ddenly, "we are forgetting the
ladies. My lord Hastings," he added, turning to one of the gentlemen
who stood close to him, "I pray you to remedy this unpardonable neglect.
Men's quarrels are not fit for ladies' dainty ears."

Sir Percy looked up from his absorbing occupation. His eyes met those
of his wife; she was like a marble statue, hardly conscious of what was
going on round her. But he, who knew every emotion which swayed that
ardent and passionate nature, guessed that beneath that stony calm there
lay a mad, almost unconquerable impulse: and that was to shout to all
these puppets here, the truth, the awful, the unanswerable truth, to
tell them what this challenge really meant; a trap wherein one man
consumed with hatred and desire for revenge hoped to entice a brave and
fearless foe into a death-dealing snare.

Full well did Percy Blakeney guess that for the space of one second
his most cherished secret hovered upon his wife's lips, one turn of
the balance of Fate, one breath from the mouth of an unseen sprite, and
Marguerite was ready to shout:

"Do not allow this monstrous thing to be! The Scarlet Pimpernel, whom
you all admire for his bravery, and love for his daring, stands before
you now, face to face with his deadliest enemy, who is here to lure him
to his doom!"

For that momentous second therefore Percy Blakeney held his wife's
gaze with the magnetism of his own; all there was in him of love, of
entreaty, of trust, and of command went out to her through that look
with which he kept her eyes riveted upon his face.

Then he saw the rigidity of her attitude relax. She closed her eyes in
order to shut out the whole world from her suffering soul. She seemed
to be gathering all the mental force of which her brain was capable, for
one great effort of self-control. Then she took Juliette's hand in hers,
and turned to go out of the room; the gentlemen bowed as she swept past
them, her rich silken gown making a soft hush-sh-sh as she went. She
nodded to some, curtseyed to the Prince, and had at the last moment
the supreme courage and pride to turn her head once more towards her
husband, in order to reassure him finally that his secret was as safe
with her now, in this hour of danger, as it had been in the time of
triumph.

She smiled and passed out of his sight, preceded by Desiree Candeille,
who, escorted by one of the gentlemen, had become singularly silent and
subdued.

In the little room now there onl