ect, but as Jeanne left her for the
night, her stepmother called her back.

"To-morrow morning," she said, "I should be glad if you would come to
my room at twelve o'clock, I have something to say to you."

Jeanne slept well that night. For the first time she felt that she had
lost the feeling of friendlessness which for the last few weeks had
constantly oppressed her. Andrew de la Borne was back in London, and
the Duke, who seemed to have some sort of understanding as to the
troubles which were likely to beset her, had gone out of his way to
offer her his help. She felt now that she would not have to fight her
stepmother's influence unaided. Yet when she sought her room at twelve
o'clock the next morning she had very little idea of the sort of fight
which she might indeed have to make.

The Princess had already spent an hour at her toilette. Her hair was
carefully arranged and her face massaged. She received her stepdaughter
with some show of affection, and bade her sit close to her.

"Jeanne," she said, "you are now nearly twenty years old. For many
reasons I wish to see you married. The Count de Brensault formally
proposed for you last night. He is coming at three o'clock this
afternoon for his answer."

Jeanne sat upright in her chair. Her stepmother noticed a new air of
determination in the poise of her head, and the firm lines of her mouth.

"The Count might have spared himself the trouble," she said. "He knows
very well what my answer will be. I think that you know, too. It is no,
most emphatically and decidedly! I will not marry the Count de
Brensault."

"Before you express yourself so irrevocably," the Princess said calmly,
"I should like you to understand that it is my wish that you accept his
offer."

"In all ordinary matters," Jeanne answered, "I am prepared to obey you.
In this, no! I think that I have the right to choose my husband for
myself, or at any rate to approve of whomever you may select. I--do not
approve of the Count de Brensault. I do not care for him, and I never
could care for him, and I will not marry him!"

The Princess said nothing for several moments. Then she moved toward
the door which led into her sleeping chamber, where her maid was still
busy, and turned the key in the lock.

"Jeanne," she said when she returned, "I think it is time that you were
told something which I am afraid will be a shock to you. This great
fortune of yours, of which you have heard so much, and which