r,
to do what I can to restore him perfect to you and the good Lady de
Tilly."

Amelie was touched. She embraced Angelique and kissed her; yet so cold
and impassive she felt her to be, a shiver ran through her as she did
so. It was as if she had touched the dead, and she long afterwards
thought of it. There was a mystery in this strange girl that Amelie
could not fathom nor guess the meaning of. They left the Cathedral
together. It was now quite empty, save of a lingering penitent or two
kneeling at the shrines. Angelique and Amelie parted at the door, the
one eastward, the other westward, and, carried away by the divergent
currents of their lives, they never met again.

CHAPTER XLIV. THE INTENDANT'S DILEMMA.

"Did I not know for a certainty that she was present till midnight at
the party given by Madame de Grandmaison, I should suspect her, by God!"
exclaimed the Intendant, as he paced up and down his private room in
the Palace, angry and perplexed to the uttermost over the mysterious
assassination at Beaumanoir. "What think you, Cadet?"

"I think that proves an alibi," replied Cadet, stretching himself lazily
in an armchair and smoking with half-shut eyes. There was a cynical,
mocking tone in his voice which seemed to imply that although it proved
an alibi, it did not prove innocence to the satisfaction of the Sieur
Cadet.

"You think more than you say, Cadet. Out with it! Let me hear the worst
of your suspicions. I fancy they chime with mine," said the Intendant,
in quick reply.

"As the bells of the Cathedral with the bells of the Recollets," drawled
out Cadet. "I think she did it, Bigot, and you think the same; but I
should not like to be called upon to prove it, nor you either,--not for
the sake of the pretty witch, but for your own."

"I could prove nothing, Cadet. She was the gayest and most light-hearted
of all the company last night at Madame de Grandmaison's. I have made
the most particular inquiries of Varin and Deschenaux. They needed no
asking, but burst out at once into praise and admiration of her gaiety
and wit. It is certain she was not at Beaumanoir."

"You often boasted you knew women better than I, and I yielded the point
in regard to Angelique," replied Cadet, refilling his pipe. "I did not
profess to fathom the depths of that girl, but I thought you knew her.
Egad! she has been too clever for you, Bigot! She has aimed to be the
Lady Intendant, and is in a fair way to succeed! That