toward her.

"The major," he cried, "told me you were here, that you are Madame
d'Aurillac." His eyes spoke his admiration. In delight he beamed upon
her. "I might have known it!" he murmured. With the confidence of one
who is sure he brings good news, he laughed happily. "And I," he cried,
"am 'Pierrot'!"

Who the devil "Pierrot" might be the spy could not guess. She knew only
that she wished by a German shell "Pierrot" and his car had been blown
to tiny fragments. Was it a trap, she asked herself, or was the handsome
youth really some one the Countess d'Aurillac should know. But, as from
his introducing himself it was evident he could not know that lady very
well, Marie took courage and smiled.

"_Which_ 'Pierrot'?" she parried.

"Pierre Thierry!" cried the youth.

To the relief of Marie he turned upon the adjutant and to him explained
who Pierre Thierry might be.

"Paul d'Aurillac," he said, "is my dearest friend. When he married this
charming lady I was stationed in Algiers, and but for the war I might
never have met her."

To Marie, with his hand on his heart in a most charming manner, he
bowed. His admiration he made no effort to conceal.

"And so," he said, "I know why there is war!"

The adjutant smiled indulgently, and departed on his duties, leaving
them alone. The handsome eyes of Captain Thierry were raised to the
violet eyes of Marie. They appraised her boldly and as boldly expressed
their approval.

In burlesque the young man exclaimed indignantly: "Paul deceived me!" he
cried. "He told me he had married the most beautiful woman in Laon. He
has married the most beautiful woman in France!"

To Marie this was not impertinence, but gallantry.

This was a language she understood, and this was the type of man,
because he was the least difficult to manage, she held most in contempt.

"But about you, Paul did not deceive me," she retorted. In apparent
confusion her eyes refused to meet his. "He told me 'Pierrot' was a most
dangerous man!"

She continued hurriedly. With wifely solicitude she asked concerning
Paul. She explained that for a week she had been a prisoner in the
chateau, and, since the mobilization, of her husband save that he was
with his regiment in Paris she had heard nothing. Captain Thierry was
able to give her later news. Only the day previous, on the boulevards,
he had met Count d'Aurillac. He was at the Grand Hotel, and as Thierry
was at once motoring back to Paris he would g