tes the fond lovers stood side by side and gazed into
each other's eyes. Such silence is more eloquent than any words. At last
de Sigognac said softly, "I can scarcely believe even yet in the reality
of so much bliss. Oh! what a strange, contradictory destiny is mine. You
loved me, my darling, because I was poor and unhappy--and thus my
past misery was the direct cause of my present felicity. A troupe of
strolling actors, who chanced to seek refuge under my crumbling roof,
held in reserve for me an angel of purity and goodness--a hostile
encounter has given me a devoted friend--and, most wonderful of all,
your forcible abduction led to your meeting the fond father who had
been seeking you so many years in vain. And all this because a Thespian
chariot went astray one stormy night in the Landes."

"We were destined for each other--it was all arranged for us in heaven
above. Twin souls are sure to come together at last, if they can only
have patience to wait for the meeting. I felt instinctively, when we met
at the Chateau de Sigognac, that you were my fate. At sight of you my
heart, which had always lain dormant before, and never responded to any
appeal, thrilled within me, and, unasked, yielded to you all its love
and allegiance. Your very timidity won more for you than the greatest
boldness and assurance could have done, and from the first moment of
our acquaintance I resolved never to give myself to any one but you, or
God."

"And yet, cruel, hard-hearted child that you were--though so divinely
good and lovely--you refused your hand to me, when I sued for it on my
knees. I know well that it was all through generosity, and that of the
noblest--but, my darling, it was a very cruel generosity too."

"I will do my best to atone for it now, my dearest de Sigognac, in
giving you this hand you wished for, together with my heart, which
has long been all your own. The Comtesse de Lineuil is not bound to be
governed by the scruples of Isabelle, the actress. I have had only one
fear--that your pride might keep you from ever seeking me again as I
am now. But, even if you had given me up, you would never have loved
another woman, would you, de Sigognac? You would have been faithful to
me always, even though you had renounced me--I felt so sure of that.
Were you thinking of me down there in your ancient chateau, when
Vallombreuse broke in upon your solitude?"

"My dearest Isabelle, by day I had only one thought--of you--and at
n