fe de Paris--the guide and the
girl--when a young man entered. He was exceedingly handsome, and very
wonderfully turned out after the fashion of the French dandy. The guide,
as the young man passed, rose up and bowed respectfully. The young man
nodded carelessly. Then he saw the girl, and he looked at her as no man
had ever looked before. And the girl ought to have been angry, but
wasn't.

"She asked the guide who the young man was. He told her that it was the
Duke of Languerois, head of one of the oldest families in France. His
father and grandfather, and for a time he himself, had been in their
service! The girl looked across at the young man with interest, and the
young man returned her gaze. That was what he was there for.

"As they left the restaurant her guide fell behind for a moment, and
when she looked round she saw him talking to the young man. Of course
she wanted to know what they had been saying, and with much apparent
reluctance the guide told her. The young man had been inquiring about
mademoiselle, where they spent their time, how he could meet them. Of
course he had told nothing. But the young man was very persistent and
very much in earnest! She encouraged the guide to talk about him, and
she believed what she was told. He was rich, noble, adored in French
society, and he was in love with mademoiselle. She was very soon given
to understand this.

"For several days the young man was always in evidence. He was perfectly
respectful, he never attempted to address her. It was all most cunningly
planned. Then one evening, when she was driving with her guide through a
narrow street, a man sprang suddenly upon the step of her carriage and
snatched at her jewels. Another on the other side had passed his arm
round the guide's neck and almost throttled him, and a third was
struggling with the coachman. It was one of those lightning-like attacks
by Apaches, which were common enough then--at least it seemed like one.
The girl screamed, and, of course, the young man, who had been following
in another voiture, appeared. One of the thieves he threw on to the
pavement, the others fled. And the young man was a hero! It was well
arranged!"

Her voice broke for a moment, and Macheson moved uneasily upon the sofa.
If he could he would have stopped her. He could guess as much of the
miserable story as it was necessary for him to know! But she ignored
his threatened interruption. She was determined, having kept her secre