at the window and
murmured dejectedly:

"What will she say to me--what will she say to me?"

"I shall exonerate you, captain. She can have no fault to find with your
action after I have told her how loyal you are and how--how--well, how
unreasonable I am," said Lorry, kindly.

"You may never live to tell her this, sir. Then what is to become of me?
I could not look her in the face again. I could only die!"

"Don't be so faint-hearted, Quinnox!" cried Lorry, stimulated by the
desire to be with her, recognizing no obstacle that might thwart him in
the effort. "We'll get through, safe and sound, and we'll untangle a few
complications before we reach the end of the book. Brace up, for
God's sake, for mine, for hers, for your own. I must get to her before
everything is lost. My God, the fear that she may marry Gabriel will
drive me mad if I am left here another night. Come! Let us prepare to
start. We must notify the Abbot that I am to go. I can be ready in five
minutes. Ye Gods, think of what she may be sacrificing for me!"

The distracted captain gloomily watched the nervous preparations for
departure, seeing his own disgrace ahead as plainly as if it had already
come upon him. Lorry soon was attired in the guard's uniform he had worn
from the Tower a month before. His pistol was in his pocket, and
the bunch of violets she had sent to him that very night was pinned
defiantly above his heart. Quinnox smiled when he observed this bit
of sentiment, and grimly informed him that he was committing an act
prohibited in Dangloss's disciplinary rules. Officers on duty were not
to wear nosegays.

"Dangloss will not see my violets. By the way, the moon shines brightly,
doesn't it?"

"It is almost as light as day. Our trip is made extremely hazardous
for that reason. I am sorely afraid, rash sir, that we cannot reach the
castle unseen."

"We must go about it boldly, that's all."

"Has it occurred to you, sir, that you are placing me in a terrible
position? What excuse can I have, a captain of the guard, for slinking
about at night with a man whom I am supposed to be tracking to earth?
Discovery will brand me as a traitor. I cannot deny the charge without
exposing Her Royal Highness."

Lorry turned cold. He had not thought of this alarming possibility. But
his ready wit came again to his relief, and with bright, confident eyes
he swept away the obstacle.

"If discovered, you are at once to proclaim me a prisoner, take th