ice, or, rather, I did her far less than justice,"
returned Gaston.

"Yet few men would have dared to say what you did in my aunt's
presence."

"Could any man who had known Mademoiselle Madeleine as intimately as I
have had the honor of knowing her, through these four last painful years
of her life, could any man who had learned to reverence her as I
reverence her, have said less?"

"But my aunt, by her towering pride, awes people out of what they
_ought_ to do, and what they _want_ to do; at least, she does _me_; and
therefore,--therefore I honored you all the more when I saw you had the
courage to tell her harsh truths, while pleading Madeleine's cause so
eloquently."

Gaston was much moved by these unanticipated and warmly uttered
commendations. He tried to speak, but once again relapsed into his old
habit of stammering.

"Your praises are most pre--pre--pre"--

Bertha finished his sentence as in by-gone days. "Precious, are they
indeed? I am glad! I am truly glad that they are precious."

M. de Bois, notwithstanding the happiness communicated by this frank
declaration, could make no reply. What _could_ he answer? And what right
had he to give too delightful an interpretation to the chance
expressions of the lovely being who sat there before him, uttering words
in her ingenuous simplicity, which would have inspired a bolder, more
self-confident man, with the certainty that she regarded him with
partial eyes.

His gaze was riveted upon the ground, and so was hers. Neither spoke.
How long they would have sat thus, each looking for some movement to be
made by the other, is problematical. The double reverie was broken by a
well-known voice, which cried out,--

"Ah, M. de Bois, you are the very man I wanted to see. Good-morning,
Mademoiselle de Merrivale."

Lord Linden and his sister, Lady Augusta, stood before them. M. de Bois
instantly rose, and Bertha invited Lady Augusta to take the vacant
place. Lord Linden had already seized Gaston's arm, and drawn him aside.

"My dear fellow," began the nobleman, "Do you know that I have been
vainly seeking you for a couple of days! I am in a most awkward
predicament; but I suppress particulars to make a long story short; in a
word, I have discovered the fair unknown! I expected,--you know what
sort of woman I expected to find."

"Perfectly," answered Gaston, laughing, "a walking angel, minus the
traditional wings. I remember your description. Perhaps the lady grows