to another. I might
have broken my compact! I thought of doing so, but had not the courage.
To see you, to hear your voice, to dwell beneath the same roof with you,
was happiness. I longed to see you happy and honored; I fought for the
triumph of another, for him whom you had chosen----"

A sob that had risen in his throat choked his utterance; he buried
his face in his hands to hide his tears, and, for a moment, seemed
completely overcome.

But he mastered his weakness after a little and in a firm voice, he
said:

"We must not linger over the past. Time flies and the future is
ominous."

As he spoke, he went to the door and applied first his eye, then his ear
to the opening, to see that there were no spies without.

No one was in the corridor; he could not hear a sound.

He came back to Marie-Anne's side, and tearing the sleeve of his jacket
open with his teeth, he drew from it two letters, wrapped carefully in a
piece of cloth.

"Here," he said, in a low voice, "is a man's life!"

Marie-Anne knew nothing of Chanlouineau's promises and hopes, and
bewildered by her distress, she did not at first understand.

"This," she exclaimed, "is a man's life!"

"Hush, speak lower!" interrupted Chanlouineau. "Yes, one of these
letters might perhaps save the life of one who has been condemned to
death."

"Unfortunate man! Why do you not make use of it and save yourself?"

The young man sadly shook his head.

"Is it possible that you could ever love me?" he said, simply. "No, it
is not. I have, therefore, no desire to live. Rest beneath the sod is
preferable to the misery I am forced to endure. Moreover I was justly
condemned. I knew what I was doing when I left the Reche with my gun
upon my shoulder, and my sword by my side; I have no right to complain.
But those cruel judges have condemned an innocent man----"

"Baron d'Escorval?"

"Yes--the father of--Maurice!"

His voice changed in uttering the name of this man, for whose happiness
he would have given ten lives had they been his to give.

"I wish to save him," he added, "I can do it."

"Oh! if what you said were true? But you undoubtedly deceive yourself."

"I know what I am saying."

Fearing that some spy outside would overhear him, he came close to
Marie-Anne and said, rapidly, and in a low voice:

"I never believed in the success of this conspiracy. When I sought for a
weapon of defence in case of failure, the Marquis de Sairmeuse furnished
it. When