of a young
sovereign, who airily bids her lover wait until she is ready to marry
him; but Madame Riano's departure might change all that. I had not the
least doubt, if Francezka were compelled to make instant choice of a
husband, that Gaston Cheverny would be the man. On the other hand,
Madame Riano's remaining might change Gaston Cheverny, for he was not
the stuff out of which patient lovers are made.

At midnight we said adieu. The last sight we had of Francezka was as
she stood on the balcony of the red saloon, waving her white scarf in
farewell to us. She wore a white gown, and a great resplendent moon
overhead bathed her in its silvery radiance. She might have been an
angel alighting upon the earth and ready to wing her way back to
heaven with the dawn of day. When we reached the Manoir Cheverny I
went direct to my bed, but the brothers remained an hour or more in
conversation in Gaston's room. It was near two o'clock in the morning
when they parted in the corridor upon which my chamber opened, and I
heard Gaston's clear voice saying:

"Brother, you have chosen another country than I; we can no longer say
_Un Foy, Un Loy, Un Roy_, but we need not be any the less brothers."

"True," replied Regnard. "Our mother's father chose another faith,
another law, another king, when he left Scotland, wherefore should I
not rather be Austrian than French if I like? How many times has this
province changed sovereigns? French, Spanish, Austrian, Flemish--I go
with the Austrians because I think there is a better chance for
fortune and promotion with them. Besides, I ever loved the English,
and the English and Austrians will be allied for all of our time. I
shall not yet sell Castle Haret--" here he paused a minute; I thought
I knew why he would not sell all his landed possessions, which were so
very convenient to the chateau of Capello--"but it depends on events
whether I shall occupy it permanently or not."

Gaston, I fancied, was too proud a man to express any jealousy of his
brother's continued nearness to Francezka, so he replied coolly:

"By all means, retain Castle Haret. You got it for much below its
value, and you would do well to keep it; and besides, you will not be
entirely Austrian or English either, as long as you retain Castle
Haret in the Low Countries."

Then they parted for the night, and at sunrise we were in the saddle.
Regnard Cheverny rode a stage with us, and the parting between the
brothers was affect