and the sheath from which she had drawn it in
her uncle's bureau.

"And now, bid me farewell--no thanks--I do not want them! You will not,
I know, forget me, and I only ask you to pray that I may be able to
forget you!"

The Abbe John stooped to kiss her hand, but she snatched it behind her
quickly.

"I think I deserve so much," she said softly, holding up her face, "not
even she would deny me!"

And the Abbe John, quieting his soul by the vow of necessity, future
confession, and absolution, kissed Valentine la Nina.

She gave one little sobbing cry, and would have fallen, had he not
caught her. But she shook him off, striking angrily at his wrist with
her clenched hand.

"No! No! _No!_" she cried; "go--I bid you--go, do not heed me. I am
well. They may be here any moment. They are ever on the watch