e assurance that, if Madeleine had really gone, she would
be traced and entreated to return to her former home.

The count now thought it politic to assume an air of the deepest
concern.

"I am grieved to bring you such unsatisfactory news; but Baptiste knows
nothing,--he has not seen Madeleine. I am very much shocked, but the
fear that she has really left us forces itself upon me. I will order my
horse and ride over to Rennes. She probably obtained a conveyance last
night or this morning to take her there, as it is the nearest town; and
then, by railroad or stage-coach, she must have proceeded upon her
journey."

"But how could she have obtained a conveyance if none of the servants
were in her confidence? She must have walked, though it is five miles;
but that cannot be, for she could not have carried her trunk. Some one
_must_ have aided her. Oh, who _can_ it be?"

Bertha wiped her streaming eyes with the handkerchief in her hand; it
was the handkerchief found in the _chalet_,--that of Gaston de Bois. It
seemed to answer her question. She hesitated for some moments before she
could persuade herself to communicate her suspicion; but her strong love
for Madeleine, and her desire that she should be restored to them,
prevailed. She handed the handkerchief to Count Tristan.

"Before you go to Rennes, will you not return this handkerchief to M. de
Bois? As it was picked up in the _chalet_, he must have been there
lately,--possibly this morning. Perhaps he knows something of
Madeleine's flight. Oh, he _must_ know!--he must! Make him tell
you,--implore him to tell you!"

The count took the handkerchief, saying, "It is an admirable suggestion
of yours, my dear Bertha. I will go to M. de Bois at once. Meantime, do
not spoil your beautiful eyes with weeping. Never fear,--we will have
Madeleine back shortly; and if you will only be consoled, I promise to
forgive her all the anxiety she has occasioned us."

Count Tristan found M. de Bois at home, burrowing among musty volumes,
which were the daily companions of his solitude. When he received his
handkerchief, a violent fit of stammering rendered the words he
attempted to utter wholly incomprehensible, and the count made no effort
to understand them. He proceeded to inform M. de Bois of Madeleine's
sudden disappearance, and of the great unhappiness it had caused, adding
that he came to him as a neighbor, to ask his advice concerning the best
method of tracking the fugitive.