ed alarmingly upon her solitude,
almost driving before them the one great certainty and wonder of the
night. She looked round the shadowy, firelit room; she noticed with
curious attention the quaint coverings of the furniture, the
bright-coloured churches, windmills, farms, peasants at their work, all
on a clear white ground, the ancient _perse_ that had been bought and
arranged by Angelot's grandmother. She thought it much prettier than
anything at Lancilly. It distracted her a little, as the minutes went
on; but surely these affairs took a long time to settle; and the wind
rose higher, and howled in the chimney and whistled in the shutters, and
she saw herself, white and solitary, in a great glass at the end of the
room.

When Angelot at last opened the door, she sprang from the chair and ran
to meet him; the only safe place was in his arms.

"Don't leave me again," she whispered, as soon as it was possible to
speak.

Angelot was very pale, his eyes were burning. With broken words and
passionate kisses he put her back into the chair, and kneeling down
beside her, struggled for calmness to explain.

He was in honour bound to go; he must ride away; the horse was already
saddled, and he had only a few minutes in which to say good-bye. He must
leave her in Uncle Joseph's care till he came back. Uncle Joseph said it
was his duty to go. That very morning he was to have started for
England; his companion would be waiting for him and running a thousand
risks; he must meet him at the appointed place and send him on his way
alone. He did not tell her that Uncle Joseph, after all his chivalrous
kindness to her, had cordially wished women, love affairs, and marriages
at the devil, even when perfectly well aware that it was not only
Helene, with her soft hands, who was holding his nephew back and keeping
him in Anjou.

"You know my father went to Paris, sweet?" said Angelot. "He has come
back--he has been here this very night, looking for me. He would have
found me at home, if you had not called me across the fields to see you
dancing, you know! He saw all the authorities, even the Emperor himself.
Nobody knew anything about that arrest of mine, and I think a certain
Simon may get into hot water for it--though that is too much to expect,
perhaps. Anyhow, they say it was a mistake."

"Monsieur des Barres told me so. He said he was sure of it," said the
girl.

"Helene--how beautiful you are!"

She had laid her hand on his