had made
upon the face of the man she loved, Dolores burst into tears.

"Oh Dolores!" sighed Philip, "have I really found you again after all
these years!"

She smiled and wept as he devoured her with his eyes, then stepped by
him and after satisfying herself that the door was securely closed and
locked, she lowered the curtain and led Philip to an arm chair near the
fire.

"Do you find me changed?" she asked.

"You are even more beautiful now than in the past!"

She blushed and turned away her face, then suddenly inquired: "How
happens it you are here, Philip?"

"I came to Paris with a party of noblemen to rescue the queen from the
hands of her executioners. We failed; she died upon the guillotine. My
companions were arrested; I alone succeeded in making my escape--"

"Then you are pursued--you are a fugitive. Perhaps they are even now
upon your track!"

"For a week I have been concealed in the house of a kind-hearted man
who had taken compassion on my misery. I hoped to remain there until I
could find an opportunity to make my escape from Paris. Day before
yesterday, he told me that he was suspected of sheltering some enemy of
the nation, and that his house was liable to be searched at any moment
by Robespierre's emissaries, and that I must flee at once if I did not
desire to ruin him. I obeyed and since that time I have been wandering
about the streets of Paris, hiding in obscure nooks, living like a dog,
and not daring to ask aid of any one for fear I should be denounced.
This evening, half-dead with hunger and cold, I was wondering if it
would not be better to deliver myself up when, only a few steps from
here, I met a man who was formerly in the employ of the Duke de
Penthieore, and to whom I had once rendered an important service.
Believing that he had not forgotten it, I approached him and told him
who I was. The wretch cursed me, and tried to arrest me. The instinct of
self-preservation lent me fresh strength. I struggled with him and
knocked him down, and while he was calling for help, I ran across the
unoccupied ground near the house. A low wall suddenly rose before me. I
leaped over it, and found myself in this garden. I saw the light from
your window; the door stood open. I entered and God has willed that the
hours of agony through which I have just passed should lead me to you.
Ah! now I can die. Now that I have seen you again, Dolores, I can die
content!"

"Why do you talk of dying?" exclaime