w steps, hesitated,
and bowed. She courtesied, my name faltering on her lips. Yes, it was
Antoinette, not the light-hearted girl whom we had heard singing
"Ma luron" in the garden, but a woman now with a strange beauty that
astonished me. Hers was the dignity that comes from unselfish service,
the calm that is far from resignation, though the black veil caught
up on her chapeau de paille gave her the air of a Sister of Mercy.
Antoinette had inherited the energies as well as the features of the St.
Gre's, yet there was a painful moment as she stood there, striving to
put down the agitation the sight of me gave her. As for me, I was bereft
of speech, not knowing what to say or how far to go. My last thought
was of the remarkable quality in this woman before me which had held her
true to Mrs. Temple, and which sent her so courageously to her duty now.

Madame la Vicomtesse, as I had hoped, relieved the situation. She knew
how to broach a dreaded subject.

"Mr. Ritchie is going with us, Antoinette," she said.

"It is perhaps best to explain everything to him before we start. I was
about to tell you, Mr. Ritchie," she continued, turning to me, "that
Auguste has given no hint in his note of Mr. Temple's presence in
Louisiana. And yet you told me that they were to have come here
together."

"Yes," I answered, "and I have no reason to think they have separated."

"I was merely going to suggest," said the Vicomtesse, firmly, "I was
merely going to suggest the possibility of our meeting Mr. Temple with
Auguste."

It was Antoinette who answered, with a force that revealed a new side of
her character.

"Mr. Temple will not be there," she said, flashing a glance upon us. "Do
you think he would come to me--?"

Helene laid her hand upon the girl's arm.

"My dear, I think nothing," she said quietly; "but it is best for us
to be prepared against any surprise. Remember that I do not know Mr.
Temple, and that you have not seen him for five years."

"It is not like him, you know it is not like him," exclaimed Antoinette,
looking at me.

"I know it is not like him, Mademoiselle," I replied.

Madame la Vicomtesse, from behind the girl, gave me a significant look.

"This occurred to me," she went on in an undisturbed tone, "that Mr.
Temple might come with Auguste to protest against the proceeding,--or
even to defend himself against the imputation that he was to make use
of this money in any way. I wish you to realize, Antoinet