form you that it was by my orders that my gamekeeper Benet
proceeded as he did."

"If," said M. de Vilmorin, "the deed was infamous, its infamy is not
modified by the rank, however exalted, of the person responsible. Rather
is it aggravated."

"Ah!" said M. le Marquis, and drew a gold snuffbox from his pocket. "You
say, 'if the deed was infamous,' monsieur. Am I to understand that you
are no longer as convinced as you appeared to be of its infamy?"

M. de Vilmorin's fine face wore a look of perplexity. He did not
understand the drift of this.

"It occurs to me, M. le Marquis, in view of your readiness to assume
responsibility, that you must believe justification for the deed which
is not apparent to myself."

"That is better. That is distinctly better." The Marquis took snuff
delicately, dusting the fragments from the fine lace at his throat. "You
realize that with an imperfect understanding of these matters, not being
yourself a landowner, you may have rushed to unjustifiable conclusions.
That is indeed the case. May it be a warning to you, monsieur. When
I tell you that for months past I have been annoyed by similar
depredations, you will perhaps understand that it had become necessary
to employ a deterrent sufficiently strong to put an end to them. Now
that the risk is known, I do not think there will be any more prowling
in my coverts. And there is more in it than that, M. de Vilmorin. It is
not the poaching that annoys me so much as the contempt for my absolute
and inviolable rights. There is, monsieur, as you cannot fail to have
observed, an evil spirit of insubordination in the air, and there is
one only way in which to meet it. To tolerate it, in however slight
a degree, to show leniency, however leniently disposed, would entail
having recourse to still harsher measures to-morrow. You understand me,
I am sure, and you will also, I am sure, appreciate the condescension
of what amounts to an explanation from me where I cannot admit that any
explanations were due. If anything in what I have said is still obscure
to you, I refer you to the game laws, which your lawyer friend there
will expound for you at need."

With that the gentleman swung round again to face the fire. It appeared
to convey the intimation that the interview was at an end. And yet this
was not by any means the intimation that it conveyed to the watchful,
puzzled, vaguely uneasy Andre-Louis. It was, thought he, a very curious,
a very suspicio