is utterly oblivious, and is without faith; she is not simply
susceptible to flattery, she is a practiced and cruel coquette. A
thorough coquette! yes, yes, I am sure of it. Believe me, Bragelonne,
I am suffering all the torments of hell; brave, passionately fond of
danger, I meet a danger greater than my strength and my courage. But,
believe me, Raoul, I reserve for myself a victory which shall cost her
floods of tears."

"A victory," he asked, "and of what kind?"

"Of what kind, you ask?"

"Yes."

"One day I will accost her, and will address her thus: 'I was young--
madly in love, I possessed, however, sufficient respect to throw myself
at your feet, and to prostrate myself in the dust, if your looks had not
raised me to your hand. I fancied I understood your looks, I rose, and
then, without having done anything more towards you than love you yet
more devotedly, if that were possible--you, a woman without heart,
faith, or love, in very wantonness, dashed me down again from sheer
caprice. You are unworthy, princess of the royal blood though you may
be, of the love of a man of honor; I offer my life as a sacrifice for
having loved you too tenderly, and I die despairing you.'"

"Oh!" cried Raoul, terrified at the accents of profound truth which De
Guiche's words betrayed, "I was right in saying you were mad, Guiche."

"Yes, yes," exclaimed De Guiche, following out his own idea; "since
there are no wars here now, I will flee yonder to the north, seek
service in the Empire, where some Hungarian, or Croat, or Turk, will
perhaps kindly put me out of my misery." De Guiche did not finish, or
rather as he finished, a sound made him start, and at the same moment
caused Raoul to leap to his feet. As for De Guiche, buried in his own
thoughts, he remained seated, with his head tightly pressed between his
hands. The branches of the tree were pushed aside, and a woman, pale and
much agitated, appeared before the two young men. With one hand she
held back the branches, which would have struck her face, and, with the
other, she raised the hood of the mantle which covered her shoulders.
By her clear and lustrous glance, by her lofty carriage, by her haughty
attitude, and, more than all that, by the throbbing of his own heart, De
Guiche recognized Madame, and, uttering a loud cry, he removed his hands
from his temple, and covered his eyes with them. Raoul, trembling and
out of countenance, merely muttered a few words of respect.