st let me tell you"--began Bertha, and faltered.

"Why do you hesitate? For Heaven's sake, dear Bertha, tell me everything
which can throw the faintest glimmer of light upon the path Madeleine
has taken."

"I do not know how to say what I was thinking; perhaps I ought not to
allude to it at all; yet it seems as if it must be true. Do you not
remember that Madeleine confessed she had bestowed her affections upon
_some one_? Since they were not given to you, as I once believed, I
cannot help imagining that perhaps she might--might have meant"--

"Gaston de Bois?"

"Yes."

Maurice did not answer, and Bertha could say no more. There was a
painful struggle going on in her mind, though less torturing than that
which convulsed the spirit of her cousin.

When he had somewhat recovered himself, he said,--

"At all events I will see M. de Bois. If there is nothing to be learned
from him, if he really knows nothing concerning Madeleine's departure, I
must seek information at Rennes. There is no time to lose. I will call
upon M. de Bois at once."

The cousins parted at the door of the _chalet_. Bertha turned toward the
chateau, pausing on her way to talk with Baptiste; Maurice went in the
direction of his neighbor's residence.

Count Tristan's visit had taken M. de Bois aback, chiefly because he was
confounded by a new proof of his own awkwardness (stupidity, he plainly
termed it) in leaving his handkerchief behind him, as a witness of his
presence at the _chalet_. But there was no such confusing testimony to
destroy his composure when he received Maurice. Besides, he had ample
time to collect himself; for he was walking in the park when his valet
announced that the young viscount was awaiting him in the library. He
had looked forward to the return of Maurice to Brittany as soon as the
latter heard of Madeleine's mysterious disappearance. M. de Bois knew
that it would be more difficult to prevent her being traced by her
cousin than by any other person, and that it was by him Madeleine
herself most feared to be discovered. Gaston was therefore fully on his
guard against betraying her confidence.

Maurice, on his part, was keenly sensible of the difficulty of his
undertaking. He could not openly inquire of M. de Bois whether Madeleine
had apprised him of her intentions. The very question would have a
tendency to compromise his cousin, by suggesting that she was capable of
holding clandestine communication with a young gen