ale
face and bright eyes, and a twitching visible in his cheek--though he
still affected a jaunty bearing; she wearing a black mask.

'Mademoiselle accompanies us?' I said formally.

'With your permission, Monsieur,' he answered with bitter politeness.
But I saw that he was choking with emotion; he had just parted from his
wife, and I turned away.

When we were all mounted he looked at me.

'Perhaps--as you have my parole, you will permit me to ride alone?' he
said with a little hesitation. 'And--'

'Without me!' I rejoined keenly. 'Assuredly, so far as is possible.'

Accordingly I directed the troopers to ride before him, keeping out of
earshot, while my two men followed him at a little distance with their
carbines on their knees. Last of all, I rode myself with my eyes open
and a pistol loose in my holster. M. de Cocheforet muttered a sneer at
so many precautions and the mountain made of his request; but I had not
done so much and come so far, I had not faced scorn and insults to be
cheated of my prize at last; and aware that until we were beyond Auch
there must be hourly and pressing danger of a rescue, I was determined
that he who should wrest my prisoner from me should pay dearly for it.
Only pride, and, perhaps, in a degree also, appetite for a fight, had
prevented me borrowing ten troopers instead of two.

As was wont I looked with a lingering eye and many memories at the
little bridge, the narrow woodland path, the first roofs of the village;
all now familiar, all seen for the last time. Up the brook a party of
soldiers were dragging for the captain's body. A furlong farther on, a
cottage, burned by some carelessness in the night, lay a heap of black
ashes. Louis ran beside us weeping; the last brown leaves fluttered down
in showers. And between my eyes and all, the slow steady rain fell and
fell. And so I left Cocheforet.

Louis went with us to a point a mile beyond the village, and there stood
and saw us go, cursing me furiously as I passed. Looking back when we
had ridden on, I still saw him standing, and after a moment's hesitation
I rode back to him.

'Listen, fool!' I said, cutting him short in the midst of his mowing and
snarling, 'and give this message to your mistress. Tell her from me that
it will be with her husband as it was with M. de Regnier, when he fell
into the hands of his enemy--no better and no worse.'

'You want to kill her, too, I suppose?' he answered glowering at me.

'No, fo